Inquiries into the Absolute: Digest 71

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Digest 71, October 28th, 2003

Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja

*** You are welcome to send in your questions to HH Romapada Swami at

iskcon_dc with the word "Question" in the subject. The previous

digests are available at:

http://iskcondc.prastha.com/cgi-bin/uncgi/renderphilo.pl?ndx=132

 

Appearance of Lord Jagannatha

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Q1: It will be very kind enough of you if you let me know about the

appearance of Lord Jagannath. When did He appear and what was the

purpose of His appearing in that form?

 

Answer: The manifestation of Lord Jagannath is transcendentally

wonderful. His appearance in that form is described by Jaimini Rsi in

Skanda purana to an assembly of sages. The story of King Indradyumna who

became the first worshiper of Lord Jagannath, and his life's expression

of devotion, is in itself a great delight. In short, the king was

exceedingly eager to see the form of Lord Vishnu on this earth, and at

the end of a sequence of miraculous events, the Supreme Lord had revealed

through His representatives Narada and Lord Siva that He would appear

in a `daru', a wooden log, and that Vishvakarma would carve His form

from that transcendental log. Vishvakarma had stipulated that he not be

intruded upon for 21 days during the carving, but when there was a break

in the chiseling sound, the greatly anxious king hastily came into the

room where the Deities were being carved, only to find what he thought

to be unfinished forms of the Deities. The king was in utter despair,

thinking that he had committed a great offense. But Sri Narada Muni

pacified him by explaining that it was the Lord's transcendental will

to manifest in that particular form.

 

Then Narada narrated the following pastime of how the Lord had originally

manifested this extraordinary form that was now before the king.

 

Once the residents of Dwaraka became very eager to hear about the

childhood pastimes of Krishna in Vrindavana. They knew how attached their

Lord was to Vraja and its residents, but they did not know much about His

pastimes there.

 

So they inquired from Rohinidevi, the mother of Balarama and one of the

wives of Vasudeva, who happened to stay in Vrindavana with mother Yasoda

during the entire childhood of Krishna-Balarama. Rohini was of course very

happy to oblige, but there was one concern: if Krishna happened to overhear

the glories of the love of the residents of Vrindavana, His feelings and

transcendental emotions of separation from them would become attract the

attention of Krishna to such a degree that His ecstacies would prevent

Rohini from completing her narration of Krishna's Vraja-lila. Therefore

Subhadra devi, the sister of Krishna, volunteered to guard the door and

keep Krishna from entering the room where Rohini's Vraja-katha was taking

place. But as Rohini devi started recounting the wonderful pastimes and

the depth of intimacy in the loving exchanges between Krishna and the

Vrajavasis, Subhadra devi became stunned. Just then Krishna and Balarama

came and stood on either side of her hearing these narration and They too

became stunned. Their eyes became wide, and in a mood of undescribable

ecstasy, Their hands and feet retracted within Their bodies. This is the

form of Lord Jagannath - Krishna in Dwaraka, enraptured and overwhelmed

in thinking about the unrepayable and intense selfless love of His

Vraja-bhaktas.

 

Narada who happened to be there also requested the Lord to please manifest

this most wonderful form for the benefit of the entire world, and thus Lord

Jagannatha unfolded the pastime of manifesting in that form to Indradyumna

in Sri Jagannatha Puri. This amazing form of the Lord is said to indicate

that even though He does not appear to have hands, the Supreme Lord accepts

the offerings of His devotees, and even without feet, He comes at once to

protect His devotees. Lord Jagannatha is famous as most merciful even to

the most fallen and is very affectionate to His devotees.

 

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----- Festivals over the next week ------

Oct 28 2003, Tuesday Disappearance Srila Prabhupada (Fast)

(Fasting till noon)

Nov 01 2003, Saturday Disappearance Sri Gadadhara Dasa Gosvami

Disappearance Sri Srinivasa Acarya

Disappearance Sri Dhananjaya Pandita

Gopastami, Gosthastami

Nov 02 2003, Sunday Jagaddhatri Puja

Nov 04 2003, Tuesday Disappearance Srila Gaura Kisora Dasa Babaji (Fast)

Ekadasi Utthana (Break fast 06:40-10:08)

Bhisma Pancaka

(Fasting till noon)

(Feasting is done tomorrow)

 

*** NOTE: All times are for Washington D.C, USA, EST ***

For festival information for your city please go to http://www.iskcondc.org and

click on 'Calendar'

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** A brief biography of His Holiness Romapada Swami available at

:http://www.prastha.com/cgi-bin/uncgi/renderphilo.pl?ndx=2

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