Pastimes of Lord Jagannath - By Harsha Lalita devi dasi

24. Gita Panda: Long, long ago there was a panda in Puri named Arjun Mishra. Every day he used to read the whole Bhagavad-gita. Because he spent a lot of his time studying the Gita, and due to his unflinching faith, the local people called him Gita Panda. He was a great devotee of Lord Jagannath, a very surrendered soul. He depended upon his Lord for everything. Whatever happened he accepted as the desire of the Lord. Nothing could affect Gita Panda. He was a very poor person, and lived by begging. Once there was heavy rain for about a week in Puri, and there was no scope for Gita Panda to go out begging. Whatever little stock he had, he finished very quickly. He and his family were forced to fast, yet Gita Panda was not disturbed. He spent his days happily reciting Gita. He was happy that he could not go out, and felt it was a good opportunity for him because he had more time to read Gita. His wife became very angry with him. She chastised him. "Unless you go out and beg, how do ...

23. Sikhi Mahiti's Vision: Śri Caitanya-caritāmṛta Mahākāvya The Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Mahäkävya is a Sanskrit work describing the life of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Although this book is generally accepted by Gaudiya Vaishnavas and is quoted by Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in his purport to Cc. Adi 10.135-136, there is some question as to its authorship. In his purport to Cc. Adi 10.62, Srila Prabhupada states: According to expert opinion, Chaitanya das was the author of the book Caitanya-carita (also known as Caitanya-caritamrta), which was written in Sanskrit. The author was not Kavi Karnapur, as is generally supposed. This is the opinion of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. The book contains many details about Mahaprabhu's pastimes in Orissa that are not found elsewhere. The following story from the 13th chapter gives such details about Madhavi devi's brother, Sikhi Mahiti. This story, which is cited by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Pra...

22. Bandhu Mohanty: There was a person named Bandhu Mohanty in the city of Jajpur in Orissa. He had two daughters and one son. His wife was very obedient. He was very poor and lived by begging alms. He had no reserve funds whatever he collected in one day he spent in one day with nothing left over. Bandhu Mohanty was a great devotee of Lord Hari. He used to spend his days chanting the holy name of the Lord. He was merciful to all living entities, was very truthful. and was very fond of serving brahmanas. He was indifferent to his family life, knowing that everything is temporary except the holy name of the Lord. In this way, he spent his days happily. Once there was drought in his area, and people were dying due to want of food. Bhandu Mohanty went to some villages to beg alms, but the people had no food even for themselves how could they give alms to Bandhu Mohanty? He returned to his house without any food, all the while meditating on the Lord. His wife told him that the children wer...

21. Udayan Acharya: There was once a great scholar in Mithila named Udayan Acharya. He was a great pandit in Naya philosophy. He was able to defeat everyone and establish his own verdict. No one dared to argue with him. Even learned Buddhist and Jain philosophers avoided meeting with him out of fear.  Once, Udayan Acharya developed a desire to study Jagannath philosophy. He found in the Skanda Purana a verse that read:  yatra sakhyat jagannatha sankha chakra gadadharah jantunam darsanat muktim yo dadati kripanidh (Purushottama Mahatmya 7.30).  Whoever takes darshan of Daru-Brahma Jagannath will immediately be liberated. Although Udayan had faith in Lord Jagannath, still he could not believe this statement. Yet he had a desire to examine the verse more thoroughly. One time he traveled to Puri. He arrived at night and went to take rest, planning to go for darshan the following morning to see if he would get liberation like the verse said. Early the next morning, the head pu...

20. Talicha Mohapatra Sambad: There was a brahmana in Puri named Talicha Mohapatra. He was one of the pujaris of Lord Jagannath, and was very expert in all the scriptures. He was always clean and very fixed in his sadhana. He was humble, sober, and was very dear to all the devotees. He always fed poor people and was fond of hearing krsna-katha. He was engaged the whole day, from morning to night, in the personal service of Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra. These deities were everything to him. One day the King came to Puri along with his entourage. When he entered the temple through the Lion Gate, some pujaris ran to inform Talicha Mohapatra about the arrival of the King, who wanted to take darshan of the deities. Talicha Mahapatra rushed to the deity room to make sure the King received proper darshan, but he saw that the deities were not wearing flower garlands. Usually when the King came to the temple he would ask for maha-prasada garlands of the deities. Mohapatra thought, ...

19. Laxmi Devi and Sriya Chandaluni: In Orissa people perform special worship to Laxmi devi during the month of Margasira. Every Thursday during this month, ladies arrange elaborate puja to Laxmi devi following different rules and rituals. On this day, Mother Laxmi leaves the temple with the permission of Jagannath to visit her devotees. Usually she visits anyone who is devoted to her, and who performs their puja according to her rules and regulations. One day Laxmi devi, in the disguise of an old brahmini, went to visit different houses on the auspicious Thursday. She found the ladies of one merchant's house still sleeping, and so the home had not been cleaned. Laxmi devi met the elderly lady of the house and explained to her how they should follow certain rules on this particular day to worship Laxmi. But the old lady did not care for the instructions of Lamxi devi. In response, Laxmi devi removed her opulence from that home, and the family became very poor. They had to live by b...