MANIA DAS, the Great Devotee of Lord Jagannath

MANIA   DAS, the Great Devotee of Lord Jagannath

A house holder named Mania Das, was living in Srikhetra Puri many years ago. He had a family consisting of wife and others. He used to maintain himself and his family by selling malas or garlands of flowers & Tulasi (basil leaves) and providing regularly to the deities in the Temple of Lord Jagannath. As ill luck would have it, except him all his family members died. He realized the illusory world and was quite convinced that nothing in this world is permanent and everybody is mortal. All have to be separated from each other one day. He could see that his own wife and his own son died in his very sight and got separated from him in no time. He developed dispassion and through discrimination, he could become firm that the name of Lord is only true, which can save him and release him from world bondage and Cycle of Birth and Death. All other matters are unreal. This realization made him to take shelter under a Guru of Vaisnaba faith and get himself initiated to Vaisnavism and became a staunch Vaisnab. Daily he used to put on only a Kaupin tied with a rope around his waist and used to make Bhajan, chanting the  names of Sri Hari with much devotional feeling. In the early morning, he used to leave his bed, take his bath in Mahodadhi in the sacred sea water near Puri in Brahmamuhurta  and he put on marks of twelve Tilaks on his forehead and a garland of Tulasi around his neck. He used to hold one half of the fully dried coconut shell in one hand and another half in other hand and clapped both hands together frequently to resound as "Kartal" and holding tightly by one piece of torn loin cloth in between shoulder joint and chest. He was daily singing in Badadanda while moving in hot haste towards Srimandira. His eyes used to meet Patitapaban (The Saviour of Downtrodden) in front of Lions Gate (Singhadwar). He used to dance there out of emotion and devotion from the depth of his heart and sing devotional songs and prostrates again and again by falling on the ground and sleeping on the Badadanda out of devotional stance and ecstasy.

     After doing this for a long time, he used to come inside of Sri Jagamohan of Sri Mandir, stand behind the Garuda stambha, and look at Lord Jagannath from there, then fall prostrate on the ground, and make Dandabata to and Sastanga Pranam to Lord. Then he used to get up, raise two of his hands and then put on his face thinking himself quite purified by looking at the Lord. He used to see Srimukha of the Lord and dance, chant after making sound by hitting the dry coconut shells holding in his two hands. In this way, while dancing, he used to look towards Argali, the path leading to Ratnasinghasan, where Mahaprabhu is seated. He was dancing backward and forward while singing in between Garuda Stambha and Aragali in Jagamohan. In that position he used to keep his hands upraised, while reciting hymns in praise of Lord shouting aloud. Sometimes, he used to come to the place in Jagamohan. The Pandas, known as Puranapandas used to sit and read Puranas like Vishnupurana and other Brahmins, devotees, sit by surrounding them and listen to recitation and discourse on Puranas. By the dance of Mania Das in such a emotional way, their reading and discourse were disturbed. Even Mania Das used to come to their proximity quietly to touch the sacred Puran. This is taken as offence like Namaparadha and it became intolerable for Pandas to see Mania Das dancing half-naked upraising his hands and lifting his legs above, and touching the sacred Bishnu Purana. They became infuriated and abused Mania Das, threatened him not to do so while recitation of Purana was going on. They asked him to listen to the Purana. Mania Das being offended left the Jagamohan without dancing. He remained outside. He did not took the Mahaprasad. It hurt Lord Jagannath. In dream, everything that happened to Mania Das, was conveyed to the Gajapati king, the Thakur Maharaja. Lord asked the king to proceed to console Mania Das, beg excuse, offer cloth, take him inside temple by holding his hands, feed him Mahaprasad and allowed him to dance in Jagamohan to please the Lord. The same night, Lord Jagannath met Mania Das with Mahaprasad in hands and revealed His identity to Mania Das who was overwhelmed by the appearance of Lord before him and he partook the Mahaprasad. Next day, the king himself came on horse back and met Mania Das outside the temple, lifted him from his sleep from the ground, embraced him and held his two hands, led him to the Jagamohan, offered a cloth on his head and proclaimed that Mania Das would dance here as usual. No citation of Purana would be there. Puranapath will be done in the Jagamohan of the  Mahalaxmi temple. In the Jagamohan of Lord Jagannath in between the Garuda Stamba and Aragali in front of Lords seated in Ratnasinghasan, devotees will be allowed to do Kirtan, sing hymns, prayers, clap hands, sing glory of Lord with musical instruments etc. to dance prostrate and offer devotion. Till date this tradition continues. Lord Himself proved that thoughtful Bhajan and staunch Bhakti is needed for Him. He can not tolerate the offence to his devotees. In this age Bhajan of Hari should be only ritual to release the human being from the worldly bondage. Suka patha (loud recitation Puran like a Suka, Parrot without understanding the meaning of Bhava and inner devotion without putting into practice the messages of the Purana will not be effective remedy to purify heart and attain God realization.

This is an authentic story from Sri Dardhyata Bhakti, written in Oriya by Rama Das.

Source : http://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2009/June/engpdf/82-83.pdf

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