Ganapati Bhatta
There was a brahmana by the name of Ganapati Bhatta who lived in a small
village called Kaniari in the state of Karnataka. He was a great devotee of Lord Sri Hari and was very merciful to others. He was free from greed, had no
attachment to sense gratification, and was wellversed in all the scriptures.
All of his senses, including the mind, were completely under his control. He
only worshiped Lord Vishnu, and had no interest in worshiping any demigods. He
knew that Lord Jagannath is all-in-all, the controller of everything. Anyone
who takes shelter of His lotus feet will be freed from material bondage.
Without the mercy of that Parambrahma, no one can be delivered. Ganapati Bhatta
was always thinking, "If I can see that Parambrahma in His transcendental
form with my own two eyes, then my life will be successful."
One day Ganapati Bhatta was reading Brahma Purana about how the Lord
manifested in Nilagiri in His transcendental form. If one sees Him in this
form, he will be freed from material bondage and will get liberation. He will
not face Yamaraj ever again. When Ganapati Bhatta read this, it touched his
heart. Then he understood this life is useless. He thought, "What is the
use of wife, children and wealth? Parambrahma has manifested on this earth in
Nilagiri. I am spending my time uselessly, being unaware of this fact. Why
should I be so foolish to stay here after knowing that the Lord has manifested
in Nilagiri? As long as I have strength in my body, my wife, all these children
and relatives will be with me. No one will accompany with me when I leave this
body. When I become old, my children and wife will think I am great burden
upon them. In this material world, no one is the friend of any one."
Ganapati Bhatta thought, "Better I go to Nilagiri and take darshan
of Parambrahma so that I can get liberation." Thinking in this way, he
left his house and started the journey to Puri. He was living on what he
attained through begging on his way to Puri, and was happy to get whatever was
available. Sometimes he fasted because food was not available to him. He would
pacify his hunger by eating some leaves and drinking water. Finally Ganapati
Bhatta reached Athara Nala, a place just at the entrance of Puri. It is believed
that once someone crosses this place to enter Puri dham, they will not face any
punishment from Yamaraj. Ganapati Bhatta purified himself by taking darshan of
that place and sat down to meditate upon Brahman. Later Ganapati Bhatta saw
some people returning from Puri. They were looking very happy and holding pots
of Jagannath Prasada in their hands. Ganapati Bhatta asked them, "Kindly
tell me where you have all come from? Why are you all so happy? What have you
achieved?"
The travellers replied, "O dear brahmana, we are returning from
Nilakandar (Jagannath temple). There we spent five days, taking darshan of
Parambrahma. Now we are all going to our homes, very happy and satisfied. It is
very rare to have darshan of the Lord. After taking darshan of the Lord, what
else is there to achieve?"
Hearing this from the travellers, Ganapati Bhatta was very surprised. He
asked them, "Have you really seen Brahman?" They replied, "Yes,
we took His darshan."After this exchange, the travellers continued on
their way. Ganapati Bhatta thought to himself, "This cannot be true that
Brahman is here. They have not seen Brahman. If they had, why are they coming
back? They should have all merged into Brahman. That is what I have heard from
the Purana: that any one who takes darshan of Brahman at Nilagiri immediately
attains liberation. So how can these people be going back to their houses even
after getting darshan of Brahman?" He asked many people who were coming
from Puri. They were all coming back after taking darshan of the Lord. Ganapati
Bhatta became very confused. He opened the Purana and checked it again and
again. He saw that the Purana clearly mentioned that Brahman resides in Puri.
If one sees Him, he will get liberation immediately. Ganapati Bhatta was very
confused and thought, "What should I do now? Now I do not know what to do.
I do not know what is right and what is wrong. Better I commit suicide and give
up this body. But then again, it is not good to commit suicide."
Lord Jagannath understood the mind of Ganapati Bhatta. He came to meet
with Ganapati Bhatta in the form of an old brahmana. He asked Bhatta,
"Where have you come from? Where are you planning to go? Why are you
sitting here and looking so sad? Bhatta replied, "My dear brahmana, please
listen. I read in the Purana that Brahman is in Nilagiri. Just by getting
darshan of Him one attains immediate liberation. But now I found there is no
Brahman in Puri." The Lord in the form of old brahmana asked Ganapati
Bhatta, "How did you decide that there is no Brahman in Puri?" Bhatta
replied, "As far as I know, if someone sees Brahman then he is supposed to
merge into His body and thus get liberation. But now I have seen many people
coming back from Puri even after seeing the form of the Lord. From this I
conclude that there is no Brahman there. If there was, then after taking darshm
of Brahman all of these people would have attained liberation." Hearing
this,He smiled and replied, "Lord Hari is known as kalpataru. That means
He fulfills everyone desires. These people had come with a desire to go back to
their house so the Lord fulfilled their desire. Otherwise how can He be vanchakalpataru,
a wish fulfilling tree? If some one comes here thinking to be happy here, or to
get liberation or to go back to His abode to serve Him, they will get the
result according to their desire. Please do not think that there is no Brahman
here." After saying this, the Lord in the form of the brahmana left
Ganapati Bhatta. He prepared himself to enter Puri dham.
He reached the Lion Gate of the Jagannath temple and took darshan of
Patitapavana. Coincidentally that day was Devasnana purnima. Lord Jagannath,
Baladeva, Subhadra and Sudarshan Chakra were brought to snana-mandap (the
bathing platform) for taking bath (abhishek). Many pujaris were pouring water
on the deitites of the Lords. Thousands of devotees were there calling,
"Jaya! Jaya! All glories! All glories!" Many demigods were there disguised
in human form. Ganapati Bhatta was a believer of the Ganesh form of the Lord.
Ganapati Bhatta took darshan of the Lord Darubrahma. But he did not see the
elephant face of the Lord. He had strong faith that Brahman had a face like an
elephant. But here he saw some different face. He thought the deities could not
be Brahman since they did not have elephant faces. Dissatisfied, he left the
place without even offering obeisances. He was very disappointed. He was
convinced that Brahman had a face like an elephant. Understanding his firm conviction,
Lord Jagannath immediately appeared to Mudiratha, the representative of the
King of Puri. The Lord told him, "My devotee came from a great distance to
see me. But now he is going back, being very much disappointed at not seeing
the elephant-faced form of Mine. You go immediately and call him back. Tell him
that he should come back and have darshan of My form with an elephant
face."
Mudiratha immediately got up and ran to bring Ganapati Bhatta back to
Puri. He explained to Ganapati Bhatta, "Lord Darubrahma is able to give
chatwabarga, four kinds of benedictions. Please take darshan of the Lord. All
your desires will be fulfilled. The Lord is here in the form of Darubrahma in
Nilagiri to fulfill everyone's desires. Why are you so foolish, going back without
taking darshan of the Lord?" Bhatta replied with great anger, "Where
is Brahman? Why are you cheating me? I did not see an elephant face. How can
there be Brahman without an elephant face? If I do not see a trunk on the face,
I do not accept this as a deity of Brahman. I do not care what you say. Why are
you trying to bring me back?" Mudiratha replied, "You must give up
your wrong impression. Just come back and look very attentively. You will see
the elephant face of the Lord. There is no doubt about this."
After hearing this, Ganapati Bhatta returned to the temple. He looked
upon the Lord, and there he saw the face of an elephant. There was a very big
trunk and one beautiful tusk on His face. Manifesting His wonderful Viswarup,
the Lord called His devotee. Bhatta offered his respectful obeisances and
prayers. "O my Lord Gajanana, Darubrahma, Ganapati, Lord of everyone! Now
I am satisfied to have Your darshan. All my doubts are dispelled. Now I have
one request to You: from today onwards, whenever you come to this snanamandap
on this day, please manifest this form and give Your darshan to everyone."
After saying this, Ganapati Bhatta fell on the ground meditating upon
Darubrahma. He immediately merged into the body of the Lord. Everybody could
see his soul entered into the body of the Lord like lightning. The crowd was
shouted, "All glories! All glories!" Even today, Sri Jagannath, Sri
Baladeva and Srimati Subhadra are dressed in hativesa after taking Their bath
on Snan Purnima day.
Just see the greatness of the Lord Jagannath! This Lord is worshiped by
Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva. Just to satisfy His devotee, He accepted an
elephant face. That is why He is known as Bhavagrahi, one who accepts the mood
of His devotee.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
No comments:
Post a Comment