A story about Lord Jagannatha

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>"sarvajna krishna" <sarvajna> >"sarvajna krishna" <sarvajna> >"Tusti Mohan Krsna (das) JPS (JPS Off. MYR-IN)"> ><Tusti.Mohan.Krsna.JPS> >CC: "Sharing" <Sharing> >Lord Jagannatha and proud devotee - a true incident> >Tue, 4 Jun 2002 15:24 +0530> >> >In the year 1727 Dhananjay Mehta, a very wealthy man from the city of> >Hyderabad in South India came to Puri. He was very proudly because of his> >wealth. He had come along with his family, though personally he had no> >faith in Jagnnatha. While there he decided to challenge this strangeimage> >made of wood.> >In the temple, food is offered to the Deities three times daily.Dhananjay> >Mehta publicly declared he would make a donation of 100,000 rupees to> >Jagnnatha if the temple cooks could spend all of it to prepare one> >offering of prasada. In those times fruits and vegetables were verycheap.> >Even one hundred rupees were enough to buy the ingrdients for one bhoga,> >or food offering. One thousand rupees were too much. Therefore no one in> >the temple could even imagine what to purchase for 100,000 rupees. This> >became a great problem for the worshipers of the famous temple of Lord> >Jagnnatha. They were undoubtedly sad to see such a challenging attitudeon> >the part of a so-called devotee.> >> >The priest debated, "Should he be told that such a huge amount is> >absolutely too much? Should we tell him to give a smaller donation? Will> >this be too embarrassing to ask of him? We know Jagnnatha is great- His> >temple is majestic, His rituals are mystic and divine-so how we can tell> >this man to give less! How rituals are mystic and divine-so how can we> >tell this man to give less! How can we tell him to make a smalleroffering> >so that we ordinary mortals can handle it?"> >> >At that time, butter was the most costly of all ingredients, so what type> >of prasada could be prepared from only ghee? The most delicious and> >costliest prasada could easily be prepared with butter and coconut palm> >sweets within 10,000 rupees. But this millionaire from Hyderabad wantedto> >offer prasada costing 100,000 rupees!> >> >Since the origin of Jagnnatha Temple itself, lakhs of people had been> >served maha prasada in the Ananda Bazar of the temple. Many types of> >delicacies were in abundance there. In fact, Jagnnatha Temple is the only> >temple in the world to have always treated maha prasad as more valuable> >than even darsana, or the sight of the Deities. All can eat it,regardless> >of caste, color, or creed. Yet never before had such a problem arisen.The> >temple cooks were at their wits' end! There was no prasada that could be> >prepared that would cost 100,000 rupees! Finally they decided, "Let this> >problem be communicated to the Lord Himself, and let His will prevail.> >Lord Jagnnatha is not a man of flesh and blood to be prayed to for a> >simple response. Let there be a dharana, or group prayer, before Him.> >Nobody can prevail over His wish." So the panda, or head priest, made a> >heart-felt prayer, "Oh Lord, please choose which food you desire."> >> >At the same time, the wealthy man was anxious to return to his business> >affairs in Hyderabad. He did not want to stay in Puri any longer.> >Therefore, he asked the panda to come to him in the morning to inform him> >about their decision concerning the prasada. The panda replied that hewas> >waiting for the Lord Himself to give them an answer. This was exactly to> >the wealthy man's liking, so he did not mind extending his stay in Puri.> >In this sweet way, the Lord was teaching him. One should first learn what> >is the wish of God, and then act.> >> >100,000 rupees was a pittance for the Lord who resigns over innumerable> >universes. In due time the Lord answered the head priest's prayer,> >speaking to him in a dream, "Let this wealthy person offer me one pieceof> >pan. But the betel nut within the pan leaf must be smeared not with lime,> >but with the powder of a finely ground pearl. More ever this pearl mustbe> >from inside an elephant's forehead."> >> >Now, one piece of pan could be purchased so cheaply, even today it isonly> >50 paisa or less, but with this rarest of ingredients inside, the cost> >would be excessive. Immediately, the panda rushed to the wealthy man and> >narrated the entire episode. "Is this not a great thing? Jagnnatha wantsa> >mere betel nut to be offered to Him, but it must be prepared with the> >pearl from a bull elephant's head."> >> >Hearing this, the wealthy man's face paled. He thought, "A mere betelnut!> >Nothing more than that!" It is said that an elephant is worth one 100,000> >rupees, dead or alive. How many bull elephants would have to be killed to> >find one pearl? Not every bull elephant has a pearl inside its forehead.> >It is a rare phenomenon. Indeed, one in a million has a pearl in its> >forehead. The man's head began to reel. He was defeated. He was incapable> >of offering even a single betel nut to Lord Jagnnatha. Unknotting his> >turban and removing his sandals, he went running to the Lord with a purse> >full of 100,000 rupees in his hands. A huge crowd followed.> >> >Everyone stared at this strange sight. The Lord had defeated the> >millionaire at his own game of dollars and cents. At last his human pride> >was crushed. He started sobbing, reaching out to Jagnnatha, with> >unrestrained childlike cries. In total devotion and defeat he prayed, "Oh> >Lord, I have made a stupid human blunder, for am totally incapable of> >offering you even a single betel nut. What else can be offered to you? Oh> >Lord, pardon me. I am a fallen man, insignificant before you, but made> >wise before you also. Everything is yours and you are everything. Take> >whatever I have. Please accept only the sweet-smelling red betel nut ofmy> >heart."> >> >Jaya Jagnnatha!>>> _______________> Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com>>