Snana Yatra /Kholävecä Sridhara

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna,

 

 

 

PAMHO, AGTSP

 

 

 

Kindly glorify pastimes of Kholävecä Çrédhara on his disappearance day on 3rd

June.

 

 

 

Your servant in mission of Srila Prabhupada

 

 

 

Nanda Gopal Dasa

 

 

 

Adi TEXT 67

TEXT

kholä-vecä çrédhara prabhura priya-däsa

yäìhä-sane prabhu kare nitya parihäsa

SYNONYMS

kholä-vecä-a person who sells the bark of banana trees; çrédhara-Çrédhara

Prabhu; prabhura-of the Lord; priya-däsa-very dear servant; yäìha-sane-with

whom; prabhu-the Lord; kare-does; nitya-daily; parihäsa-joking.

TRANSLATION

The twenty-ninth branch was Çrédhara, a trader in banana-tree bark. He was a

very dear servant of the Lord. On many occasions, the Lord played jokes on him.

PURPORT

Çrédhara was a poor brähmaëa who made a living by selling banana-tree bark to

be made into cups. Most probably he had a banana-tree garden and collected the

leaves, skin and pulp of the banana trees to sell daily in the market. He spent

fifty percent of his income to worship the Ganges, and the balance he used for

his subsistence. When Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu started His civil disobedience

movement in defiance of the Kazi, Çrédhara danced in jubilation. The Lord used

to drink water from his water jug. Çrédhara presented a squash to Çacédevé to

cook before Lord Caitanya took sannyäsa. Every year he went to see Lord

Caitanya Mahäprabhu at Jagannätha Puré. According to Kavi-karëapüra, Çrédhara

was a cowherd boy of Våndävana whose name was Kusumäsava. In his

Gaura-gaëoddeça-dépikä (133) it is stated:

kholä-vecätayä khyätaù paëòitaù çrédharo dvijaù

äséd vraje häsya-karo yo nämnä kusumäsavaù

"The cowherd boy known as Kusumäsava in kåñëa-lélä later became Kholävecä

Çrédhara during Caitanya Mahäprabhu's lélä at Navadvépa."

Ädi 10.68

TEXT 68

TEXT

prabhu yäìra nitya laya thoòa-mocä-phala

yäìra phuöä-lauhapätre prabhu pilä jala

SYNONYMS

prabhu-the Lord; yäìra-whose; nitya-daily; laya-takes; thoòa-the pulp of the

banana tree; mocä-the flowers of the banana tree; phala-the fruits of the

banana tree; yäìra-whose; phuöä-broken; lauha-pätre-in the iron pot; prabhu-the

Lord; pilä-drank; jala-water.

TRANSLATION

Every day Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu jokingly snatched fruits, flowers and pulp

from Çrédhara and drank from his broken iron pot.

 

 

Snana Yatra

 

Sanana Yatra is when the main Deities are bathed. Snana means 'bathing'. This

is done on Jyestha Purnima. The main Deities along with Sundarsana are brought

to the snanamandapa (a platform in front of the temple). Around mid-day 108

pots of water are poured on the Deities from a sacred well which is dear to the

goddess Sitala. An emissary of the king of Orrisa ceremonially sweeps the

platform. Then elephant-head masks are put on the Deities. This is their Ganesh

vesha. The Deities are then offered cooked food and an arti is performed. This

is the only time in a year that the public can see a food offering to the

Deities. The Deities go back into the temple in a procession and stay in

seclusion for 15 days. The Deities are placed in a semi-reclining position in

the hallway between the inner and outer sanctum.

 

 

 

The word Anavasara is used when Sri Jagannathaji cannot be seen in the temple.

After the bathing ceremony, Lord Jagannatha is supposed to become sick. He is

therefore removed to His private apartment During the Anavasara festival, it is

said that Lord Jagannatha suffers from fever, and is offered an infusion of

drugs represented by fruit juice. The dayita servants take care of Lord

Jagannatha from the time of Snana Yatra up to the time the Lord is carried from

His throne to Ratha car. They sleep and stay with the Deities. The body of Lord

Jagannatha having been washed needs repainting. This is known as Anga-Raga.

This is done by the dayitas. It takes about two weeks to complete the repairs

of Lord Jagannatha's body. The renovation festival is called Nava-Yauvana,

which indicates that the Jagannatha Deity is being fully restored to youth.

 

 

These 15 days are resting and renovation period and is called Nibhrita. In

honor of the solitary place where the Supreme Goddess of fortune lives. Lord

Jagannatha lives there in seclusion enjoying svakiya rasa in the company of His

wife, Laksmi. Then he asks Her permission to leave and comes out for His Ratha

Yatra chariot festival.

 

 

 

CC: Madhya Lila 13.8

 

 

 

baliñöha dayitä' gaëa--yena matta häté

 

jagannätha vijaya karäya kari' hätähäti

 

TRANSLATION

 

The very strongly built dayitäs [carriers of the Jagannätha Deity] were as

powerful as drunken elephants. They manually carried Lord Jagannätha from the

throne to the car.

 

 

 

PURPORT

 

The word dayitä refers to one who has received the mercy of the Lord. Lord

Jagannätha has a number of stalwart servants known as dayitäs. These servants

do not come from very high-caste families (brähmaëas, kñatriyas or vaiçyas),

but because they are engaged in the service of the Lord, they have been

elevated to a respected position. Thus they are known as dayitäs. These

servants of Lord Jagannätha take care of the Lord from the day of the

Snäna-yäträ up to the time the Lord is carried from the throne to the Ratha

car. In the Kñetra-mähätmya these dayitäs are said to come from the çabaras, a

caste that keeps and sells pigs. However, among the dayitäs there are also many

who come from the brähmaëa caste. Those dayitäs coming from the brähmaëa

families are called dayitä-patis, or leaders of the dayitäs. The dayitä-patis

offer food such as sweetmeats to Lord Jagannätha during the anavasara, the

resting period after Snäna-yäträ. They also make the early-morning offering of

sweetmeats daily. It is said that during the anavasara Lord Jagannätha suffers

from fever and that the dayitä-patis offer Him an infusion of drugs represented

by fruit juice. It is said that in the beginning Lord Jagannätha was worshiped

by the çabaras and was known as the Deity Néla Mädhava. Later, when the Deity

was established in the temple, the Lord became known as Jagannätha. Because the

Deities were taken from the çabaras, all the çabara devotees were elevated to

the position of dayitäs.