J A G A N N A T H T E M P L E at P U R I
A TRUE STORY ON BANDHU MOHANTY, A DEVOTEE OF LORD JAGANNATH, PURI, ODISHA
There was a person named Bandhu Mohanty in the city of Jajpur in Orissa.
He had two daughters and one son. His wife was very obedient. He was very poor
and lived by begging alms. He had no reserve funds—whatever he collected in one
day he spent in one day with nothing left over. Bandhu Mohanty was a great
devotee of Lord Hari. He used to spend his days chanting the holy name of the
Lord. He was merciful to all living entities, was very truthful, and was very
fond of serving brahmanas. He was indifferent to his family life, knowing that
everything is temporary except die holy name of the Lord. In this way, he spent
his days happily.
Once there was drought in his area, and people were dying due to want of
food. Bhandu Mohanty went to some villages to beg alms, but the people had no
food even for themselves—how could they give alms to Bandhu Mohanty? He
returned to his house without any food, all the while meditating on the Lord.
His wife told him that the children were very hungry. They could not tolerate
their hunger pangs any longer. She asked, "Don't you have some relative
who can help us during this difficult time? Let us leave this place and go to
some other place where your rela¬tives are staying." Bandhu Mohanty
replied, "I have no relatives to help me, but I do have a friend. But He
lives far from here. He is the best among all the people. There is no one equal
to him. He lives in Sri Kshetra Pun dham. If some how or other we can man¬age
to reach him, our problems will be solved." His wife was very happy to
hear this. She said, "Then let us go there immediately. I will carry one
child. You will carry the other. Let us go there now without any delay.
Otherwise all of us will die." Bandhu Mohanty was very happy to hear this
from his wife. He thought it would be very nice to go to Sri Kshetra and take
darshan of Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra.
They started their journey to Sri Kshetra, arriving four days later.
They approached die Jagannath temple at die Lion Gate. Thousands of people were
visiting the temple, and security was very tight. Many guards were there widi
sticks in their hands. As it was not possible for tliem to enter die temple,
they took darshan of Patita-pavana, the deity of Lord at the entrance of the
temples eastern gate. Whoever is not allowed to enter the temple can take
darshan of this deity. Then Bandhu Mohanty went towards the southern gate near
Peja Nala, where all the starch from the cooked rice from Jagannaths kitchen
gathers. The cows drink this liquid known as peja. Bandhu Mohanty was very
tired. He sat down there near the south gate. His wife said, "Why are you
sitting here? It is getting late. Now it is already evening time. Let us go to
your friends house to get refreshed and eat something. We all are very tired
and hungry. Where is your friends house?" At this time all the children
also started to cry, saying, "We are very hungry. We cannot tolerate our
hunger any more. If you do not feed us, we will die very soon."
Bandhu Mohanty said to them, "Today there are many guests at my
friends house. The gate-keepers are allowing only selected guests inside. If
anyone tries to enter by force, they'll be beaten. Let us sleep here tonight.
We can drink some starch from Jagannaths kitchen and spend the night here.
Early in the morning we will go to meet with my friend and ask him to give us shelter
and food. My friend is very merciful." His wife agreed to die pro¬posal.
They arranged a broken clay pot, and all of them drank the rice-starch water,
and got a litde relief from their hunger. All the members of the family were
very tired and soon fell asleep. Bandhu Mohanty started to offer his prayers to
Lord Jagan-nath: "O Lord of the universe. You are maintaining everyone in
your creation. Am I out of your creation? We are dying here due to want of
food. Please bless us. Otherwise we loose our lives. Please consider our
case." While he was praying to the Lord in this way, he fell asleep.
In the meantime the Lord Jagannaths pujari completed the evening
offering to the Lord. After finishing the puja, he locked the temple door, and
with the key in hand, headed towards his home. During the night, Lord Jagannath
became very worried that His devotee was sleepmg without having eaten anything.
He could not sleep. "My friend has come from so far. How can I sleep
peacefully without feeding him? He has come here thinking I am his only friend,
to seek My help at this time." Then the Lord of the universe entered into
the storeroom and took one golden plate in His hand. He collected many
varieties of foodstuffs like cakes, sweet rice, vegetable rice, all kinds of
dry sweet prasada. Then He came to south gate of the temple. The Lord called,
"Oh my dear Bandhu, please come here." Bandhu Mohanty heard someone
call¬ing his name. He thought, "Maybe they are calling someone else. There
must be so many people here with this name. No one knows me here, so who could
be calling my name?" Thinking like this, he did not respond. Then the Lord
called again, "Oh, Bandhu Mo¬hanty from Jajpur, please listen. You are
staying near Peja Nala along with your family. Please come here. I have brought
food for you." Hearing this, Bandhu went and saw an old brahmana ready to
hand him a plate filled with so many varieties of foodstuffs. The Lord, in the
form of this old brahmana, told Bandhu, "Please ac¬cept this food and feed
your family members. Tomorrow morning I will arrange everything for you."
Saying this, the Lord disappeared from there. Bandhu Mohanty took prasada very
happily. He woke up all the family members, and they all honored prasada very
hap¬pily, then once again slept, content with full bellies. After cleaning the
plate, Bandhu Mohanty went to the south gate to return the plate. He pushed the
door, expecting that the brahmana would be there and he could return the plate
to him. But to his surprise the brahmana was not there. Bandhu went back to his
sleeping place and wrapping the plate in his cloth, decided he would return it
in the morning.
Early the next morning, Lord Jagannath s pujaris opened the temple gate.
Everybody was busy with their individual services. When they opened the store
room they discovered the golden plate of Lord Jagannath was missing. The plate
had been stolen! The pu¬jaris reported the theft to temple management, and the
police ar¬rested all the pujaris and beat them, thinking that it could only have
been a pujari who had stolen the plate from inside the store room. It happened
that by chance some people saw one person along with his family
sleeping near the south gate of the temple. They could see the golden plate
wrapped in his cloth. The plate was dazzling in the sunshine. Immediately
several people caught hold of Bandhu Mohanty. They bound him with rope, beat
him severely, and took away the golden plate. Bandhu Mohanty and his wife both
explained how one bralunana gave them this plate filled with prasada in the
middle of the night. After eating he went to return the plate to the brahmana
but could not find him, and that was how the plate ended up with in his cloth.
Bandhu Mohanty and his wife appealed to the police: "We are not at fault.
Why are you all beating us with out any fault?" But nobody cared for what
they said. He was arrested and put in prison. Bandhu Mohanty stayed in the
prison house. He fixed his mind on Lord Jagannath and started to offer prayers:
"Dear Lord Jagannath, I am the greatest sinful person in this universe.
You are an ocean of mercy. There is no one as sinful as me, and there is no one
like You, the great deliver of the fallen souls. Whatever You wish to do with
me, please do it. I have no other shelter than You." Thinking like this he
meditated upon the lotus feet of the Lord.
Later that evening all the temple devotees completed their services to
the Lord and went back to their respective houses. That Lord, who is all
pervading and always worried for His devotees, could not tolerate the suffering
of His devotee. He immediately climbed on the back of Garuda and went to the
palace of the King. At that time the King was sleepmg. The Lord appeared to the
King in his sleep and told him, "Oh King, please listen: when guests come
to your house, do you let them stay without feeding them and caring for them?
Is there anyone in your palace who stays with out eating? My friend had come
all the way from Jajpur along with his whole family with so much faith in Me. I
provided him food. Did I spend your fathers property? I served My friend
prasada on My gold plate. What is the problem for you? Your people caught him
along with his whole family, and they were beaten severely. They
bound them hand and foot and threw them in the prison house. Now my friend s
whole family is suffering so much. I order you to go immediately to Puri to
release them from jail and wash their lotus feet with the greatest humility.
Give them the best cloth and ornaments. Place a turban on my friends head in
order to give him topmost respect. My friend deserves the same service from you
as you give to Me. You will provide him and his family with the best food and
accommodation for their whole life. If you do not follow My order, your whole
family will be destroyed." After saying this, Lord Jagannath woke the
King, and then left the palace.
The King immediately called all his ministers and explained everything
to them. He personally went to the prison house to re¬lease Bandhu Mohanty, and
embraced him with affection. The King said, "My life has become successful
simply by taking your darshan. Now I am blessed. Please forgive me for all the
offenses committed by my people." After saying this, the King performed
abhishek to Bandhu Mohanty with holy water, gave him opulent cloth for wearing,
and placed a turban on his head with great re¬spect. He arranged for the.
maintenance of Bandhu Mohanty s whole family for the rest of their lives. The
King respected them as if they were his own relatives. He arranged a house for
them near the south gate of the temple. Bandhu Mohanty was happy to stay next
to his friend Lord Jagannath. He happily served Lord Jagan¬nath along with his
whole family for the rest of their lives.
This is an example of the bhakta-vatsalya mood of Lord Jagannath.
Whoever serves Him with great faith, He reciprocates with him in this way. He
is very dear to His faithful devotees. Whoever lacks faith, for him Lord
Jagannath is very far away. Whoever hears this pastime of Bandhu Mohanty will
be free from the reaction of all sinful activities. He will achieve success in
all his attempts and will never see Yama-loka. This is the verdict of all the
Vedic scriptures.
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