India Series- Mayapur- Sri Jagannatha at Rajapur :)

Our first itinerary consisted of a visit to Sri Jagannath Puri Dham. But plans changed and we just decided to focus on MAYAPUR and Ekacahakra. Sice Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is non different from Sri Radha and Krishna and since the dhams are non different, we just decided to skip Puri, Remuna etc. and just visit Rajapur. With that went all my dreams of honoring malpua and rabri, khaja and kheer. Anyway i resigned myself to the fact that Guru Maharaja might just want it this way. Since our little Jagganth is originally from Mayapur, Ekachakra to be specific, i was just content to visit Rajapur and have Darshana of my Lord there. The ride to Rajapur is a little longer that most others. Seated on a flatbed rikshaw we would chant all the way up to Rajapur. On the way to Rajapur one can see signs for the house of Kolavecha Sridhara. Also seen is a new construction for the upcoming Simantini (Parvati) devi temple.

Vrinda and I would play a guessing game each day, what color dress would Jagannath be wearing today, and He tricked us every single time. The somewhat dense Mango orchards surrounding the temple precincts, remind us of the pastimes when Jagannath and Baladev were caught stealing mangoes. We had the immense good fortune of getting a taste of the extremely delicious Noon Prasadam. The deities Themselves are extremely merciful, especially when it comes to fulfilling desires. Lord Shiva is seen seated in one corner of the courtyard, alongside whom stands the Kalpavriksha tree. On the lower branches of the tree seen hanging are little stones. My curiosity was piqued and I learnt that if we make a wish and hang the stones with a thread onto the tree, our wishes would be fulfilled. Not the one to lose out on any mercy, I scouted for a stone and found a thread, it was a thread maybe plastic, which had fallen loose from a construction bag, maybe a cement bag, I endeavored to tie the stone with the thread, it kept falling off, finally i succeeded. Before the altar of Jagannath could open, i ran up to the tree, Vrinda followed close behind and we tied the thread onto a branch, wishing from my heart..What i wished for is a secret that i will refrain from sharing ;-). But my prayers were eventually granted. All glories to Bhavagrahi Jagannath, All glories to Ashutosh Shiva, All glories to the Kalpavriksha tree that carries the weight of so many desires. Some material, some spiritual!

I realized that when the desires are desires to serve we are not overburdened by them, beacuse of their spiritual nature, but if the desires are material, they are like heavy stones that we carry on backs for lifetimes and we will eventually become overburdened by them. Only a tree of the magnitude of the Kalpavriksha can carry the burden of all material and spiritual desires and not be overburdened. For ourselves, we need to develop that Vyavasatmika buddih, that single pointed focus to be engaged in the srvice of Radha Krishna, by engaging in the service of the holy names. School history lessons flashed across my mind- Desire is the cause for suffering- Gautam Buddha.. Were the stones I tied material or spiritual, only time will tell! Sometimes one can cloak mateial desires in the name of dovetailing in devotional service, but we can't cheat the supreme cheater.

India Series - Mayapur.. lord Caitanya , more merciful!

It was time for Mangal Arotik,Being in the ground floor of the conch building, i could hear voices of devotees outside,the local visitors had formed a line passing through the metal detector..Deciding to throw on a salwar kameez that day, i put my tilak on, rushed out of the room and stood in line. As i edged forward in the line. "No cell phone, camera?" enquired the lady guard as she passed the detector over me. Nodding her head in approval, she allowed me to enter..On entering the temple, i quickly made my way to the back to offer obeisances to Srila Prabhupada and returned to the front. Having experienced a unique emotion while waiting for the curtains to open revealing the beautiful forms of Radha Madhava and Asta Sakhis the previous day, I rushed forward and was about to approach the cordoned off area mostly filled with Western matajis. A guard stopped me and literally chased me back to the middle of the temple. The altar was opening, but my mind was focussed on my hurt false ego, which said "i am a devotee, i should be allowed to go in the front." Tears flowed from my eyes, tears of anger. I had waited for years for this day to give up the comfort of watching the mangal arotik from across the seas, in the confines of my home to visit Mayapur and these guards, they were ruining my day! The modes were about to take over, but one look at the deities beautiful faces, Radharani's beautiful face made me to dismiss the incident temporarily. Returning to the room after Japa i thought about it again, this time my mind had calmed down..It shot back at me " The guards were only doing their duty, besides don't you remember Amanina Manadena," Sighing my false ego accepted defeat. As i narrated this to my husband, he gave me a simple solution, " Enter from the Pancatattva Altar door," he said. The next day, I walked around the block and to my surprise, there was no line, no one even stopoed you at the door.
Lessons learnt, Approach Radha Krishna through the Panchatattva, Approach the holy names through the Panchatattva..do not try to circumvent Them.It was a valuable lesson indeed. Gauranga and Nityananda are very merciful to their devotees.What was heading towards offensive thoughts towards the dham vasis had been transformed into a lesson by the mercy of Guru and Vaisnavas.
Unfortunately i have no pictures of Mayapur, ISKCON and whereabouts to share,but the next post will focus on Ekachakra Dham, which i managed to cover in great detail.

India Series- Sridham Mayapur

Mayapur: The Place that every Gaudiya Vaisnava devotee longs to go. It was our third trip to Mayapur and the most interesting one. As soon as we were on the road to Mayapur, we saw a hearse. The gross way in which the glass covering exposes the body for all to see somewhat disturbed me, even though such things are common place in India where i come from. It was soon replaced by the beauty of the place. On the way to the ISKCON Chandrodaya temple are the lush green fields. Occasionally we spot a date palm or two with clay pots hanging on to the trunk to collect the fresh sap. Mango groves with green crowns stand there, reminding us of the Aamra Ghata pastimes that happened some 500 hundred years ago. Rickshaw wallas drive around in their cycle rickshaws or the flat bed rickshaws and haggle on the price with the passengers. Some others are seen coaxing devotee tourists to ride their 'rishkaw' as they call it. The simple life and the simple beauty of the people's faces is noticeable. Though the sun used to go down early in the evenings, it being winter, there was a feeling of oneness and magic in air, because all along the streets all you could hear was the Gaura Arotik Kirtans..

Apart from spending considerable time in the Samadhi mandirs of our Acharyas starting with our Guru Maharaja, HH Bhakti Tirtha Swami, Srila Prabhupada, Sri Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura, Srila Bhakti vinod Thakura, Sri Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaja and Srila Gour Kishore Das Babaji Maharaja, we visited amongst other places, Yogapith, the birthplace of Nimai/Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Here i prayed to Nimai (our home deities happen to be named Nimai -Nitai,hence i have special affinity for this form of the Lord), to steal my heart on hearing descriptions of His unique childhood pastimes. Visting Srila Bhaktivinod Thakura's Samadhi brought back memories of the past visits. As the pujari led a deep throated sonorous kirtan, i desperately tried to absorb my restless mind in the magic of the moment. After a bit of protesting, it settled down and took control of my senses making them respond to the gong bells that sounded with the kirtan and the words of the song itself began sinking into my mind with a great intensity. Visits to the Caitanya Math culminated in circumabulating the samadhi temple with the local Gaudiya Vaisnavas. A toothless grin, a nod of the head, a wave of the hand and some broken bangla, made me join the old ladies in their daily ritual of circumambulating the Samadhi mandir of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Sri Gandharvika Giridhari and the 4 Sampradaya Acaryas, followed by circumambulating Srila Gaur Kishore Das Babaji Maharaja's samadhi. The caranamrita there always tastes the best.I remember Vrinda drinking all the caranamrita and asking for more during our previous visit. The place also reminded me of how my mind had revolted and received punishment when i fell down twice, once almost into shyam kund and the other time on the way out of Srila Gaura Kishore Das Babaji Maharaja's Samadhi Mandir, also the previous time. This time i was a changed person! I was reluctant to leave Mayapur. Mayapur had cast its magic on me. Everything, starting with the devotees who sold books in front of the main temple, the evening harinam procession with Gaura Nitai deities, the well timed aroti at the different altars in the temple, Lord Narasimhadeva's fierce countenance, the guards at the temple door, the mahaprasadam stall, the 'dab' stall round the corner to Guru Maharaja's Samadhi and even the roaring sound of the machinery used in the new temple construction seemed magical. Chanting seemed surprisingly easy. With no chores to do. No cooking, washing etc., food seemed a secondary consideration with the Mahaprasadam stall and the Govinda's restaurant.. .time was set aside automatically for chanting and absorbing the mind in thoughts of the holy name. HH Janananda Maharaja's words reverberated in my mind. In reply to my question, he had paused and studied me momentarily as if gauging my seriousness. Then satisfied with my attitude he replied by saying that the relationship with the holy name will be revealed only through service, and service without causing offenses to the Vaisnavas especially. Ruminating on Maharaja's words solaced me, but still the goal seemed elusive. Meditating on the verse Nama Cintamani Krsnas Caitanya Rasa Vigrahah, i tried to sleep excited about what the next day would bring!

Nityananda Trayodasi Pictures

I worship Lord Nityananda, the limitless root of the tree of devotional service. He said to Lord Chaitanya, “O brother, the people are all becoming infected by the sins of Kali-yuga. How will they atone for these sins? Please give them a way to easily approach You.”
- From Nityanandashtaka by Srila Vrindavan Das Thakura.

Thank you Nitai!