Lord Caitanya’s Ecstasy at Rathayatra This page: Despite the efforts of horses, elephants, powerful wrestlers, and thousands of people, Lord Jagannatha’s chariot would not budge until Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu moved it merely by pushing with His head. At right: Jagannatha Puri Rathayatra in 2006. Being Krishna Himself in the role of His own devotee, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu could relish the spiritual tastes of Lord Jagannatha’s chariot festival like no one else
Whenever I attend Rathayatra in cities across America, I recall my cherished memories of attending Lord Jagannatha’s chariot festival in Jagannatha Puri, as a young boy. I’m reminded of the thrill I felt when my father took me to Grand Road, the traditional route of the Rathayatra festival, to witness the spectacular Pandu Vijaya Utsava, the ceremonial procession of the Lord from His throne to His splendid chariot. Decorated with gems, flower garlands, yellow silk cloth, and a gigantic multi-colored crown, the Lord appeared especially effulgent. Indeed, the Vedic scriptures Caitanya’s Ecstasy at Rathayatra tell us that as Lord Jagannatha proceeds from the main temple to the Gundicha Temple in His chariot adorned with a bright, multicolored canopy, He becomes the center of attraction for the entire universe. I remember the loud kirtanas all around me ringing in my ears, the congregational chanting rising above the rhythmic percussion. In unison, devotees chanted “Jaya Jagannatha!” (“All glories to the Lord of the universe!”)
Years later, while I was staying in Mumbai, I visited Jagannatha Puri during the Rathayatra Festival. Many ISKCON devotees from around the world had gathered to chant and dance in front of the chariots of Jagannatha, His elder brother Baladeva (Balarama), and Their sister Subhadra. During this period, Puri becomes flooded with pilgrims enthusiastic to see Lord Jagannatha and offer Him prayers from the side of the road, or even from trees and rooftops. Srila Prabhupada has mentioned that even the demigods and demigoddesses become so eager to see the Lord and His colorful chariot festival that the traffic of their celestial airplanes congests the sky.
According to the Skanda Purana, Lord Jagannatha’s Rathayatra has been going on for thousands of years. When Lord Krishna appeared as Lord Caitanya, who is Krishna in the form of His devotee, He took part in the festival every year for eighteen years so that He could relish the transcendental bliss of reciprocation with the Supreme Lord.
Five hundred years ago Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in Sridhama Mayapur, West Bengal, on the bank of the holy river Ganges in the house of Jagannatha Misra and Sacidevi. He descended for two main reasons, external and internal. His external reason was to deliver souls from the material world by inspiring them to chant Hare Krishna congregationally. The Vedic scriptures recommend this as the spiritual process for this age, the yuga-dharma.
The internal reason for Krishna’s appearance as Lord Caitanya is to relish the depth and bliss of Radharan i’s love for Him and to experience, as a devotee, the sweetness and charm of His own personality. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna, but His mood is that of Radharani, who exhibits the highest form of Krishna-prema, pure love of God. He is called Gauranga (“golden body”) because, like Radha, His bodily luster is like that of molten gold.
During the later part of His life, Lord Caitanya lived in Puri and was completely immersed in pastimes with His intimate associates and the deity of Lord Jagannatha, who is Krishna Himself. Every day, Lord Caitanya visited Jagannatha’s temple to see His beloved.
Seeking Solace at alarnatha
Two weeks before the Rathayatra festival, Lord Jagannatha is publicly bathed in a ceremony known as snana-yatra. He then supposedly catches a cold and goes into seclusion. The temple is closed to the public while He “recovers.” To help Him regain His strength for the chariot festival, He is offered kichri (rice and lentils cooked together) and ginger-lemon tea with herbs and honey. His “illness” is part of the Supreme Lord’s pastimes to engage His devotees in His service.
Unable to see Lord Jagannatha, Caitanya Mahaprabhu became distraught and repeatedly bounced against the temple door, like ocean waves crashing on the beach. He could not bear separation from His beloved Jagannatha. Overwhelmed with ecstatic emotion, He ran fourteen miles to Brahmagiri to see a form of Lord Jagannatha known as alarnatha. While viewing the deity and being immersed in thoughts of the Lord, Caitanya Mahaprabhu became so ecstatic that when He offered prostrate obeisances in front of the deity, the stone melted beneath Him and now bears the imprint of His body. The Oriya script on the stone reads sarbanga chinha: “the entire body print.”
Locana Dasa Thakura, one of our foremost spiritual teachers and a contemporary of Lord Caitanya, writes, pasu pakhi jhure, pasana vidare, suni’ jara guna-gatha: Lord Caitanya’s chanting of Hare Krishna was so wonderful that birds and beasts danced and stones melted.
After Caitanya Mahaprabhu spent a few days visiting alarnatha, He came to know that two hundred devotees from Bengal, headed by Sri Advaita acharya, had arrived in Puri. The Lord sent Svarupa Damodara (His personal secretary) and Govinda (His attendant) ahead with garlands to receive the devotees at the holy lake of Narendra Sarovara. Seeing the devotees’ intense enthusiasm, Prataparudra, the king of Puri, was impressed and arranged the best of everything for their comfort. He wanted to please Sri Caitanya by serving the devotees. [See sidebar: “King Prataparudra and Lord Caitanya.”]
When Mahaprabhu arrived, He embraced Sri Advaita, greeted the others, and took everyone to the Jagannatha temple, where they performed kirtana and danced enthusiastically in many groups. As the intensity of the kirtana increased, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became overwhelmed with transcendental emotion. His body erupted in symptoms of spiritual ecstasy. He jumped, rolled on the ground, and roared like thunder. Feeling intense separation from Krishna, He shed torrents of tears. With many devotees surrounding Him, He danced jubilantly in various styles in front of Lord Jagannatha. This continued daily for a few days until Lord Jagannatha went into seclusion.
The Festival Begins
Rathayatra day has a festive mood and charms the minds of the Lord’s devotees. The route of the procession, Grand Road, is sprinkled with perfumes and auspicious sandalwood-infused water. Like a menial servant, the king of Puri sweeps the street with a goldenhandled broom, observing a tradition thousands of years old. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu saw Prataparudra performing this humble service, He was greatly pleased.
As the procession began, seven kirtana groups formed around Lord Jagannatha’s chariot, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu expanded Himself into seven forms by His mystic power. He danced ecstatically in all groups simultaneously, but each group thought that Lord Caitanya was with them only, just as during Krishna’s rasa dance, each gopi thought that Krishna was with her alone.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu was seeing Lord Jagannatha for the first time since Jagannatha’s seclusion. Lord Jagannatha is Krishna Himself, the son of Nanda Maharaja, and His beauty is like the waves of an ocean of nectar. On seeing Lord Jagannatha, Lord Caitanya displayed symptoms of spiritual ecstasy that intensified to hurricane strength. He jumped high, ran in a circle like a wheel, and exhibited many transcendental changes in His body, including crying, perspiring, becoming stunned, and changing color. When He fell on the ground and rolled, He looked like a golden mountain. His dance astounded the devotees. Even Jagannatha, Balarama, and Subhadra were extremely happy to see Him dancing, and they watched with unblinking eyes.
At one point, Lord Caitanya and some close associates went to rest in a nearby garden, and there He granted an audience to King Prataparudra. During this time the procession stopped, and many devotees, of all backgrounds, offered food preparations to Lord Jagannatha.
A Show of Divine Strength
When the time came for the procession to proceed, Lord Jagannatha’s chariot would not budge, despite the efforts of horses, elephants, powerful wrestlers, and thousands of people. When Sri Caitanya returned from the garden, He gave His close associates the ropes used to pull the chariot, and He went behind and pushed with His head. The chariot rattled and began to roll. Everyone excitedly chanted, “All glories! All glories to Lord Jagannatha!”
Upon seeing the godly strength of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the people were struck with wonder. The king, his ministers, and his friends were so moved by ecstatic love that their hair stood on end.
Caitanya in the Mood of Radha
In His Siksastaka, Sri Caitanya expresses the ecstatic mood of separation from Krishna: “When will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your holy name? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of Your holy name?” During the Rathayatra, Lord Caitanya exhibited the symptoms He longs for in this prayer. His dancing was a clear display of Srimati Radharani’s ecstatic mood upon seeing Her beloved Krishna (Jagannatha). [See sidebar: “The Deep Significance of Rathayatra.”]
In the mood of Radharani’s highest ecstatic love, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu addressed Lord Jagannatha in the same way that Radha had spoken to Krishna at Kurukshetra: “You are the same Krishna, and I am the same Radharani. We are meeting again in the same way that We met in the beginning of Our lives. Although We both are the same, My mind is still attracted to Vrindavana-dhama. I wish that You will please appear again with Your lotus feet in Vrindavana.”
In the mood of Srimati Radharani, Lord Caitanya sometimes went behind the chariot to test Lord Jagannatha’s reciprocation: “Is Krishna remembering Me? Does He care for Me? If so, then He will wait for Me and find out where I am.”
Every time Lord Caitanya went behind the chariot, it stopped. And Lord Jagannatha waited, trying to see, “Where is Radha?”
“When I was away from Vrindavana,” Lord Jagannatha conveyed to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, “I did not forget all the gopis, especially You, My dear Radharani.”
Thus, both Caitanya and Jagannatha felt the exchange of ecstatic love. In the meeting of Radha and Krishna at Kurukshetra lies the secret behind Lord Caitanya’s role at Rathayatra. Only a handful of intimate associates, such as Svarupa Damodara and King Prataparudra, could understand this.
Loving reciprocation with Lord Jagannatha made Lord Caitanya dance in ecstasy in the mood of Srimati Radharani. The interaction between the two Lords is intimate and confidential. Such are the pastimes of Radha and Krishna in the form of Lord Caitanya and Lord Jagannatha. Lord Caitanya’s ecstasy at Rathayatra is limitless and beyond the material world.
Jaya Jagannatha! Jaya Caitanya Mahaprabhu!
Narada Rishi Dasa holds a master’s degree in philosophy and religion and lives in New York City. His wife, Mohini Radha Devi Dasi, graduated from Columbia University and coauthored this article.
King Prataparudra and Lord Caitanya
One witness to Lord Caitanya’s spiritual ecstasies was Maharaja Prataparudra, the king of Orissa. In the days before the Rathayatra, when Caitanya Mahaprabhu danced in Jagannatha’s temple, King Prataparudra watched the Lord’s beautiful performance from his terrace. After he retired to his chamber for the evening, the king continued to envision the Lord’s body, covered with tears and dust. Doubt about Lord Caitanya’s divinity crept into his mind.
That night he dreamed that Jagannatha’s throne was empty, and the next moment he saw Lord Caitanya sitting there in the same condition—dust smeared over His body. The king awoke, concluded that Lord Caitanya is none other than Lord Jagannatha (Krishna), and cried out for his former ignorance.
Refused an Audience
This realization increased the intensity of King Prataparudra’s eagerness to see Lord Caitanya, just as a thirsty Chataka bird cries in anguish for a few drops of rainwater. Still, the Lord would not see him. Lord Caitanya strictly followed the vow of a sannyasi (renunciant) not to associate with materialistic persons, and so He flatly denied giving the king an audience.
“Such interviews ruin a sannyasi in this world and the next,” Lord Caitanya said, “and make Him an object of ridicule. Just as a spot of ink on a white cloth cannot hide itself, so the least fault of a sannyasi is sure to be criticized.”
While Caitanya danced during the Rathayatra, He fell down right in front of King Prataparudra, who lifted Him up. Sri Caitanya became upset by the touch of a worldly person, and the king became frightened.
Sarvabhauma, one of Sri Caitanya’s close associates, consoled the king, telling him not to worry: “The Lord is very merciful to you, but He is acting in that way just to teach others.”
The Lord wanted to set an example of appropriate behavior for a sannyasi, although as the Supreme Lord He could act in any way He desired.
A King in Vaisnava Dress
When the chariots stopped at Balagandi, just before the Gundicha temple, Lord Caitanya entered a nearby flower garden to rest. King Prataparudra was still eager to see the Lord, so he followed Sarvabhauma’s advice and dressed in the robes of a humble devotee. He approached the resting Lord and, while massaging His feet, recited the part of the Srimad-Bhagavatam that describes Krishna’s most intimate pastimes with the gopis. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu heard these verses, He was extremely pleased and continually urged the king to go on reciting. The Lord enjoyed limitlessly. Then, when He heard a particular verse (10.31.9), He suddenly rose and embraced the king.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, “You have given Me invaluable gems, but I have nothing to give you in return. Therefore I am simply embracing you.”
As the Lord recited the verse again and again, He and the king trembled and tears flowed from their eyes.
Not recognizing the king, Lord Caitanya asked, “Who are you? You have done so much for Me. All of a sudden you have come here and made Me drink the nectar of Krishna’s pastimes.”
The king replied, “My Lord, I am the obedient servant of your servants, and I desire that you will accept me as the servant of your servants.”
Lord Caitanya blessed him and revealed His divine opulence. He offered His own garland to Prataparudra and instructed him to stay always in the mission of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna. He then revealed that He had come to Puri specifically to meet Sarvabhauma, Raya Ramananda, and the king himself, who lived the rest of his life in Krishna consciousness.
The Deep Significance of Rathayatra
Although many people can enjoy Rathayatra as a colorful festival, Gaudiya Vaishnavas, the followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, especially relish its deep internal significance because they regard it as commemorating one of Krishna’s most touching pastimes.
When Krishna was present on earth five thousand years ago, He lived in Vrindavana and Mathura during His childhood and youth and later became the king of Dwaraka. Once, during a solar eclipse, Krishna, Balarama, Subhadra, and other residents of Dwaraka traveled by chariots to Kurukshetra to bathe in a holy pond there. Nanda Maharaja, Yasoda Mayi, Srimati Radharani, the gopis (cowherd girls), gopas (cowherd boys), and other residents of Vrindavana, who were burning in separation from Krishna, went to meet Krishna at Kurukshetra.
The residents from Vrindavana were pleased to see Krishna, but Radharani and the gopis could not welcome His regal mood. Horses, elephants, servants, bodyguards, and great warriors surrounded Him. Srimati Radharani and the gopis burned with the desire for Krishna to return to Vrindavana and enjoy with them as an ordinary cowherd boy, accompanied only by His beautiful flute. They tried to convince Him to go back with them, and in their hearts they tried to pulled Him toward Vrindavana.
Gaudiya Vaishnavas regard the Rathayatra festival as the heartfelt drawing of Krishna toward Vrindavana. The temple of Lord Jagannatha in Puri is the replica of the kingdom of Dwaraka, where Krishna enjoys His Supreme opulence, and the temple at Gundicha, to which the Lord is pulled in His chariot, stands for Vrindavana, the highest realm of His sweetest pastimes.