Temple of Dakor

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Dakor

 

In the heart of Gujarat, there is an important temple

town called Dakor. Originally known as DankaPur, it is

here that the Lord Shri Dwarkadhishji migrated to get

away from the increasingly decadent temple priests of

Dwarka.

 

History

 

A devotee called Bodanaji was a frequent visitor to

Dwarka. In his old age, Bodanaji was finding it

increasingly difficult to get to Dwarka, the distances

were just too great and the roads were becoming

increasingly more dangerous for lonely travellers. On

his last pilgrimage to Dwarka, tears in his eyes, he

bade the Lord farewell and said, " I am too old to

make this journey on a regular basis now, and unless

You decide to come to live with me, I am afraid, this

might be my last visit to you. I am sure to meet you

in my after life, but, farewell until than."

 

The Lord had no wish to be parted from His most

beloved devote and so He spoke to Bodanaji in his

incorporeal voice, "I will not abandon you, in life or

death. Organise a cart for me and I will come with you

to your town." Elated by the Lord's response, Bodanaji

went in search of a cart. As he had so little money,

no one would sell him anything decent and the best he

could acquire was a broken old cart and a pair of

bullocks at death's door. Their owner sold them to

Bodanaji, glad to be spared that he would be spared

the money for their funeral !

 

As agreed, Bodanaji brought the cart to the Lord's

temple very late at night. All the servants had gone

to bed and the various gates of the temple were

locked. But, who can keep the Lord of the Universe

behind locked doors ?!!? The Lord came out of His

ancient abode and boarded the rickety old cart.

Initially, Bodanaji set at the helm, coaxing the old

bullocks to make their getaway from Dwarka. It took

them several hours just to reach the outskirts of town

and the Lord decided to take matters into His own

hands.

 

The Lord, ever caring for his devotees, said

"Bodanaji, I am so inconsiderate as to ask such an

aged person to do such a hard task so late at night !!

Rest for a while, and you can take over the reins once

we are nearer to your town. I know the roads around

here and would be able to guide us out of here quicker

than you can." Lord Shri Dwarkadhishji set at the helm

and took the reins in His hands as Bodanaji rested in

the back.

 

What is impossible for the Lord ? With-in a few

seconds, they traversed hundreds of miles and alighted

4 miles from Dakor at Umreth in Gujarat. Just before

dawn, the Lord awoke Bodanaji and gave the reins back

to him. Though surprised, he knew the Lord's maya was

impossible to fathom and considered himself to be

lucky enough to have the Lord draw his cart for him !

By mid morning, they were at Bodanaji's house and his

wife, Gangabai, was pleasantly surprised.

 

Next day, in Dwarka, the priests and guards were very

upset and puzzled as to how the Lord went missing from

such a secure place as the temple !?! None of the gold

and jewellery was missing, just the Lord ! Upon

enquire, they discovered that an aged devotee from

Gujarat had recently bought a cart and was now missing

from the town. Suspecting him to be the thief, they

rode out to his town with many soldiers and high

priests of Dwaraka.

 

Hearing that a powerful group of men were coming to

get the Him, the Lord advised Bodanaji to hide Him in

the lake on the outskirts of DankaPur. When the

brahmins from Dwaraka came, they could not find the

Lord anywhere in town. Suspecting Bodanaji to have

hidden the Lord out of town, they searched the local

wells and lakes. A stick, used to dwell the depths of

the lake Gomati, accidentally hit the Lord and stained

it's clean waters with divine blood ! The brahmins of

Dwaraka were unrepentant and instead of considering

the sin of having struck the Lord, they blamed

Bodanaji of having caused them untold anguish and

grief !!!!

 

The Lord was brought to the banks of the Lake, but the

Lord refused to move and none of the men from Dwaraka

could budge Him an inch ! A major argument ensued. The

priests were determined to take the Lord back and

Bodanaji insisted that the Lord had come of His own

free will. The evidence was insurmountable. The silent

escape from the well guarded temple at night, the

impossible journey overnight, the blood in the lake,

and now their inability to move the Lord from the

banks of the Lake - all indicated that the Lord wished

to stay here. But, the priests were not going to give

up their livelihood so easily. They demanded that if

Bodanaji wanted to keep the Lord here, he would have

to pay them His weight in gold !!!

 

Thinking the Lord to be made only from stone, and

Bodanaji too poor to pay, they thought, either way, we

will win. They thought, "We know he doesn't have the

gold, so we are sure to get the Lord back. If he

manages to beg or borrow enough to weigh the Lord, we

will have enough to live on and so will not need the

Lord !!!!" No wonder the Lord wanted to leave such

greedy priests !

 

Ways of the Lord are truly wonderful and impossible

for mortals to understand. Just a few days before this

incidence, Gangabai, Bodanaji's wife, accidentally

discovered a small piece of gold wire while cleaning

the house. She asked her neighbours to see if it

belonged to them. No one seemed to know anything about

it, so she decided to keep it and use it as a small

nose ring. Now that the Lord needed to be weighed in

gold, Gangabai came forth with all the gold they had -

the wire nose ring !

 

Praying to the Lord for His understanding and infinite

grace, she offered the nose ring along with some

sacred tulasi leaves (basil). Laughing at her

innocence, the priests from Dwaraka readily placed the

Lord on some large scales and placed the nose ring and

basil opposite Him. Lo !! The scales were suddenly

tipped and the Lord's side proved to be lighter of the

two !!

 

Stunned and speechless, the priests from Dwaraka now

realised that they were dealing with the Lord Himself

and not just an image of Him. Begging the Lord to show

some mercy, the priests requested the Lord to

safeguard their income from serving the Lord. The

selfish priests wanted money above God - none of them

volunteered to serve Him here, they all wanted to get

back to their home comforts in Dwaraka !

 

Forever merciful, the Lord decided to give them

another chance and ordered them to return to Dwaraka

and look in a specific well for a new image of Him.

However, the Lord told them to wait till a specified

auspicious day and not to be impatient about it. Just

as a dog's tail can not straighten-up, these priests

could not be dissuaded from their greed. When they

went back to Dwaraka, they decided to excavate the

well and bring the Lord into the inner sanctum. The

economic cost of having the temple closed for so long

was unacceptable to the priests. In their greed for

gold, they hurried the process of finding and

installing the new image of the lord. As a result, the

image that they found was lighter in colour than the

original !

 

However, with the blessings of the Lord, the icon at

Dwarka was imbibed with the spirit of the Lord and

continues to region over the western most holy city in India.

 

 

 

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