Snana Yatra – Entry into the Lord’s circle of love through intimate service

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. On the sacred occasion of Snaan Yatra, let us contemplate on the beauty and the glory of this festival. The purpose and perfection of devotional life is to develop a personal relationship with Krishna.
And to assist us in developing this personal relationship, Krishna manifests in many beautiful forms. And primarily, one of his very personal manifestations is the Deity. So by serving the Deity, by cooking for the Deity, by bathing the Deity, by dressing the Deity, we all get the opportunity to develop a relationship with Krishna as a person.
So, one of the most endearing personal manifestations of Krishna is Jagannath. And on this sacred day, Jagannath is bathed. So, this comes about a fortnight before the Ratha Yatra.
And at this time, Lord Jagannath, after he is bathed, it’s hot. This is the hottest part of the season. The heat is just going away now.
So, it is among the hot parts of the season. And then, the Lord is bathed and is profusely bathed. Large quantities of water are brought.
And water is kept very, very carefully. The priests will bring the water. They often cover their mouth so that there is no contamination.
The pure water is offered to the Lord. And the Lord delights in the bath. But then, in the process of delighting in the bath, in the bath, the Lord catches a chill.
Now, you may say, how can the Lord fall sick? The Lord doesn’t fall sick. But, this is a pastime by which he can have, in one sense, some privacy. He is going to go away from his family, from Lakshmidevi and others, for a fortnight when he goes on Jagannath Ratha Yatra.
He will go to Gundicha. And he will be away for a fortnight. So, for that, he wants to spend some time privately with his consort.
And therefore, this is a front, this is an excuse, this is a bahana, which the Lord gets. And of course, the devotees consider this an opportunity for service. So, during the time after the bathing, when the Lord seems to fall sick, they offer him a special diet also.
Now, when the Lord is, after his naan, he is dressed, he is dressed in an elephant dress. Why is that? There are many stories. One story is how the Lord reciprocates with his devotees.
So, once there was a great Ganesha scholar, who was also a great Ganesha devotee, who was also a scholar. And he came to Jagannath Puri. And the king of Jagannath Puri was pleased with him and invited him to come to take darshan of Lord Jagannath.
Now, the scholar, although the scholar said, no, I cannot take darshan of any other devta except my Aradha Dev Ganesh. So, now the king had, because he was an exalted devotee, and had the desire to reveal the truth to this Ganesha worshipper. So, he prayed to Jagannath.
And then, when he insisted, and because he was the king, the scholar consented, eventually. And the scholar consented. Then, the scholar, he came and he saw to his great wonder that actually, it was not Jagannath, it was Ganesha over there.
And in this way, he understood that actually, Lord Jagannath is the source of all the devtas. And when he wants, he can manifest himself in the form of Ganesha also. yad yad dhyātur gāye vibhāva yanti tattva-pupraṇeya se sadhanaṁ prahāya That, whatever form a devotee desires to meditate on the Lord, the Lord reveals himself in that form.
So, normally this verse is understood to refer to how Krishna manifests in various Vishnu forms. But in special cases, when Krishna wants to offer special mercy, He may reveal how He is the source of all the devtas. It’s not that that devta and Him is entirely the same, but how ultimately He is the object of worship.
And therefore, rather than worshipping that particular devta, one can worship Him. And in that way, one can attain the supreme transcendental destination. So, in this way, this is the reason, one of the reasons why Lord Jagannath wears the Ganesha dress.
So, we can pray on the time of sannyātra that this exhibition of transcendental affection and personal reciprocation of the Lord to His devotees, that evoke within us also some devotional emotion. And gradually we become purified. And one day we also enter into a personal relationship with the Lord.
Thank you. Hare Krishna.