Raghu Arakshita
Once upon a time, there was a very rich man named Krishna Mahapatra in
the state of Bengal. His wife's name was Kamala, and they had one son named
Raghunath, who was a great devotee of Lord Jagannath. Raghunath always served
everyone very nicely, and was charitable in nature. When Raghunath reached at
the age of sixteen, his parents looked for a girl to marry their dear son. Near
by lived another very rich man named Gangadhar. He had seven sons and one
daughter called Annapurna. She was a very auspicious girl, endowed with all
good qualities. The families made a pact to marry Ragu to Annapurna.
Raghunath was so charitable that he donated all his wealth to poor
people, and thus ended up poor himself. Being deprived of wealth, his father
left his body. His mother entered into the fire and thus killed herself. Only Raghunath
was left behind. He understood that life is useless. He thought to himself,
"What is use of this life? Lord Jagannath is controller of everything.
That Lord, the husband of Lamxi Devi, is residing in Nilachala Kshetra. Better
I go there and offer my prayers to Him. I will exist there by eating Jagannath
mahaprasad. Even if I will die there still it will be preferable to this. I
will get liberation as it is a holy place." Thus Raghunath went to Puri
and took darshan of Lord Jagannath. At the altar of Jagannath, Raghunatha prayed,
"O my Lord, both my father and mother have died and have left me behind. I
am now arakshita, there is no one to take care of me. Now I am Raghu Arakshita.
I take shelter at Your lotus feet. I am your slave, your purchased servant.
Please do with me whatever You like." Thus he offered his prayers to the
Lord and travelled around Puri dhama. He visited different ashrams, and
whatever he could find to eat he was happy with. He was living happily by
taking darshan of Lord Jagannath daily. Thus many days passed. His
father-in-law came to know that Raghunath was now wandering in Puri as Raghu
Arakshita, and living by begging. The father-in-law thought that Raghunath had
become a mad man, and thus he became concerned for his daughter Annapurna. How
could his daughter be the wife of a person like this? He thought to himself,
"It is better I find another boy to give Annapurna in marriage to."
There was one rich person named Basu Mahapatra, who had a son. Annpurna's
marriage was arranged with the son of Basu Mahapatra, and the date was fixed
for the month of Phalguna.
When Annpurna heard about her father’s arrangement to marry her to
another boy, she became very worried. She did not want to marry another boy
while her husband was still alive. She prayed to the Lord, "O my Lord, you
have delivered Gajendra, the king of elephants when he was in danger. You saved
Draupadi when she was mistreated by the Kauravas. Please save me now from this
danger. Please arrange that I can meet with my husband." Annapurna began
to seek out someone who was going to Puri so that they might carry a message to
her husband about the situation. She finally found some villagers who were
leaving for Puri to take darshan of Lord Jagannath. She wrote a letter to her
husband, saying, "My parents are arranging my remarriage with the son of
Basu Mahapatra in next month, the month of Phalguna. You must come here
immediately and save me from this helpless situation. Whether you come or do
not come, know it for sure if you do not reach here within ten days, I will
commit suicide. You will be responsible for death of a woman."
She sealed the envelope and sent the letter with one villager. She told
him, "Kindly give this letter to my husband, who is living in Puri by
begging from house to house." The person started his journey and after
some days reached Puri and took darshan of Lord Jagannath. But he had not
forgotten about the letter for Raghu Arakshita. He asked everyone he met of
Raghunatha's whereabouts. Finally one day, at the Lion Gate in front of the Jagannath
temple, he found Raghunatha, and handed over the letter to him. Raghu read the
letter and immediately understood the situation of his wife. But what could he
do now? There were only 10 days left. From Puri to go her house it would take
more than ten days. How could he travel there within a few days? If he didn't
reach Puri soon, his wife would commit suicide. Raghunatha went to the temple
and offered his prayers to Lord Jagannath, asking Him for help. While he was
praying to the Lord, he fell asleep. Lord Jagannath, who is famous as
Bhakta-vatsala, could not tolerate the trouble His devotee was going through.
Immediately he called Vetal (a goblin) and instructed him to take Raghunatha
back to his father-in-law's house while he slept. Vetal put Raghunatha on top
of a mystical cot and flew him to the village of Kalavati pura, where his wife
was living in her father's house. He placed Raghunatha at the front door and
left. Early the next morning, when Raghunatha woke up, he found himself sleeping
somewhere different from where he'd fallen asleep. He thought, "I was
sleeping in front of the Lion Gate. How did I arrive here? Which village is
this? Whose ashram is this?" He asked people who were walking by him where
he was. They informed him tliat the village name was Kalavati pura. "You
are now sitting in front of the house of Krishna Mohapatra." Raghu
understood, and thought to himself, "This was the arrangement of the Lord.
Only Jagannath could have done this. Who else has the power to perform such a
feat? The whole universe is His playground; this is not a big thing for
Him." While Raghu was thinking like this his brother-in-law opened the
door and saw Raghu sitting on the doorstep, unclean and wearing torn and dirty
cloth. He immediately returned inside and informed his parents. The whole
family came to see Raghu. His wife Annpurna was very happy to see that her
husband had come back, but the other family members were not so happy to see
him. They did not want Annapurna to be with Raghu, but at the same time they
could not reject him, as he was her husband. Fearing what passers-by would think
if they saw Raghu on the doorstep, they quickly took him inside the house,
cleaned him very nicely, and brought fresh cloth for him to wear. Externally the
family was very nice to him, but in their hearts they were already conceiving
of a plan to be rid of him: they wanted to kill Raghu so that Annapurna could
be saved from his association and marry the other boy.
A feast was prepared for Raghu. The family made many cakes, and mixed
poison into the ingredients. Annapurna, who was a most chaste lady, could
understand the plan of her family to kill her husband by making him eat poison
cakes. She wrote a note to Raghu, saying, "These cakes have poison inside
them. Do not eat them!" She slipped the note inside one cake as she served
it to Raghu. When Raghu was served the preparations, first he offered
everything to Lord Jagannath then took the remnants. He bit into a cake, and by
Jagannaths mercy, the first mouthful contained the note from Annapurna. When Raghu
read the note, his only concern was that he had offered Lord Jagannath poison.
He thought to himself, "Oh no! I have committed a big offense. But what
can be done? This is now Jagannatha prasada. How can I reject it? Even if I
die, let me die taking the Lord's prasada. I have to die one day— what better
way than by taking the Lord s prasada?' Thinking like this, Raghu ate all the
prasada, remembering the name of Lord Govinda as he ate.
As soon as he swallowed the cake, the poison entered his body and Raghu
fell on the ground. His father-in-law and others were very happy to see that
Raghu had died. Annapurna's father advised his sons, "Before sunrise you
must burn him. If anyone asks what happened, tell them he was bitten by a
snake." When Annapurna came to know that her husband had died, she decided
to enter into his funeral pyre and kill herself. She sat down and meditated
upon Lord Jagannath. Immediately Lord Jagannaths simhasana started to shake.
The Lord came to know that His devotee was in trouble, and came to save Raghu.
He saw His devotee lying dead. Lord Jagannath very affectionately picked up
Raghu and placed him in His lap, just as a father picks up his son. As soon as
Raghu felt the touch of the Lord, he came back to life as though from a long
sleep. As soon as Raghu awoke, Lord Jagannath disappeared. Raghu could
understand that the Lord had saved him from the effects of the poison. He sat
down and started to chant the holy name of the Lord throughout the whole night.
The next morning, when the family members opened the door of the room
where Raghu's dead body was lying, they were surprised to see him sitting and
chanting the holy name of Rama and Krishna. They said to each other, "How
is it possible that this person, in spite of eating poison, is still alive? He
must not be an ordinary person." Realizing this, they all went to Raghu
and begged forgiveness. Raghu said to them, "You are all faultless. It is my karma. I must
have fed someone poison in a previous life, so that is why I was fed poison. My
Lord is Darubrahma Jagannath. By His mercy only, I have had my life returned to
me."
Raghu continued, "Because I have become poor you are planning for
Annapurna to marry someone else. If you all want that, then let me go. Or, if
you are at all interested in following the dharma, then give me my wife; let me
take her with me. Do whatever you like, but I am leaving now." Saying
this, Raghu started to leave the house. Everyone ran after him and stopped him
from leaving. They asked Annpurna what she wanted to do. According to her
desire, they decorated her nicely and let her go with Raghu. Annpurna told
Raghu, "You are my husband, my lord. Please take me with you wherever you
go." And so Raghu and his wife started the journey to Puri. After Raghu
left, the father sent a messenger to Basu Mahapatra's, whose son Annapurna was
meant to marry. The messenger told the son of Basu Mahapatra, "We cannot
give Annapurna in marriage to you, as her husband returned and claimed her,
taking her back to Puri. We tried our best to save her from his hand, but
nothing worked. Now they are on their way to Jagannath Puri. Please do whatever
you want to do." As soon as he got this message, the son immediately
prepared a group of soldiers and sent them to catch Raghu. They found Raghu and
Annapurna on the main road to Pun. They said to Raghu, "Who are you to
steal this girl? If you want to return to Puri alie, then leave this girl
behind. Otherwise we will arrest you." When Raghu looked behind he found
many soldiers behind him. Seeing this, Annpurna became very scared. "What
will happen now?" she asked Raghu. "They are following us; they will
kill you and kidnap me! I am destined to suffer so much. How will we be saved
now?"
Raghu replied, "Do not be worried. My Lord is Darubrahma
Jagannatli. This danger is nothing for Him to remove. That Lord who united us,
who saved me from the poison, will save us now also. Why are you so scared?
Even Brahma and Indra are meditating on His lotus feet to be free from fear.
What fear do we have when we have a Lord like Jagannath?"
While Raghu was speaking like this to his wife, two very powerful
personalities riding on two horses arrived on the scene. They were decorated
like soldiers, and the asked Raghu, "Where have you come from? Where will
you go? There is no one with you. So many soldiers are following behind you.
Please tell us the problem." Raghu explained everything to the two
solders. Both soldiers guarded Raghu and his wife and told them, "Now you
have nothing to fear. Come with us." Lord Jagannath created an illusion before
the soldiers, who were tricked into thinking that Raghu and his wife were
surrounded by thousands of forms of Narayana. They all became scared and
quickly ran away in fear. Then the two soldiers on horseback brought Raghu and
his wife safely to the edge of the province. Raghu was very much obliged. He
offered his obeisances, and said to them, "If you hadn't come, we would
have been killed. Thank you very much." Raghu could not recognize that the
two soldiers were Jagannath and Balarama. But how could he? Even Brahma and
Indra are not able to understand the pastimes of the Lord. After saving Raghu
and his wife, Jagannath and Balaram went back to Nilachala Dham to Their
temple.
After few days both Raghu and his good wife reached Puri. They went to
take darshan of the Lord. They arranged to live in a house near the temple.
Raghu was very happy to hear the pastimes of the Lord daily. He visited the
temple and attended all of the arati's. He would render some service to the
Lord and chant and dance in front of the deities. Every day Raghu would go out
to beg, and whatever he received, Annapurna would cook and offer to the Lord.
After her husband was satisfied by the prasada, she would take his remnants.
She would not even drink water without first feeding her husband. She served
Raghu very sincerely.
Raghu was very merciful to all living entities, and would eagerly serve
all the Vaisnavas. Gradually his good name spread all over Puri. Even though
poor, he had many good qualities. He was a beggar, yet still he would give to
anyone whatever they asked from him. Once, some Vaisnavas came to visit Nilachala-dhama.
They took darshan of Jagannath and were looking for some prasada to honor. The
local people told them, "Go to Raghu Arakshita's house. He will treat you
very nicely, as he always serves Vaisnavas very respectfully." When the
devotees arrived at Raghu s house, he was very happy to see so many sadhus at
his place. He asked, "How may I serve you?" The sadhus told him they
were hungry, and were looking for some prasada to honor. Raghu wondered what to
do, as he had no money, and no way of serving these sadhus. He went inside and
asked his wife, "What should we do now? Sadhus have come to our house. How
can we serve them? We have no money with us." His wife said, "No
problem. I am giving you all my ornaments. Please take these ornaments and in
exchange bring some money from the merchant. We can feed these Vaisnavas nicely."
Raghu replied, "I am a poor beggar. If I go to the merchant with valuable
ornaments, he will think that I have stolen them from someone. Better you go to
meet the merchant and bring the money."
Following the order of her husband, Annpurna quickly went to the merchant’s
house and sold her ornaments. The merchant was of bad character, and very
lusty. He became attracted to the beauty of Annapurna and told her, "You
need not sell me your ornaments. I will give you money only if in exchange you
allow me to enjoy with you." Hearing this, Annapurna fled from the merchant’s
house, and returned to her husband, telling him everything. She said, "You
are my husband. Whatever you instruct me I will do." Raghu said, "We
must serve these sadhus, so do whatever is necessary to serve them. You must
agree to the proposal of the merchant and get money from him immediately."
So Annapurna went to the merchant and returned with money from him. She told
him, "Please come to my house during the night. I will fulfill your
desires." The merchant was very happy to hear this, and gave Annapurna the
money in advance. Raghu bought many varieties of Jagannath prasada with the
money and fed all the sadhus to their hearts' content. They were all so happy
to receive so much Jagannath prasada. After taking prasada, they gave their
blessings to Raghu, praising him for his generosity, and left his house.
As evening approached, Raghu said to his wife, "Now the merchant
will come to our house. You must serve him nicely. You should serve his feet a
hundred times better than you serve me." Saying this, Raghu went to other
room. Annpurna dressed herself nicely and was waiting in her room for the
arrival of the merchant. When he arrived, Annpurna said to him, "My dear
merchant, please come inside my room. There is no one else here. Do not
fear." But as she spoke she was meditating upon Lord Jagannath, praying to
Him, "O my Lord, You are famous for protecting Draupadi. When I have a
Lord like You, I have no fear from this danger." When the merchant entered
the room, he saw Annpurna sitting on the bed very blissfully. But she was not
alone: Lord Hari was on the bed, and Annapurna was in His lap. It looked just
like Lord Hari sitting with Lamxi Devi, or Lord Shiva with Parvati. When the
merchant saw this he became bewildered. He was struck with sudden realization,
and thought, "What I see here is burning fire. What have I done? I was
trying to jump into fire. I have developed this nasty desire towards Annapurna,
who is just like my mother." Thinking like this the merchant immediately
fell at the feet of Annapurna. Annapurna became surprised to see this kind of behaviour.
She thought, "This merchant was supposed to enjoy with me. Why is he
falling at my feet?" She could not understand anything. She told the
merchant, "Please, it is not good that you are falling at my feet. Please
get up." The merchant replied, "Oh chaste lady! Please excuse me. I
am your son. If the son commits some offense, the mother always excuses him. I
am such a fool and rascal that I did not know that you are such a pious and
chaste lady. Please bless me.
Raghu was waiting in the next room. He was wondering whether his wife
was serving the merchant properly or not. He wanted to make sure she served him
as per her promise, otherwise they would remain indebted. He was surprised to
see that the merchant was lying at the feet of Annapurna. He asked the
merchant, "Why are you falling at the feet of my wife? Please get
up." The merchant got up and then fell at the feet of Raghu. He said,
"How fortunate are you! Just see how the Lord of the universe is holding
your wife in His lap!" Everyone became very surprised to hear this. They
looked around, but immediately Lord Hari disappeared from the room. All three
of them were in ecstasy with love of Godhead. All of them were embracing each
other and glorifying the Lord. The merchant gave them great wealth. Both Raghu
and his wife spent their life always engaging themselves in the service of the
Lord Jagannath, and at the end of their lives, they went back to Vaikuntha.
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