FAME acronym to appreciate Rath Yatra, London Manor, 20.7.24

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Hare Krishna. So today I will speak about the fame of Lord Jagannath. The Jagannath Rath Yatra festival is quite a complex festival in terms of its history and I have been trying to piece together or put together the pieces of the puzzle.

We do it so often that sometimes we don't think about how complicated it all is. So I'll use the acronym, I'll be using this as a whiteboard to write things. So I'll be using fame as an acronym to talk about four aspects about this festival.

The first is the form itself, which is extraordinary. Then the action. The action is the pull, the being in the cart and pulling the cart or the chariot more specifically.

Then third is the meaning and the last is the extent. So we'll discuss each of these aspects one by one and through that we'll try to get a deeper appreciation of this extraordinary festival that is actually in one sense so ordinary in our moment. Now as far as the form of the Lord is considered, Jagannath's form is quite extraordinary.

In general what happened is that across the world, wherever there are theistic traditions, there is some idea of God. But many traditions feel that God cannot be depicted in any form because form limits them. Now the Vedic tradition acknowledges that God is unlimited, but at the same time it emphasises, especially the Bhakti tradition, that by saying that God cannot have a form, also we are limiting God.

So the way out of this limitation is not by saying that God can't have a form. There are two ways out. Is a form limiting? So the idea is that the divine is not limited by the form at one level.

So Krishna has a form at a particular place, but he also has many many forms. So he has a form at one place, but the universal form means Krishna is at one place in the universe and yet the universe was within Krishna. Krishna was within the universe and the universe was within Krishna.

So Krishna has a form which at one level is non-different from him. At another level, Krishna is not limited by his form. But another way is that there are unlimited forms.

So the unlimitedness of God is not that he is limited by a form, but that he has unlimited forms. Advaitam, Achyutam, Anadim, Anantarupam. So Anantarupam.

So Advaita is non-dual, but Anantarupam is many many forms. Now the principle underlying these forms. There are many forms of the Lord.

So in the Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad Gita, there is a resonance of thought. So in the Bhagavatam it is said, yad yadhyaturugayavibhavayanti tat tadvapopraniyase sadanugrahaya That sadanugrahaya, for bestowing mercy on the devotees, the Lord manifests himself in various forms. Yad yadhyaturugayavibhavayanti, as is the consciousness, as is the aspiration of the heart of a particular devotee, sad, a saintly person.

Yad yadhyaturugayavibhavayanti, that Lord who is sung by, whose glories are sung in many ways, yad yadhyaturugayavibhavayanti, is worshipped. tat tadvapopraniyase sadanugrahaya. So Vapuhu, he manifests that form.

Now this in the Bhagavatam is used specifically to refer to how the Supreme Lord manifests in different ways. Now in the Bhagavad Gita, a similar word is used and that is used to include even the devatas. That yo yo yam yam tanum bhaktah shraddhayaar chittum ichchati tasya tasya chalam shraddham tam eva viddha dhamyaham.

So whatever form a person desires to worship the Lord in, the Lord reciprocates, manifesting in this form. And in this context, Krishna is talking, so yepi anyadevata bhakta. So there the tanu is also referring to anyadevata.

That it is, even the forms of the devatas, in one sense, they are manifestations of the Lord. Of course, there is a time when the bheda aspect is to be emphasised and when the abheda aspect is to be emphasised. So there is simultaneous difference and non-difference.

There is unity and individuality. So the idea that the Lord reciprocates and the extent of his reciprocation is such that, instead of saying that the Lord will reciprocate in invisible ways and we see them with the eyes of faith, the Lord reciprocates, how? By manifesting different forms. And among these forms that are manifested.

So the idea is very much that whenever there is love, so in one sense, the love for the Lord and the love for anyone in this world, there is a categorical difference. At the same time, even with respect to love, there is bhed and there is abhed. So to understand the manifestation of Lord Jagannath and his glories, we look at both of these.

So bhed means when we are talking about love and especially devotion. Devotion is bhakti towards the Lord. So bhed is that the object of love is completely transcendental, is totally beyond the modes of material nature.

The Lord is not activated, motivated by anything selfish. He is utterly selfless. So in that sense, the Lord is qualitatively different from everyone else.

Categorically different. At the same time, there is abhed, in the sense that the principles for loving exchanges, they remain the same. The way, say mother Yashoda loves her child, and say the way a mother will love her child in this world, the underlying principles remain the same.

So sometimes if the bhed is emphasised too much, then bhakti can seem utterly inaccessible. On the other hand, if the abhed is emphasised too much, then we may reduce the Lord down to the mundane level. So there has to be this understanding of the categorical difference.

So in some traditions in India, I was just in India and Delhi, I was staying at one devotee's house. In their tradition it was, every girl, when she is just a small girl, 6, 7, 5, 6, 7 years old, she gets married to Krishna. And then after that, whenever she gets married later, her husband is said to represent Krishna for her.

Now, in one sense, this is a way in which the material and the spiritual relationships are synergised, they are harmonised. So now, in one sense, if everybody is spiritually minded, then the husband-wife relationship can also help everyone move toward Krishna. Prabhupada said, one of our purposes of our movement is to bring all living, everyone closer to each other and closer to Krishna, the prime living entity.

So the abhed aspect can be seen sometimes. But if that is the only thing that is emphasised, then it becomes a problem. That the husband can say to manifest God, even the wife is seen as a manifestation of the Goddess Lakshmi.

But that doesn't mean, while the abhed is emphasised, the bhed should be completely neglected. So today in India, Guru Purnima is being celebrated. Now, in some traditions, the Guru is made literally into God.

Guru Brahma, Guru Deva, Guru Maheshwara. So, that idea is, Guru is ultimate. Now, is the Guru ultimate? Yes, there is bhed and abhed.

Both need to be acknowledged. So why am I talking about this? That in the Vedic tradition, there are many, many forms of divinity. And sometimes, these divinities may be seen as entirely separate.

So sometimes the bhed may be emphasised, sometimes the abhed may be emphasised. So, one devotee in America recently showed me a cartoon. He said, how Hinduism is pursued in the West.

So, one American asked the Hindu, why do you people worship so many Gods? So, the Hindu says, we believe in keeping backups. Now, that is a complete misunderstanding. That is not the idea.

But, this whole idea of polytheism can be very confusing. So, we know that the Vedic conception of worship is not, it's not monotheism, exactly. It doesn't fit into this neat category.

It's not polytheism also. It is usually called as polymorphic monotheism. That there is one God but who manifests in many forms.

So, Jagannath is one such form. So, the idea of the Lord having many different forms has a profound theological significance. Polymorphic, morpho is form.

That one Lord manifests in many different forms. Now, when he manifests in different forms, why does this happen? There can be many reasons for it. One is the Lord's mood and the other is the devotee's mood.

The Lord's many forms may manifest because the Lord himself has different moods at different times and he wants to manifest those different moods. And sometimes a devotee calls out to the Lord, longs to worship the Lord in a particular way and then the Lord manifests in a particular way. So, we have Gopal Bhatt Goswami who had a Sheela and he said, I would like to decorate you, O Lord.

I would like to dress you and I would like to decorate you and there's not so much only I can do with the Sheela. Then the Lord from the Sheela manifested as the beautiful Radharaman Deities. So, the idea is that the Lord can manifest.

So, I was talking about love and the principles of love, of exchanging love being similar. So, naturally when we love someone, we want to offer them the best. So, the best is that we may want to buy the best clothes for them and then they look attractive in different clothes.

The Lord has attractive form, but the Lord is omnipotent. A devotee out of love may desire to see the Lord in different forms and the Lord reciprocates. So, this is about the multiplicity of the forms of divinity within the Vedic tradition.

Now, within the broad Bhakti tradition specifically, but let's now come to Jagannath's form. So, in one sense, if you look at Jagannath and Krishna, it's radically different. It's very difficult to see much similarity in the form at all.

In fact, in one of Prabhupada's letters written to Prabhupada. See, we have the record of the letters that Prabhupada wrote back, but some devotees have also publicised the letters that they wrote. Some devotees were writing letters where they are asking confidential things.

So, those letters are not in the public domain. But anyway, there's a devotee who writes to Prabhupada. Prabhupada started the Rathyag.

Jagannath had mystically appeared in San Francisco and we had installed Jagannath. So, now at that time, Prabhupada had just started travelling also. So, one devotee who had come, who had got second initiated and whatever level of initiation was there on those days and he was worshipping Jagannath, he wrote a letter to Prabhupada.

Prabhupada, as per your guidance, instructions, I am carefully worshipping the deities. He says, can I know who is it that I am worshipping? Because in the books he had read about Krishna, if you look at the books that are in the Bhagavad Gita, there is practically no mention of Jagannath. In Krishna book, there is no mention of Jagannath.

Even in the Bhagavatam, at that time the first few volumes were published, there is no mention of Jagannath. Yes, Prabhupada had given some classes but at that time there was no internet available. So, it's not that the classes given at one place were heard everywhere else.

So, the devotee is worshipping, but who is this? It is Prabhupada. The devotee had so much faith in Prabhupada. Prabhupada had such empowerment, such kshamta, such avesh of Krishna was there that he could just infuse faith and devotion in the hearts of people.

So, the devotees worshipped, not because they knew who Jagannath was, they worshipped because Prabhupada worshipped Jagannath and Prabhupada wanted us to worship Jagannath. So, at one level, the form of Jagannath and the form of Krishna are hugely different. If you look at it simply in terms of their appearance.

So, now the form, how does it manifest? So, that happens at two distinct levels. So, when we talk about the form, so I am talking at the three levels. The first I talked about is the idea of multiple forms.

Then I'll talk about the form in Leela and then the form as deity. So, the form in Leela is manifested in Dwarka. Now, interestingly, Krishna Leela or Ram Leela, Leela of the Lord is not a one-time revelation.

It is often an ongoing revelation. That means that when the Leela of the Lord happens, say, if you consider Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Leela, the Murali Gupta's kadachas, they reveal the Leela in a particular way. Then Vrindavan Das Thakur reveals the Leela in a particular way.

Lochin Das Thakur reveals the Leela in a particular way. Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami reveals the Leela in a particular way. So, the Leela of the Lord keeps getting revealed with time.

So, there is the incident that happened, but the incident that was seen and experienced by different people at different times. And throughout history, it is the Leelas that are happening at many different times across many universes also. So, later on among saints, those Leelas in their hearts may be revealed, some aspects of those Leelas.

So, the Leela is an ongoing revelation. So, the specific about the manifestation of the form of Jagannath is not mentioned in the Srimad Bhagavatam. It is mentioned in the Puranas, but then it keeps, the story keeps, the Leela keeps getting revealed more and more.

So, in the Leela, does the Lord manifest this form? That is where it happens in Dwaraka. And when Krishna is separated from the Vrajavasis, in Krishna, in Gopal Champu, which is the elaboration of the 10th Canto, it's given by Jiva Goswami. Actually, Jiva Goswami, there is, there is elaboration, there is clarification, and then there is further, you could say, resolution, of various things which are not that clear in the 10th Canto.

So, he explains the Vraja Leela, or the Krishna Leela, from a Vraja perspective. That is a distinctive characteristic. So, normally in the tradition, in the Bhakti tradition, the Gopis are considered to be the greatest of devotees.

And the reason for that is the utter selflessness of their love. They give everything up for Krishna. And Krishna reciprocates by giving them up.

It is, in one sense, the Gopis' love for Krishna is the ultimate example of one-sided love. And the idea is that, sometimes the Lord may not seem to reciprocate with us. At that time, do we break the relationship, as we would do in a mundane relationship? Or do we still persist in that relationship? That is a test of our devotion.

And if we consider that to be the test, the Gopis actually pass the test with not just flying colours, like rocketing colours. It's, they supremely pass the test. But what happens in this emphasis to glorify the Gopis for the utter selflessness of their love, sometimes Krishna comes off as very hard-hearted and uncaring.

That Krishna promised the Gopis he would come back and he never came back. That Krishna was so close in Mathura, he could have come back. He never came back.

He didn't even come back for a visit. Did he even care for the Gopis? Did he even care for the Vrajvasis? So, in one sense, Jiva Goswami in Gopal Champu is telling Krishna's side of the story. How much angst and agony Krishna is in, when he has to leave Vrindavan and when he cannot come back.

So, Krishna, I'll describe the origin. We all know exactly when Rohini spoke and Krishna became ecstatic. But I'll come to that.

What is the significance? Why was Krishna's reaction like this at that time? So, what happened was, Krishna had a full intention of coming back after killing Kamsa, as he had promised the Gopis. But then, after he killed Kamsa, Krishna accordingly actually took the royal crown and went and offered it to Ugrasin, who was the father of Kamsa, whom Kamsa had deposed. And then the Yadus said, that you are our child.

He said, no, I am Nanda Maharaj Rishodas' child. He said, no, it was prophesied that the eighth child of Devaki will be the one who will kill Kamsa. You are the one who will kill Kamsa.

Now, Krishna was just, at least this is how Gopal Champu depicts it, Krishna was just not ready to accept this. He says, no, I am Nanda Maharaj's child. And then, after that, it happens that they say, whatever it is, you have freed us from the danger of Kamsa, but actually, we are still in great danger, in fact, greater danger.

Because both, all those who are the allies of Kamsa will come to take revenge for his killing. And all those whom Kamsa has antagonised, they will see, not just Kamsa was one tyrannical element distinct from the Yadu dynasty, they will see it is the Yadu dynasty which has tyrannised us. And so, both the friends of Kamsa and the enemies of Kamsa will attack Mathura.

And you need to be here to protect us. So, Krishna realises the truth of their words, although his heart is not ready to accept it. And then, it falls on Krishna.

Now, we often think of Krishna as God, and of course, he is God. But within the Leela, he is just a 10-year-old boy. He has superhuman powers, but still, he is a 10-year-old boy.

And now, it falls on him to have to tell Nanda Maharaj. Nishadamayi has not come to Mathura, Nanda Maharaj has come. It falls on him to tell Nanda Maharaj that I won't be coming back.

Sometimes, say, if a couple is separated, then there are custody battles. Both the husband and the wife want to have a child. Now, suppose it is the child who has to decide, and the child has to tell the other parent.

It would be an unbearable emotional burden on the child. But Krishna has to explain this to Nanda Maharaj. And Krishna does that very maturely.

Krishna says that, based on that prophecy, they are claiming that I am their child. So, Nanda Maharaj just starts laughing sarcastically. He says, it is our great fortune that great people like Vasudev are claiming what is ours to be theirs.

So, who is ours to be theirs? Then he says that, if Krishna, if you are going to stay here, I will stay here. And we will bring all of Vrindavan, Yashoda. Your mother will also come and stay here.

He says, no, you cannot do that. He says, we are all Gopals. We are caretakers of the cows.

And there are so many cows, there is enough grazing land next to Mathura for them. Then Nanda Maharaj says, I will come every week to see you. So, Krishna becomes very grave.

And he says, what to speak of it? And he says, I will come every week. You come regularly to see us. Krishna becomes very grave.

And Krishna says, you cannot come to see me, nor can I come to see you. Why? At one level now, the fear in Nanda Maharaj's heart is just becoming unbearable. He's thinking, what is going on? Is it that Krishna doesn't want to have anything to do with us? He says that, I want to protect you.

And when the enemies of Kamsa find that I killed him, they will not only want to attack me, they will want to attack all those who are dear to me. And if they come to know how dear you are to me, Nanda Maharaj's heart feels some relief. He's still dear to Krishna, not that Krishna is abandoning them, rejecting them especially.

He says, if they come to know how dear you are to me, then they will target you. And I, if I'm in Mathura, I will not be able to protect you in Vrindavan. That is why, let the world think that Vrindavan was just a place where I stayed for some time, while my father was in prison and was in danger.

And when the danger has gone back, I left Vrindavan and come back. And I have nothing to do with Vrindavan. Just I have nothing to do with Vrindavan.

Just hearing those words, Nanda Maharaj's heart trembles. But when Krishna sees this, it's, what is supposed to be going on in Krishna's heart at that time? But basically, there is a complete separation. Nanda Maharaj sometimes sends spies who don't look at all like cowards.

They come to try to get the news. But the point I'm making is, Krishna can come off as very cold-hearted when we are glorifying the love of the Gopis. But Krishna's side of the story is, Krishna is extremely concerned about the Brajwasis.

And in one sense, what happens is, for the Brajwasis, Krishna being away, and for Krishna Brajwasis being away, that itself is painful. But it is for their safety. However, the Mathurawasis, see, in every story, there has to be some villain.

In any movie, there are so many movies that are made, that many movies flop. So why do the movies flop? Because the illusion is not good enough. If a movie is all about, you know, okay, the hero meets the heroine, and both of them like each other, and both of them are very happy.

In Indian movies, they sing, they dance, they do all this, and then they get married and live happily ever after. So what happens is, if there is no tension, then there is no attention. There has to be some tension.

That's why every story needs some villain. Now, sometimes the villain can be a person. Sometimes the villain can be the situation itself.

Sometimes the villain can be just some obligation. Somebody has to bring some opposition. Some way some opposition has to come.

So what happens is, in the retelling of Krishna Leela by Jiva Goswami, to some extent, not entirely, the Yadus play the antagonistic role. They are definitely not villains. They are great devotees, the Mathurawasis.

But they play the antagonistic role. What is the antagonistic role over here? That they are very concerned that Krishna will go away. That Krishna will leave us in Mathura and go to Vrindavan.

And they don't want Krishna to go at all. And that is why when Nanda Maharaj sends messengers, they bring gifts, they give food items and other things which Yashodamayi has cooked. The Mathurawasis, the Yadus, they try to create various obstacles by which neither the messengers nor the gifts come to Krishna.

So they try to make Krishna forget everything. Like forget his past life. I wrote a book on reincarnation and demystifying reincarnation.

At that time I did a research about children who remember past lives. Now one common charge is there. This is just a cultural conception, not a factual recollection.

It says that only children who are born and brought up in believing families, say Hindu families, Buddhist families, they remember their past lives. Now it is not true. There are many children in the western world also are born in Christian or non-believing, non-theistic families at all.

They also remember. But actually speaking, there is a challenge. That is, in such families where reincarnation is not believed in, then if kids start speaking like this, there is childhood suppression of those memories.

The parents disapprove. The parents frown. There was a case of a Muslim to Hindu.

Hindu to Muslim, Muslim to Hindu also are there. But in Islam, not only is reincarnation not accepted, it is considered a satanic belief. And if a child claims to remember their past lives, they treat it not as a child is remembering the past life, the child is haunted by an evil ghost.

And the child is often subjected to quite painful exorcisms. So one particular ritual is that, put a child on a large potter's wheel and spin the wheel vigorously, vigorously, vigorously. See when we do parikrama, how do we do the parikrama? Is it clockwise or counterclockwise? Clockwise.

So quite often in the Islamic tradition, many of the things that they do are exactly opposite. So there, whenever they go around, it's always counterclockwise. But here, they deliberately have the wheel moving clockwise to drive away this influence.

So sometimes the kids just, they faint and they throw up and they become sick. But they say, the kid becoming sicker is better than the kid being possessed by an evil ghost. So it's quite a vigorous, violent suppression of childhood memories.

And that, after that some cases still survive, is actually extraordinary. That just indicates the reality and the intensity and the gravity of those memories. But the point I'm making is that there is often this parental attempt to try to suppress the children's behaviour, which they don't find favourable.

Now that is one sense, part of parenting. So the Mathuravasis also do that. And then Rohini along with Balram, now when Balram tries to speak and speak about the Brajwasis nicely, Balram says, they don't listen to Balram also, he's still a child.

Now when Rohini tries to speak about the Brajwasis, the Mathuravasis get angry with Rohini also, he says, hey you are our woman, why are you speaking in their favour? Have you joined their party? What do these Brajwasis do? Have they fed you so many sweets that you have forgotten where your loyalties lie? So Krishna basically cannot speak about Vrindavan with anyone. Krishna cannot hear anyone speak about Vrindavan. So for him it is just agony.

The only two people with whom he can talk about Vrindavan is Balram and then Rohini, but that also very privately. And eventually when Krishna goes from Mathura to Dwarka, at one level it is to protect the Mathuravasis because they are attacked again and again. However, Gopal Champu described that Krishna goes to Dwarka to protect the Brajwasis, that each time say Jarasandh or other armies attack, they come to Mathura via the Vrindavan area.

The Vrindavan is quite prosperous but its prosperity is not known. So people just pass by it. Traditionally in India whenever invaders would come, they would pillage, ransack, plunder the cities because villages were not considered to be very prosperous.

Although villages were the source of the prosperity, the locus, the centre of the prosperity were the cities. But Krishna had this apprehension that each time the Brajwasis, when the soldiers are passing by, they have to leave their home, they have to go to Govardhan hill, they have to hide in the caves, they have to take all the cows and on some occasion, if the soldiers are hungry, the soldiers are angry and they start singing and they come to Vrindavan and they see how prosperous it is, then they will devastate it. So Krishna wanted to protect Vrindavan and that is why he went far away from Vrindavan.

But what happened by that is that it became even more difficult for him to go back to Vrindavan. Now Balaram goes to Vrindavan, Uddhava goes to Vrindavan, Krishna requests them to go, but the Mathuravasis just don't let Krishna go. And Nanda Maharaj has told when Krishna stays in Mathura that, Obey Vasudev, treat him like your father, treat him like me.

Although Nanda Maharaj's heart is breaking, I cannot be without Krishna. But he knows Krishna is still a child and a child for his own protection needs to obey the guardians. So Krishna doesn't want to reject what Vasudev is saying.

Vasudev doesn't directly stop Krishna, but just the talk about Vrindavan causes concern for him also and then displeasure for the other Yadus. So Krishna cannot talk at all, Krishna cannot speak about, Krishna cannot remember in a public way Vrindavan. And that is why when in Dwarka Rohini speaks about Krishna Leela.

After many many years of Krishna being in Dwarka, Krishna gets married, Krishna has children and finally the Dwarkavasis start realising that this Krishna's love for Vrindavan is not something that is going to go away. No matter how much we disapprove, how much we don't talk about it, how much we try to make him forget it, it's just not going to happen. Then they said, okay, what is this love? We want to know about it.

So this slightly the portrayal of the Mathuravasis in the antagonistic role, this is indicated on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also. So when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, his associate Jagannath Pandit wants to go to Puri, sorry, wants to go from Puri to Vrindavan, Mahaprabhu tells him, you can visit Mathura, but don't spend too much time there. The Mathuravasis mood is slightly different from the mood that we have.

So there is that sweet tension that is there. But finally what happens, the Mathuravasis, now they are the Dwarkavasis, they become ready to hear about Vrindavan and the Vrajavasis and the glory of Vrindavan's love. And Krishna has gone out and at that time the Mathuravasis ask, Rohini, please speak about Krishna and his time, his pastimes in Vrindavan.

And when they start speaking and Krishna comes and hears, Krishna is just drawn back, it's almost like a magnetically, his Riyateya Vashop is helplessly drawn and he comes and he hears from near the door. When he's hearing, he's just filled with so much delight. The delight is for three distinct reasons.

The delight of Krishna is first of all that he's just able to remember Vrindavan. Remember Vrindavan, not just remember Vrindavan, he's always remembering Vrindavan, remember Vrindavan through externally. Now of course later traditions say that Krishna makes a Gupta Vrindavan in Dwarka also, that's a different story.

But he's able to remember externally means that there are external stimuli to remember Vrindavan. Say, if we go to some country where any form of deity worship is banned, even any kind of sacred pictures are also not allowed, and say this is a pre-internet age, then just if we could see a picture, we can't have a picture of Krishna, we can't have deities, and in the books there are no sacred images allowed, then if just one picture of Krishna we would long to see, we may be remembering Krishna in our heart, but if you're seeing Krishna externally, it's stimulating. So for Krishna also, it's like that, he's able to remember Krishna externally, not himself, he's able to remember Vrindavan and Vrindavan pastimes externally.

And then not only that, he is, by that, he's remembering not just general pastimes, he's remembering the Vrajavasis and especially the Gopis love for him. And then the third is that he's seeing the Dwarkavasis appreciate that love. That, you know, if there are two people whom we care for, and those people have tension among them, then that causes some tension in our heart, because a parent is there, and two children are constantly fighting.

Now, the two children are happy, that gives a great, they're happy together, they reconcile, that gives an immense joy to the parent. So like that, when Krishna sees that the Dwarkavasis are appreciating the Vrajavasis, they're appreciating that love. Till now, they're avoiding, they're suppressing, they're rejecting, but now they're appreciating.

Krishna's joy knows no bounds, and that joy becomes so immense that his body itself becomes transformed. He's so eager to hear. See, sometimes we say there is pin drop silence.

That means what? There's not a slightest bit of sound. So sometimes, when we are hearing, but we are a little restless, you know, we may move our legs, we move our hands, we may move our body, but if you want to focus completely, then that there is no movement of the body at all. So in this case, Krishna wants to be so absorbed in hearing that he wants no movement of his limbs.

And to avoid movement of the limbs, the limbs don't just freeze in place, they actually disappear inside his body. And that's how this big broad eye is eager to see, eager to absorb himself. Now he's hearing, but he wants to also perceive.

How are they reacting? He's behind a door, from there he's secretly watching. So Krishna is there, Balram is also there. Now Balram also has great love for Vrindavan.

And Subhadra, she's hearing, she has been in Vrindavan for just a few moments. Subhadra has not been to Vrindavan at all, practically speaking, but she's also captivated. And then all of them, their forms become transformed.

So in one sense, the deity of Jagannath, at a first glance, if you consider in terms of say sculpture or art, it can seem unformed, unformed or half-formed. Maybe the carving has not been done completely. It is not unformed or half-formed, actually it is transformed.

It is the Lord who has been ecstatically transformed. And this is how the forms of Jagannath, Baldev, Subhadra manifest inside the Leela. It is Krishna feeling ecstatic separation from Vrindavan, but also seeing some stimulus that is reminding of Vrindavan.

He's seeing the reconciliation between the Brajavasis and Mathuravasis likely to happen. And all this gives him so much joy that his form itself becomes transformed. This similar transformation of forms happens with Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also.

Sometimes his limbs become extremely long and they seem to be existing just by the skin. The bones have not only become long, but the bones seem to have become separated. And sometimes he seems to manifest like the Kurma Rupa.

His limbs seem to become withdrawn within. So actually the Gaudiya Acharya has explained that when Mahaprabhu in his transcendental visions is seeing Krishna and Krishna is going away, at that time his limbs become long to try to somehow catch Krishna and embrace Krishna and hold on to Krishna. But when Krishna is with him, his limbs withdraw within so that he can completely absorb himself in Krishna.

So this is the transformation. So we started by talking about how the various deities manifest or various forms of divinity manifest based on the Lord's mood and the devotee's mood. So this is the one way we have the origin of the form in Leela.

Now as deity there is the elaborate story of the King Indradyumna. Now he, it's a long story and I'm not going to go into the full story. I'll just focus on one significant point over here that Indradyumna is told by Brahmaji and he wants to have build a beautiful temple and he gets that sacred log and then he has the carving to be done and there's a celestial sculptor who comes.

But the whole story is such that he says that don't disturb me. Don't disturb me at all. I will come out once the job is done.

Now it is that in the Vedic tradition quite often great people are depicted as eccentric. They have their own, you can say transcendental or divine or whatever. They have their personality quirks and those are respected, those are accommodated.

So Durvasa Muni is a great sage but he is also irritable at times. So like that there are different sages who have different, so he says I don't know, it's not exactly a quirk, he says I don't want to be disturbed at all. But it is still quite a bit of a demand.

This person is an unknown sculptor at this particular point. He is known to be a celebrated one still. He is telling the king don't disturb me.

It's like you know disciple telling a guru don't disturb me and they are not literally the same but the king is in a position of authority. But the king is told don't disturb me. It's like say if we are, if somebody is sponsoring the building of a temple and the architect says okay I'm going to be completely absorbed in building the temple, you don't disturb me, you don't come to even see what is being done.

He says how can I do that, I need to see, I need to look at the progress, I need to inspect. So now it's one thing the king agrees that okay if that's what you want. But imagine if somebody, if we are funding and overseeing the building of a temple and the architect says don't come here at all and then we find that there is no construction also happening.

If no construction is happening and then that person says don't come here. Now we might fly our drone and see what is going on. Nowadays technology gives some shortcuts but it's entirely understandable that why are things not moving forward, you want to know.

So the sounds of sculpting, of hammering, of carving, they are coming from that room in his palace where this Vidyapati is there, where this particular architect is there and then suddenly those sounds stop. And then when those sounds stop, he just starts becoming more and more concerned. Then concerned he starts to become worried.

From worried he starts becoming agonised. He says what's happening? When is the lord going to manifest? Why is this architect not doing something? And then finally he's just not able to resist himself and he bursts into the chamber. He says why is construction not happening? And then he sees there that there is some carving that has been done but the architect has disappeared.

He's aghast. He says what have I done? What have I done like this? So I have caused these deities to be left unfinished. At least traditionally, maybe not now, the deity carving, deity manifesting or deity sculpting was not considered just a mundane task.

It was that at least those who were supposed to do it, they were also supposed to be devotees and they would infuse a lot of devotion in their activity. So it's not just a mechanical task. Okay, this particular mechanic has not completed it, we'll have some other mechanic complete it.

Okay, this architect has left, we'll have another architect. It was not that simple. It was a personal investment of emotion and a personal connection would be there.

So he starts lamenting, what have I done? Why was I so impulsive? Why was I not patient? Now this form is only half formed. And so even he at that time, Jagannath has manifested in Krishna Leela, but it is not that, that is the one-time manifestation, it is not widely known or celebrated at that time. So this, at this particular time, what happens is there he's lamenting and then again there's a celestial intervention and they say, this form is not incomplete.

It is how it is meant to be. So in some ways for those who are great devotees, what might seem to be an impulsive action, it might be an impulse from their side, but that impulse can also be a part of the Lord's plan. The Lord's plan can work even through our seeming mistakes.

So this is how the form manifests as the deity. Now when that form manifests as the deity, from that time it starts being worshipped. So that is the form of Jagannath.

So Jagannath, Baldev, Subhadra are together in this particular manifestation because they were together originally in relishing Krishna Leela. Now generally speaking, there are not many pastimes of Krishna, Balram and Subhadra together. The main issue is when Subhadra is to be married to Arjuna, Krishna and Balram have a difference.

But otherwise there are not many pastimes of these three characters together. But in this particular incident, they are bonded in the sublime love that comes from remembrance of Vrindavan and that's how these three deities come together. So now that is the form.

This was just the first part. I'll try to accelerate in the next part. What are we discussing? What are the acronyms? Does anyone remember? Fame.

So A is the action. So the action involves two distinct things. First is the chariot and the second is the pulling of the chariot.

So one thing is the form has manifested now. But what we are celebrating is not Lord Jagannath. We are celebrating Jagannath's Ratha Yatra.

So now let's look at this particular action. So generally speaking, we know the historic history is in Kurukshetra when the Gopis and Krishna meet. At that time, the pulling of the chariot happens.

But let's look at it again from a little bit of background. Why is that particular incident so significant? So basically in Vrindavan, there are generally no chariots. There are bullock carts and the Vrajavasis, they travel around with bullock carts.

Chariots are generally what are used by kings. So the sight of a chariot itself in some ways is a bit of a Rasa Bhaas for Vrindavan. Now especially for the Gopis, the chariot is a trigger that brings traumatic memories for them.

Why is that? Because Akrura came in a chariot. In fact, in the Govinda Damodar Stotra, it is described that the Gopis are saying that as Krishna rises to go into Akrura's chariot, the Gopis' heart starts sinking down because this is doom for us. So now for the Gopis, the chariot brings extremely painful memories.

And at that time, they make a last ditch effort to try to prevent that chariot from leaving. Sometimes, if we are disturbed about something and we want something to not happen and we're disturbed, this is happening, this is terrible. And we tell someone this is happening, it shouldn't be happening.

And say the deity, some offering is to be made and the food is not being properly cooked and we feel disturbed. This should not be offered to the deities. And then we tell someone, it doesn't matter, why are you making such a big fuss about it? So first we are disturbed about what is happening and then we are disturbed even more that others are not disturbed.

Why are you not taking it seriously? So for the Gopis, it is like that. As soon as they hear that Krishna is going to Mathura, then they have a dreadful premonition that Krishna will not come back. And they just want to prevent Krishna from going.

And somehow they just can't. They talk with their elder, they talk with Nanda Maharaj, nobody is ready to listen. Then somehow in their despair, they pray.

They pray to Indra, they pray to Marutha. Let there be some rain, let there be some storm, let something happen and Krishna not go. It's like in a cricket match, if India is losing, our favourite team is losing the match, there is no chance, maybe rains come and the match gets wiped out.

So we want something, when something is very dear to us and we can't do anything to stop it, then we want some higher intervention. So they say, when that doesn't happen, then the Gopis' despair becomes so much. It all starts with the chariot.

So they first try at a human or a natural level, then they try at a superhuman level. So human means they try to persuade others. Then they try to pray to the Devatas.

But when that doesn't happen, then they just offer their own bodies. It's like at a personal level, they say, Krishna, you cannot go. And they lay down with their bodies in front of the chariot.

If this chariot is to go, it will have to go over our bodies. Now chariots, in today's time, when we have cars and trucks and big vehicles, chariots may not seem to be very great. But in those times, chariots driven by strong horses, if a chariot would run over someone, then that person could get crushed and die completely.

Chariots were not just light structures. They were meant to withstand the assaults, the weapons during war. So for the Gopis to literally lie down in front of the chariot, that means they are wanting to use the strength of their body.

We can't fight and stop this chariot from going, but we will, they will not let it go. Sometimes in English they say, over my dead body. So that is, it is a figurative saying, over my dead body means I won't let it happen.

But the Gopis are literally saying, over my dead body. They're lying down over there. And at that particular time, Krishna gets off the chariot.

Krishna persuades the Gopis and he says, I will come back. And then the Gopis reluctantly, they let the chariot go. But so for the Gopis, there so long has been the hope that Krishna will come back.

And Krishna never comes back. And finally, they get to meet Krishna in Kurukshetra. At the time of a solar eclipse, the Dwarkavasis come there and the Vrajivasis also come there.

And when the Gopis see Krishna over there, they are delighted to see Krishna. But at the same time, it is just that they cannot express the mood of affection that they have for him. Vrindavan is a very intimate mood of affection.

Say, if there is some devotee whom we knew when they were very new and very close friends, but now that devotee has become a big preacher, that devotee has become a big guru, and then we have the hundreds and thousands of disciples. Now we may see them in a public gathering. But the personal affection that we have, the personal bond that we have, that cannot be expressed in a very public setting.

This can happen if our friend also becomes a celebrity. So then what happens is, the Gopis are just not able to express that. And in their hearts, they long, Krishna, please come back.

And quite often, it is said that you need one thorn to remove another thorn. So when people suffer from trauma, one is just avoid that trigger, whatever has triggered that trauma. That's one way of dealing with that.

But another is that, you know, use that same trigger to create some positive memories. So if a bomb explosion has traumatised somebody, a loud sound, then they may want to just stay away from loud sounds. But if loud sounds are heard at a festive occasion, where somebody's wedding is there, somebody's child's birthday is there, whatever.

And if they can associate that loud sound with happy memories, instead of with terrible memories, then that's one of the best ways to heal the trauma. So the Gopis, they want not just Krishna to come back, but they want Krishna to come back on a chariot. And that's why they envision over there, Krishna coming on a chariot.

Krishna rises on a chariot, they envision Krishna is coming on the chariot. And then the despair of their hearts that Krishna come back is so much. So if somebody is a very wealthy person, and they have many, a lot of paid help, and they have some guests who has come back, come from maybe a close friend or a close relative, close family member, they come and that person comes with a lot of luggage.

Normally, if some guest has come, they will ask for the paid help to come and pick up the luggage. But if they're so eager, Oh, welcome, welcome, you know, we ourselves pick up the luggage and bring that in. So like that, the Vrajiva, the Gopis, they're so eager for Krishna to come, that there's a chariot, they don't even want to wait for horses to come.

They say, we will pull the chariot. Now a chariot is heavy. And the Gopis, many times the word used for them is Abala.

Abala means they are not like Amazon woman, you know, what is depicted in movies, they are relatively frail. So for them to pull the chariot, it's going to require an immense effort. They are pulling, not just with the labour of their hands, they're pulling with the love of their heart.

So their eagerness to the point of despair, we can't wait even for one moment for Krishna to come with us. That is the significance. They say, we will pull it.

They say, last time, you know, we did not use our bodies to stop Krishna from going. But now we will use our bodies to get Krishna to come back. So that's how this idea of the Lord coming on a chariot comes up.

But still, as I said, there are many pieces of the puzzle to put together. So this particular incident is envisioned by the Gopis. However, they are envisioning Krishna, not Jagannath.

Isn't it? The Gopis in Kurukshetra, when they meet, they're seeing Krishna over there. So how is it that it is Jagannath who is manifested on this chariot? So the idea of how Jagannath's form has come is there, how the chariot imagery has come, that is there. How the pulling of the chariot is there, that has also come.

Right now, how Jagannath comes over there. So that brings us, so we talk about the action. Now we'll talk about the third part.

What is the third part? M is meaning. Now, the Ratha festival is a very common festival in India. Rathas, using chariots for processions, is very common.

And many times the deities are taken out, sometimes some saints and their images are taken out. And the idea of taking out a respectable or venerable or worshipable person on a chariot is very common. And generally, horses are used, sometimes an elephant is used, sometimes some various vahanas are used at different times.

Various creatures are used to pull. The idea of humans pulling the chariot, people pulling the chariot is not that common. It's not that it is not there, but it is there.

But not very common. Now, see, when the gopis see Krishna, it's like, say, their heart is filled with love for Krishna, but they are also apprehensive. But does Krishna still love us? Does Krishna even remember us? It's like going back to that example of, say, if our friend has become a celebrity and we have not met that friend for maybe 10, 15, 20 years, and then we come in front of the friend, and the first thing, there's a little apprehension.

We may want to go and hug that friend, but will that friend even recognise me? So, the gopis are wondering, does Krishna care for us? Does Krishna remember us? Does Krishna love us? So, when if our friend sees us and, oh, you're here, so nice to see you, and the friend rushes forward, they're surrounded by people around, they rush forward and embrace us. We feel so happy. Okay, I'm remembered, I'm cared for, I'm loved for.

So, for the gopis, they are longing for Krishna. However, now Jagannath is Krishna, but Jagannath is Krishna in separation from Vrindavan, or rather we can say Krishna transformed in separation from Vrindavan. So, when the gopis are pulling Krishna back to Vrindavan, at that time, for them, they don't want to force Krishna to come.

They want to know whether Krishna still cares for us. Does Krishna want to come to Vrindavan? And there is no testament, there is no evidence of how much Krishna loves Vrindavan, than the fact that just by hearing about Vrindavan, Krishna's entire form becomes transformed. So, Jagannath, the form of Jagannath, demonstrates that as much is the gopis' love for Krishna, that much and more is Krishna's love for the gopis.

And that's how, while the gopis are envisioning Krishna coming, but in the tradition, the Rath Yatra is with Jagannath, because while the gopis are in agony separation from Krishna, when they see Krishna is also in agony separation from them, that is where the loving union will become truly joyful, because we want to be with someone, but we don't want to force them. We want that person also to be with us. So, that's what is described over here.

So, the meaning of Jagannath's Rath Yatra is the gopis, they are pulling Krishna to Vrindavan, but they are pulling that form of Krishna, which reveals that Krishna also longs to be in Vrindavan. Now, of course, Jiva Goswami brings about a complete circle in this healing from trauma. You could say there's a spiritual transcendental trauma, that he describes that when Krishna kills Dantavakra, that killing happens near Mathura, and then after that, Krishna comes on a chariot to Vrindavan, and then he reunites with the gopis.

After reuniting with the gopis, there is actually a wedding ceremony. Krishna marries all the gopis, and then all of them ascend on the chariot. So, the gopis, they don't want Krishna to go out on the chariot, or if Krishna is going, we want to go with you, we can't be separated from you.

So, they all ascend on the chariot. That chariot expands to immense proportions. All of Vrindavan, everybody in Vrindavan, not just the gopis, all the Vrajavasis, all the cows, all the peacocks, they all ascend on the chariot, and the chariot comes to Yamuna, and then to mortal vision, it disappears into Yamuna, but actually, it goes to the spiritual world.

So, at that time, Krishna along with the Vrajavasis returned to the spiritual world, and then it is described that just as when Krishna came while going across, there was Vasudeva Krishna and there was Vrindavan Krishna. So, the Vasudeva Krishna, who was born to Devaki and Vasudeva, that comes back and goes back to Dwarka. So, that's the further significance of chariot, but that's not primarily relevant to us.

Now, when we talk about the meaning of the past time. So, one meaning is the gopis wanting to pull Krishna to Vrindavan back, but now there is another meaning which is associated with it, that is, that the Lord is so merciful, that the Lord is coming out of his chariot, sorry, not out of his chariot, out of his temple, and is giving darshan to everyone, and that is indicative of his magnanimity, of his mercy. So, how did this particular meaning get associated? In one sense, the two are almost opposite.

See, Vrindavan is a small, intimate, almost private kind of place, where the Vrajavasis and Krishna have very sweet and intimate pastimes of love, and in Vrindavan, and the whole public going out, it's opposite. So, one, it's almost like in the meanings, it's like going to Vrindavan, it is very private, and the coming out on the streets, it's like very public. So, there are these two different meanings, which are not just different, but they are almost opposite.

So, how did the second meaning get associated? So, now, India has a long and complex history. Basically, what happened was, when the Islamic invasion started happening, then they had a great antipathy towards deity worship, and lot of deities were desecrated, and there were many ways in which measures were tried to be made to protect the deities. So, one of the measures that was created was that those who don't have faith should not be allowed to see the deities also.

Just like we have one of the offences to the holy name is to instruct, don't instruct faithless people in the glories of the holy name. So, similarly, those who have no faith in the deities, it is better that they don't see the deities. Now, when we say don't instruct the faithless in the glories of the holy name, does it mean we should not talk about how important chanting Hare Krishna is, how beneficial it is? No, that's not the point.

The point is that we don't want people to become alienated or antagonistic, thinking that, oh, you people are sentimental, gullible, you are trying to fool everyone. So, people have to have some receptivity. So, like that, when there was antagonism towards the deities, there is a certain level of protection that came up as a historical measure that people who don't have faith, now, this is only one part of the origin story, but there are multiple ideas about it also.

But the idea is that there was a certain level of protection, and it was not meant for discrimination, it was meant for protection. However, over a period of time, see, any rule which is made for a good purpose can end up being used or weaponised for a not such a good purpose. The whole Kaurna Ashram is an example of that.

So, what happened is, the darshan of the Lord became very elusive, and Jagannath's fame grew with time, and then the Jagannath Yatra is the time when the Lord comes out. These two opposite meanings are there in the Vedic tradition also, or rather in Gaudiya Vishnu tradition also, where Mahaprabhu, what he is doing, that one part is, he is Radharani, simply relishing Krishna's love, but another part is Krishna, where he is trying to be the Yugavatar, sharing the Yugadharma. So, I had a whole previous class on this tension between Radharani and Krishna within the heart of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

So, both these meanings are there. So, the idea of the Lord making himself accessible and giving mercy profusely, so that, so in one sense, there is magnanimity and there is intimacy. So, while both of these can be great virtues, but both of them in one sense are opposite.

Magnanimity, we give to anyone, you know, somebody generous, even we don't know someone, we give them help, we give them money, we give them food, whatever. But intimacy, it's like, say, if we go for food for life, food distribution. Now, we may not know anyone, but we give food to them, that is magnanimity.

But someone whom we care for, we invite them to our home, we cook food for them, and just maybe it's just they and us having a heart-to-heart discussion, that is intimacy. So, magnanimity and intimacy, these are two, in one sense, opposite. And in Mahaprabhu's persona, both of these manifest.

And both of these are also manifest in the Jignath Rathyatra festival. So, it's like, if we consider some kind of a funnel, one side of the funnel is very large, the other side of the funnel is very small. So, in the Jignath Rathyatra festival, there is universal, that everybody can come in, everybody can participate, everybody can behold the Lord, everybody can have the mercy of the Lord.

So, this universal is associated with the magnanimity of the Lord. And then there is the confidential. The confidential is associated with the intimacy of the Lord.

So, actually the devotees, in the mood of Vrindavan, experiencing immense separation from the Lord, and longing to be with the Lord, longing not so much to be with the Lord, as the Lord be with them in Vrindavan. That is a very confidential significance. So, both of these meanings, the universal and the confidential, are manifested in the Rathyatra festival.

And then we could speak much more on this, but I'll finish soon. I'll move for the next one. So, last E is extent.

So, what do you mean by the extent? That the Jignath Rathyatra festival happens in Jagannath Puri, and it's an immensely popular festival. Like in one day, millions of people just appear for that one day and go back. So, there are other festivals bigger in size.

The Kumbh Mela is huge. The people going to Haj Pilgrimage in Mecca, that is also huge. But for a one day festival, suddenly so many people coming from so many places and going back.

It's veritably the greatest, the largest festival in the whole world. So, it itself was huge. The extent was huge.

And then, for people who could not come, there was the arrange over the period of time, as the festival became more and more influential, then there were replicas of the festival created all around the area. So, Puri happens, the festival happens, and those who can, they go to Puri. Those who can't, in various cities around Puri, in Orissa, in Bengal, even in Bangladesh, it goes even up to Nepal, all these places, the replicas of the festivals were happening.

So, it spread more and more. So, the Lord is so merciful, He comes out in the streets that we can see, but if you cannot go to the streets of Puri, He comes out to the streets in various places. And then it was Shri Prabhupada who envisioned the spread of Jagannath Rathyatra across the world.

In the Prabhupada also, I talk about this Bhed and Abhed, this tension that is always there in Bhakti. Prabhupada on one side, he said that, that I am like a postman, I haven't changed a word. He made a statement like that.

But in the Nectar of Devotion lecture that he gave in Vrindavan, where the verse comes, somehow or the other, fix the mind on Krishna. There Prabhupada says, I have practically invented the Krishna consciousness movement. Now, what does this mean? So, there Prabhupada explains in the context that, he says, it is not just for the disciple, somehow or the other, remember Krishna.

It is not just an instruction for the disciple. It is also an instruction for the Guru to be resourceful in coming up with ways by which the disciple can remember Krishna. So, for example, Prabhupada's genius was the book distribution.

Traditionally, people would go out and ask for alms. Now, you cannot do that in the West. So, Prabhupada had, you distribute books and ask for some contribution.

That has become a major engagement. It was so wonderful to hear about a phenomenal book distribution that has happened in the summer here. So, that was something which Prabhupada did.

But probably among the various inventions, you could use that word in double quotes, it's a continuation of the tradition itself, but in a new way it is manifested. One among the most dramatic and most dramatically effective inventions of Prabhupada was the manifesting of Rathyatra across the world. Prabhupada had some special bond with Rathyatra that as a child he would perform, he would perform the Rathyatra festival.

And when he graduated, nowadays transportation is quite easy, Prabhupada's first like kids after they graduate, oh I want to go to his hill station, I want to go here, I want to go there. Prabhupada's dream was, okay, when can I go to Puri? When can I take darshan of Jagannath? When can I be part of Rathyatra? So, Prabhupada had that personal bond. So, there is an intimacy of the connection with Jagannath and Jagannath himself chose to manifest.

The devotees, mother Malti and others, they went to a shop and just found something which seemed to be like something Indian that Swamiji might like, just brought it for Swamiji to show and Prabhupada offered obeisances to that. He said, wow, what is this? So, Prabhupada saw that this was, it might have been accidental thing. In fact, the devotees actually shoplifting and got that from there.

But it is Krishna can manifest even through our mistakes, just like apparent mistake, impulsiveness in interrupting the architecture that brought it. So, Prabhupada saw Jagannath coming and then once Prabhupada was just, he was in the first floor of in the place where we had in San Francisco and he was chanting and he looked out and he saw a flat bed truck. Oh, Prabhupada saw a flatbed truck and he thought, oh, now this could become a card for Jagannath.

Now, this is the incredible nature of devotional consciousness. Who can think of a flatbed truck and think that, oh, this will be a card for Jagannath. So, Prabhupada says, one definition of Krishna consciousness is to desire.

Krishna consciousness means not just to remember Krishna. That's true, but it also means to desire to use everything in Krishna's service. So, that is Prabhupada's extraordinary Krishna consciousness.

And especially for people who were from the counterculture, some of them were hippies. Now, they just wanted to do things which are opposite to the cultural norms. In the western tradition, you know, dancing is common.

It's in parties. If somebody dances on the streets, they will say, hey, you know, you are, are you drunk? Are you crazy? You need to be arrested or you need to be admitted. Something like that.

But here, when Prabhupada created this festival, you know, the young followers, those who were, wanted to go against the culture, they are part of the counterculture, they could dance on the streets and they would not be arrested, but they would be escorted by the police. So, even among the wild things that the counterculture people wanted to do, what Prabhupada offered them was even wilder. Dancing on the streets to be celebrated, to be supported, to be appreciated.

So, it just became immensely popular. And by Prabhupada's mercy, now, it is from Brisbane to Belgrade to Boston, from Dublin to Delhi to various parts of the world, you know, where there is actually this festival is being celebrated and hundreds and thousands and millions of people are being benefited. So, there is always this tension between the conservatives and the liberals.

So, some people say that in India, there is this concern that this festival has to happen on the exact same day. That's how it has been replicated. And it should not happen on the other day.

You are misappropriating the festival. Well, it's not exactly like that. There are scriptural references for other things also.

So, in India, what we have decided is that between the time of the Rath and the Ulta Rath, that's the time when we will be doing the festivals. And other times, we do the Rath Yatra, but we don't have Jagannath Rath Yatra. We have Gaur Nithaya Rath Yatra, we have Radhakrishna Rath Yatra, we call it Shobha Yatra.

So, fortunately, that influence is not there so much in the West. But there will always be, when the tradition is to be continued, you know, how much can the exact things be continued, how much are the exact things to be changed. So, there is always that tension.

But the important thing is the essential spirit move forwards. So, millions of people are being attracted to the Lord through the chanting of the holy names, through the worship of the deities, which is being done publicly, even for those who have no interest in the deities. They get an opportunity to behold the Lord, they get an opportunity to get His Prasad, to hear His holy names.

And while we are pulling the cart, or we just, we may not get an opportunity to pull the cart, or we may just dance in front of the cart, and just distribute some Prasad, distribute some books near the cart, we are being not just a part of a contemporary outreach event. That's the universal aspect. But we are all getting an opportunity to enter into the intimate mood of the Gopis.

As we are pulling Jagannath, we are pulling the Lord into our heart, longing that He enter, and He reside, and He preside over there. And thus, the Lord of the universe will become the Lord of our hearts. So, I'll summarise what I discussed today.

We discussed the fame of Jagannath, and the first F was about the form. So, I talked about three broad points, how He is. There are many forms, and that's how the Lord is unlimited, and He is not limited by the form, because He has many, many forms, infinite forms.

And we talked about Jagannath's form manifestation in Leela. I discussed elaborately that what is Krishna is ecstatically transformed. And He is ecstatically transformed because He is delighted to have external stimulus reminding Him of Krishna, reminding Him of Vrindavan.

He is delighted to specifically be hearing about the Gopis' love, and beyond that, He is delighted, relieved, in fact, to see that the Mathura Vasis are appreciating. And that is Krishna in ecstasy. Then that is Krishna in Dwarka.

Then we looked at Krishna as deity. How does that form manifest? That is Indradyumna Maharaj, the king Indradyumna's apparent mistake, that mistake becomes a means for the Lord to manifest. The form is not unformed or half-formed.

It is actually the Lord transformed. Then we discussed about the action. So, the idea of the chariot, how does it come in? The chariot is a trauma trigger for the Gopis, transcendental trauma, of course.

And the Gopis want to use that same chariot to pull Krishna back. And the act of pulling, human's pulling, that is the Gopis want to use their body to get Krishna back. We couldn't stop Krishna from going, but we will get him back.

Then we discussed about the meaning. So, there is a confidential meaning based on intimacy, where the Gopis are drawing Krishna back to the heart. And specifically the form of Jagannath is Krishna longing for Vrindavan.

The Gopis don't want to force Krishna to come back. That's why on this chariot is Jagannath. But there is also universal meaning, that actually the Lord is longing to be, the Lord wants to bestow his mercy on everyone.

So, there is magnanimity and intimacy. So, this universal aspect is especially in the modern and pre-modern time, this is what is emphasised. The Lord whose darshan is not so easily available, that has become available for everyone.

The last was the extent, where we discussed about how from Jagannath, from Puri, it went to the surrounding areas over a period of time, because the Lord's mercy cannot be contained. And then from there, it has went by Shila Prabhupada's genius, that Shila Prabhupada did not change anything, that is Abhed, but Shila Prabhupada did do what was required to make sure that the message reached, that there is global reach and we are all recipients of this mercy of Jagannath, today by the mercy of Shila, by the vision of Shila Prabhupada. So, I'll conclude with a small poem that I have composed for Lord Jagannath, glorifying him.

Okay. So, this is basically the same mood of Jagannath Swami Nayana Pathagami Bhavattume, being depicted through. So, Wonderful, wonderful is the occasion, when the Lord comes out in procession, filling the mundane streets with sublime sights and sacred sounds, Blessing all who are chasing illusions in tiresome rounds.

See, O eyes, see the Lord's form so beautiful. Sing, O tongue, sing the Lord's name so joyful. Pull, O hands, pull the Lord's chariot so lofty.

Pull, O heart, pull the Lord into my soul so empty. Pull, O Lord, pull my mind away from the world's temptation unending. Pull, O Lord, pull my heart toward you in devotion everlasting.