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It is very
auspicious that He has chosen to appear here ...
From 'Your Ever
Well-Wisher'. Srila Prabhupada's biography by HH Satsvarupa Dasa
Goswami.
Submitted by Manoj
One day Malati hurried into Swamiji's apartment, took a small item out of her shopping bag, and placed it on Swamiji's desk for his inspection. "What is this, Swamiji?"
Bhaktivedanta Swami looked down and beheld a three-inch wooden doll with a flat head, a black, smiling face, and big, round eyes. The figure had stubby, forward-jutting arms, and a simple green and yellow torso with no visible feet.
Immediately, Swamiji folded his palms and bowed his head, offering the little figure respects.
"You have brought Lord Jagannatha, the Lord of the universe," he said, smiling and bright-eyed. "He is Krishna. Thank you very much." Swamiji beamed with pleasure while Malati and others sat, amazed at their good fortune of seeing Swamiji so pleased. Swamiji explained that this was Lord Jagannatha, a Deity of Krishna worshiped all over India for thousands of years. Jagannatha, he said, is worshiped along with two other deities: His brother, Balarama, and His sister, Subhadra.
Excitedly, Malati confirmed that there were other, similar figures at Cost Plus, the import store where she had found the little Jagannatha, and Swamiji said she should go back and buy them. Malati told her husband, Syamasundara, and together they hurried back and bought the two other dolls in the set.
Bhaktivedanta Swami placed the black-faced, smiling Jagannatha on the right. In the center he placed the smallest figure, Subhadra, who had a red, smiling mouth and a rectangular black and yellow torso. The third figure, Balarama, with a white, round head, red-rimmed eyes, and a happy red smile, had the forward jutting arms like Jagannatha and a blue and yellow base. Swamiji placed Him next to Subhadra. As Swamiji looked at them together on his desk, he asked if anyone knew how to carve. Syamasundara said he was a wood sculptor, and Swamiji asked him to carve three-foot-high copies of the little Jagannatha, Balardma, and Subhadra.
More than two thousand years ago, Bhaktivedanta Swami told them, there was a king named Indradyumna, a devotee of Lord Krishna. Maharaja Indradyumna wanted a statue of the Lord as He had appeared when He and His brother and sister had traveled on chariots to the holy field of Kuruksetra during a solar eclipse. When the king requested a famous artist from the heavenly planets, Visvakarma, to sculpt the forms, Visvakarma agreed - on the condition that no one interrupt his work. The king waited for a long time, while Visvakarma worked behind locked doors. One day, however, the king felt he could wait no longer, and he broke in to see the work in progress. Visvakarma, true to his word, vanished, leaving behind the uncompleted forms of the three deities. The king was nevertheless so pleased with the wonderful forms of Krishn, Balarama, and Subhadra that he decided to worship them as they were. He installed them in a temple and began worshiping them with great opulence.
Since that time, Bhaktivedanta Swami continued, Lord Jagannatha has been worshiped all over India, especially in the province of Orissa, where there is a great temple of Lord Jagannatha at Puri. Each year at Puri, during the gigantic Ratha-yatra festival, millions of pilgrims from all over India come to worship Lord Jagannatha, Balarama, and Subhadra, as the deities ride in procession on three huge carts. Lord Caitanya, who spent the last eighteen years of His life at Jagannatha Puri, used to dance and chant in ecstasy before the Deity of Lord Jagannatha during the yearly Ratha-yatra festival.
Seeing this appearance of Lord Jagannatha in San Francisco as the will of Krsna, Swamiji said that they should be careful to receive and worship Lord Jagannatha properly. If Syamasundara could carve the forms, Swamiji said he would personally install them in the temple, and the devotees could then begin worshiping the deities. San Francisco, he said, could be renamed New Jagannatha Puri. He chanted, jagannathah svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me. "This is a mantra for Lord Jagannatha," he said. "Jagannatha means 'Lord of the universe.' '0 Lord of the universe, kindly be visible unto me.' It is very auspicious that He has chosen to appear here."
Syamasundara bought three large blocks of hardwood, and Swamiji made a sketch and pointed out a number of details. Using the small statues, Syamasundara calculated ratios and new dimensions and began carving on the balcony of his apartment. Meanwhile, the devotees bought the rest of the tiny Jagannathas from Cost Plus, and it became a fashion to glue a little Jagannatha to a simple necklace and wear Him around the neck. Because Lord Jagannatha was very liberal and merciful to the most fallen, Swamiji explained, the devotees would soon be able to worship Him in their temple. The worship of the forms of Radha and Krishna in the temple required very high, strict standards, which the devotees were not yet able to meet. But Lord Jagannatha was so merciful that He could be worshiped in a simple way (mostly by chanting Hare Krishna), even if the devotees weren't very advanced. Gradually, as they progressed in spiritual life, Swamiji would introduce to them more and more of the detailed practices of Deity worship, along with the deep theological understanding that supports it.
The evening of the installation, devotees and hippie guests filled the room to capacity. Swamiji was present, and the mood was reverential and festive. It was a special event. The just-finished deities sat on the altar, and everyone was glancing at them as they stood on their redwood shelf beneath a yellow canopy, their features illumined by spotlights. The deities wore no clothes or ornaments, but were freshly painted in bright black, red, white, green, yellow, and blue. They were smiling. Swamiji was also glancing at them, looking up to their high altar.
Then Swamiji began the deity installation. Everything necessary for spiritual life was here: the temple, the devotees, the books, the Deity, prasadam. He wanted these young people to take advantage of it. Why should they remain living like animals and thinking of spiritual life as a vague groping for "something"? They should take advantage of Krishna's mercy and be successful and happy. And for this, Swamiji was their tireless servant.
Swamiji: "So, Hayagriva? Come here," Swamiji had had the devotees arrange for a large candle on a plate. The ceremony he had planned would be a simple one, with devotees and guests one after another coming up and offering the flame in circles before the Jaganndtha deities. "This should be lighted up," Swamiji said, "and when there is kirtana, one must be doing like this before the Deity. [Swamiji moved his hands around in a circle before the Deity.] You see?"
Hayagriva: "Yes, yes."
Swamiji: "Yes, with the kirtana. And then when one person is tired he should hand it over to another person, devotee. When he is tired he should give to another-as long as the kirtana will go on. This should be done with the kirtana just now. Do you follow? Yes. You begin, and when you are tired you hand over to another. It will go on like that."
Swamiji, from his seat, guided Hayagriva in approaching the Deity with the lit candle. Some of the girls tittered with nervous expectation. "Before the Deity," Swamiji said. "All right. Now better begin kirtana."
Swamiji began playing karatalas and singing the Hare Krishna mantra to the popular melody he had introduced in America. "Just in front," he called out, gesturing to Hayagriva to stand more directly before the deities. Devotees and guests began rising to their feet and dancing, arms raised, bodies swaying rhythmically back and forth as they faced the bright, personal forms of the deities and chanted. Colored lights within the canopy began flashing intermittently blue, red, and yellow, highlighting the extraordinary eyes of Lord Jagannatha, Subhadra, and Balarama. Mukunda, who had arranged the lights, smiled and looked to Swamiji, hoping for approval. Swamiji nodded and continued forcefully singing Hare Krishna.
The young hippies were enthusiastic in singing and dancing, knowing that the kirtana usually lasted an hour. Some had grasped the Swami's words when he had spoken of fixing the mind on the personal form of the Supreme Lord; and they had understood when he had looked up at the Deities and said, "Here is Krishna." Others hadn't followed, but thought that it was just great and blissful to sing Hare Krishna and look at the grinning, big-eyed deities up on the altar, amid the flowers and billowing incense.
Bhaktivedanta Swami watched with pleasure as one person after another took a turn at offering the candle before Lord Jagannatha. This was a simple procedure for installing the Deity. Although in big temples in India the installation of the Deity was a complex, exact procedure, requiring several days of continuous rituals directed by highly paid priests, in San Francisco there were no brahmana priests to pay, and the many other standards would be impossible to maintain.
For non-Hindus to handle Lord Jagannatha and conduct His worship would be considered heresy by the caste-conscious brahmanas of India. Except for Swamiji, none of the persons present would have been allowed even to enter the temple at Jagannatha Puri. The white man, the Westerner, was not allowed to see Lord Jagannatha except once a year as He rode in His cart during the Ratha-yatra festival. But these restrictions were social customs, not scriptural injunctions. Srila Bhaktisiddhiinta Sarasvati had introduced Deity worship and initiation for anyone, regardless of caste, race, or nationality. And Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's father, had longed for the day when the people of the West could mingle with their Indian brothers and chant Hare Krishna.
Bhaktivedanta Swami had come to the West to fulfill the desires and the vision of his spiritual master and of Bhaktivinoda Thakura by creating Vaisnavas among the Westerners. Now, if the Westerners were to become actual devotees, they would have to be given the Deity worship. Otherwise it would be more difficult for them to become purified. Bhaktivedanta Swami was confident in his spiritual master's direction and in the scriptures. He had faith that Lord Jagannatha was especially merciful to the fallen. He prayed that the Lord of the universe would not be offended by His reception at New Jagannatha Puri.
When the kirtana ended, Swamiji asked Haridasa to bring him the candle. Swamiji passed his hands across the flame and touched them to his forehead. "Yes," he said, "show everyone. Each and everyone. Whatever they can contribute. Here, take it like this and show everyone." He indicated that Hariddsa should present the candle before each person in the room so that all present could touch their hands to the flame as he had shown and then touch their foreheads. As Haridasa went from person to person, a few devotees dropped some coins on the plate, and others followed.
Swamiji explained further: "The Bagavatam has recommended hearing, chanting, thinking, and worshiping. This process which we just now introduced on the advent of Jagannatha Svami means that now this temple is now completely fixed. So this is the worshiping process. This is called arati. So at the end of kirtana, this arati will go on. And the worshiping process is to take the heat of the light and, whatever your condition is, pay something for the worship. So this simple process, if you follow, you just see how you realize the Absolute Truth.
"Another thing I request you: All the devotees-when you come to the temple, you bring one fruit and one flower. If you can bring more fruit, more flower, it is very good. If not, it is not very expensive to bring one fruit and one flower. And offer it to the Deity. So I will request you, when you come to the temple, you bring this. Whatever fruit it may be. It does not mean that you have to bring very costly fruit. Any fruit. Whatever you can afford. One fruit and one flower."
He paused, looking around the room: "Yes, now you can distribute prasadam. "
The guests sat in rows on the floor, and the devotees began serving prasadam, offering the first plate to Swamiji. The food preparations were those Swarniji had personally taught the devotees in his kitchen: samosas, halava, puris, rice, several cooked vegetables, fruit chutney, sweets-all the Sunday specials. The guests loved the prasadam and ate as much as they could get. While the devotees, especially the expert women, served more and more prasadam, the guests relaxed and enjoyed an evening of feasting and convivial conversation. After Swamiji had tasted all the preparations, he looked up with raised eyebrows: "Very nice preparations. All glories to the cookers!"
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