20210601 Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi Develops Doubt Observing the Oḍana-ṣaṣṭhī Festival

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on June 1st, 2021 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Today we will continue with the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book, the chapter entitled:

Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi Develops Doubt Observing the Oḍana-ṣaṣṭhī Festival

Under the Section: The Lord’s Attempt to Go to Vṛndāvana

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.85

samudra-tīre yameśvare vidyānidhike vāsā-pradāna—

vidyānidhi rākhi’ prabhu āpana nikaṭe
vāsā dilā yameśvare—samudrera taṭe

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu kept Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi close to Him at Jagannātha Purī and He gave him a residence at Yameśvara, on the shore of the ocean.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi was given a residence at Yameśvara-ṭoṭā (a garden). He lived there and spent a lot of time with Śrī Gaurasundara.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.86

vidyānidhira saṅge ekatra jagannātha-darśana—

nīlācale rahiyā dekhena jagannātha
dāmodara-svarūpera baḍa prema-pātra

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi resided in Nīlācala, he regularly went to have darśana of Lord Jagannātha. He was very dear to Svarūpa Dāmodara. He was a loving friend.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.87

dui-jane jagannātha dekhe eka-saṅge
anyo’nye thākena śrī-kṛṣṇa-rasa-kathā-raṅge

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi and Svarūpa Dāmodara dāsa would go for darśana of Lord Jagannātha together, and then they would enjoy discussing the topics about Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.88

oḍana-ṣaṣṭhī-yātrāya śrī-jagannāthera māṇḍuyā-vasana-paridhāna—

yātrā āsi’ bājila ’oḍana-ṣaṣṭhī nāma
nayā-vastra pare jagannātha bhagavān

Jayapatākā Swami: Soon the time for the festival named Oḍana-ṣaṣṭhī came. On this occasion, Lord Jagannātha Bhagavān, He wears a new cloth.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Because Lord Jagannātha in Śrīdhāma Purī wears a new winter dress on the sixth day of the waxing moon in the month of Agrahāyaṇa (November-December), this festival is called Oḍana-ṣaṣṭhī (oḍana means “to wear” and ṣaṣṭhī means “sixth day”), or the festival of dressing Lord Jagannātha. The festival has taken this name because Lord Jagannātha wears a winter dress. This festival continues up to the fourth day of the waxing moon in the month of Māgha (January-February).

Jayapatākā Swami: So Agrahāyaṇa is the month of Karttika or Dāmodara Month. and Māgha is the month before Lord Caitanya’s appearance in Phalguna. Māgha month is the month in which Lord Nityānanda appears. So Agrahāyaṇa to Māgha is basically the winter months.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.89

se dina māṇḍuyā-vastra parena īśvare
tāna yei icchā sei-mata dāse kare

Jayapatākā Swami: On this day, by the desire of Lord Jagannātha, His servants dress Him in new starched clothing. This is His desire, so every year they dress Him in this ceremony. Lord Jagannātha's system of worship is independent and doesn’t follow the normal procedures in other places. Normally the Lord wears washed cloths and new starched clothing is not given to the Lord, without washing, in other temples. But this is the custom in Jagannātha Purī, that they give the Lord starched cloth on the Oḍana-ṣaṣṭhī day.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.90

bhakta-gaṇasaha gaurasundarera oḍana-ṣaṣṭhī-yātrā-darśana—

śrī-gaurasundaro lai’ sarva-bhakta-gaṇa
āilā dekhite yātrāśrī-vastra-oḍana

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Śrī Gaurasundara took all of His devotees and went to see the festival of Lord Jagannātha Oḍana-ṣaṣṭhī, of wearing of the winter clothes.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.91

ṣaṣṭhī haite makara paryanta utsava—

mṛdaṅga, muharī, śaṅkha, dundūbhi, kāhāla
ḍhāka, dagaḍa, kāḍā bājāye viśāla

Translation: Mṛdaṅgas, muharīs, conchshells, kettledrums, kāhālas, ḍhākas, dagaḍas, and kāḍās were loudly played.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.92

se dine nānā vastra parena ananta
ṣaṣṭhī haite lāgi’ rahe makara-paryanta

Translation: On that day Lord Jagannātha wears various dresses. This festival continues from the sixth day of the waxing moon in the month of Agrahāyaṇa (November-December) to the end of the month of Māgha (January-February).

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.93

svayaṁ upāsya haiyāo upāsanā śikṣā divāra janya prabhura upāsaka-līlā—

vastra lāgi’ haite lāgila rātri-śeṣe
bhakta-goṣṭhī-saha prabhu dekhi’ preme bhāse

Translation: The offering of dresses goes on till the end of night. As Lord Caitanya watched this festival with His devotees, He floated in waves of ecstatic love.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): The phrase lāgi haite lāgila means “to offer cloth to the body of Lord Jagannātha.” In Nīlācala the phrase lāgi haoya (“to offer”) is still used in phrases like candanera lāgi haoyā and puṣpera lāgi haoyā.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.94

āpanei upāsaka, upāsya āpane
ke bujhe tāhāna mana, tāna kṛpā vine

Translation: Lord Caitanya was Himself the worshiper and the object of worship. But without His mercy, who could understand His mind?

Jayapatākā Swami: Since Lord Caitanya was non-different from Lord Jagannātha, as Lord Caitanya He was the worshipper of Lord Jagannātha, and as Lord Jagannātha He was the worshipped.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.95

ei prabhu dāru-rūpe vaise yogāsane
nyāsi-rūpe bhakti-yoga karena āpane

Jayapatākā Swami: As Lord Jagannath in the wooden form, He was seated on the throne, and in the form of a sannyāsī, He was personally practicing devotional service or bhakti-yoga.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): In His Deity form Śrī Gaurasundara was Lord Jagannātha, and in His sannyāsī form He accepted the mood of a devotee and distributed knowledge to people.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.96

oḍana-ṣaṣṭhī-yātrāra varṇanā—

paṭṭa-neta—śukla, pīta, nīla nānā varṇe
divya vastra dena, muktā racita suvarṇe

Jayapatākā Swami: Jute and silken cloth, fine cloth of various colors of white, yellow, blue, etc was decorated with pearls and gold of pure quality, were offered to the Deity form of the Lord.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.97

vastra lāgi’ haile dena puṣpa-alaṅkāra
puṣpera kaṅkaṇa, śrī-kirīṭa puṣpahāra

Jayapatākā Swami: After Lord Jagannātha was dressed in various new clothing, He was decorated with flower ornaments, flower bangles, a flower crown, and flower garlands.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.98

gandha, puṣpa, dhūpa, dīpa ṣoḍaśopacāre
pūjā kari’ bhoga dilā vividha-prakāre

Translation: Lord Jagannātha was then worshiped with sixteen items like sandalwood pulp, flowers, incense, and ghee lamps. He was then offered various types of foodstuffs.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.99

prabhura bhakta-goṣṭhīsaha vāsāya pratyāvartana—

tabe prabhu yātrā dekhi’ sarva-goṣṭhī-saṅge
āilā vāsāya premānanda sukha-raṅge

Translation: After Lord Caitanya saw this festival in the company of all His associates, He returned to His residence absorbed in ecstatic love.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.100

vaiṣṇava-gaṇake bidāya diyā virale avasthāna—

vāsāya vidāya kailā vaiṣṇava-sabāre
virale rahilā nijānande ekeśvare

Jayapatākā Swami: From His residence, He sent off all the Vaiṣṇavas to their homes, and Lord Caitanya remained alone in His own ecstatic mood.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.101

vidyānidhi o svarūpa-dāmodarera ekatra avasthāna o paraspara manobhāva vinimaya—

yāṅra ye vāsāya sabe karilā gamana
vidyānidhi dāmodara-saṅge anukṣaṇa

Jayapatākā Swami: All the devotees left for their respective residences, except for Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi and Svarūpa Dāmodara, who remained together for sometime.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.102

anyo’nye duṅhāra yateka manaḥ
kathāniṣkapaṭe duṅhe kahe duṅhāre sarvathā

Jayapatākā Swami: They would always disclose each other’s thoughts without hesitation, and in this way they would discuss with each other.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 10.103

jagannāthera śrī-aṅge ‘māḍayukta-vastra’-darśane vidyānidhira sandeha—

māṇḍuyā-vasana ye dharilā jagannāthe
sandeha janmila vidyānidhira ihāte

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing Lord Jagannātha wearing starched new cloth, Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi developed some doubt in this regard. Since normally the pūjārī would not put a new starched on the Deity, Since such as a new starched cloth is not considered pure, so therefore normally the pujaris wash the new cloth before putting on the Deity of the Lord. But in Lord Jagannātha's case, they offered the starched cloth to the Lord. So for this reason Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, who is very knowledgeable, he developed some doubt and he revealed this to Svarūpa Dāmodara. Since that was his habit, to reveal his mind without hesitation to Svarūpa Dāmodara.

Thus ends the chapter entitled: