Post by Jagannāth Miśra Dās on Oct 17, 2022 6:55:41 GMT -6
The Śrī Jagannāth Caritāmruta.
Divākar Dās wrote the Jagannāth Caritāmruta. He was a śisya of Atibaḍi Jagannāth Dās who was one of the Pāncā-Sākhās. The book contains verse both in Sanskrit and Oriya. The Oriya passages themselves, written in the popular navāka-canda of the time (a nine syllable rhyming meter) serve entirely as translations of the Sanskrit. This document is generally thought to be written in the initial post Caitanya era of literature in Orissa. The late Professor Fakir Mohan devotes over a dozen pages to Divākar Dās’s Ṣrī Jagannāth Caritāmruta in his PHd thesis on Lord Caitanya in Orissa. Having just read the above mentioned document, I thought to share a short sample from chapter 3. The narrative, spanning 24 chapters, pivots around questions and answers exchanged between Lord Caitanya and Atibadi Jagannāth Dās, and is presented in the same fashion that Kavirāja portrays the dialogues between Mahāprabhu and Rupa-Sanātana in the closing chapters of the mādhya-līlā. In this brief excerpt, Jīva and Sanātana Goswāmi venture from Vraja to Puri, and after the conclusion of ratha-yātrā, Mahāprabhu is petitioned to accompany the Vaisnavas back to Vrindāvana, Gaurāñga declines the invitation on the grounds that Vrindāvan remains forever clandestinely present in Puri, and even reveals various geographical locations where certain parts of Vraj exist within Puri Dhām.
purusottame āgama
ṣrījīu rupa sanātana (a)
joḍie murtti sanga hele
guṇdichā yātrāku aile (b)
Sri Jīva and Sanātana now arrive in Purusottama (Jagannāth Puri Dhām) to behold the ratha-yātra festival, and (so close was their mutual bond) they appear united together as in one murrti. (a-b)
śrī badadāṇdare praveśa
ratha vije jagadīṣa (c)
dekhile caitanya gosāin
ratha pelanti muṇda dei (d)
They see the Lord of the universe on the Baḍadānda (the grand high road) when he appeared riding high upon his chariot, and they also witnessed Lord Caitanya pushing the ratha with his very own head. (c-d)
ādeyṇa prabhu nityānanda
śrī sanatanṭi ānanda (e)
ṣrīman rupaka gosāin
śrī raghunāth dāse kahi (f)
śrīmatta jīvaka gosāin
gopāla dāse tatha tahin (g)
śrīraghunāth dāse sthiti
e bhāve kodie murati (h)
sāriṇa guṇdicā daraśan
vrundavānaku kale mana (i)
The eminent Prabhu Nityānanda was present, the likewise blissful Ṣrī Sanātana, Ṣriman Rūpa Goswāmi, Śrī Raghunāth Dās was there too, Ṣrimad Jīva Goswāmi, Gopāl Dās and Ṣrī Raghunāth Dās all now gathered together in one body having resolved to go to Vrindāvan at the conclusion of the ratha yātrā festivities. (e-i)
boile caitanyanku chāhin
cāla bhramibā tīrtha mahī (j)
śuṇiṇa ājnā śrī caitanya
tīrthe ki achi prayojana (k)
They all looked at Caitanya and said “come and travel with us to the sacred land.” Hearing their request Śrī Caitanya replied, “what need is there to go to this tīrtha?” (j-k)
guṇdichāgruha purvastho bilveṣasthu suśobhanah
vrundāvanasthalam sarvam gopībhih saha gopitam
guṇdicā pūrva pākha
tahin bilveśvaranku dekha (l)
vrundavana sthalare jete
sethare achanti samaste (m)
bhadraṣrīlohībhāṇdīramahātālakhadīrakāha
bakulam kumudam kāyam madhu vrundāvanam tataha
kadambhāṇdīra vanam vanam nandan mevaca
krusnakrīdārahahsthānam kalindī pulināśritam
purve pāncavanam proktam pascime saptakam tathā
bhadralohabhāṇdīra bana
mahātāla khadīra ghena (n)
bahula kumuda pradhāna
kāmya madhu ṣrī vrundāvana (o)
kadambabhāndīra e dui
bana nandan puṇi tahin (p)
Within a forest encircled by towering talā and date trees named bhadralohabhāndīra, which is densely populated by bahula and kumuda trees, rests the most coveted and sweet Śrī Vrindāvan which itself hosts two forests named kadambabhāṇdira and nanda-vana. (n-p)
e sarva krusnakrīdā sthāna
śobhita kālindī pulīna (q)
samaste bedi rahichanti
manuṣye druśya na huanti (r)
and yet this realm remains invisible to the human eye. (q-r)
pratykse bhārgavaṭī na sehi
gupta jamunā se aṭi (s)
je govardhana giri kahi
guṇdica mandapa achai (t)
The bhārgavaṭī river, is not the bhārgavaṭī, but gupta-jamunā, and the hill we speak of as Govardhana, is verily the Guṇdica mandap. (s-t)
rādhākunda syāmkuṇdaṭi
indradyumane chanti seti (u)
mārakandaśvarati jehi
gupta kālindī tahin rahi (v)
Rādhākunda and Syāmkunda reside in the Indradyumna lake and kālindī also secretly rests in the markandeya tank. (u-v)
jeba kadamba ghāta sthāna
atharnalā se pramāna (w)
guṇdicāghara daksinare
gopa mathūrā sehithāre (y)
The kadamba ghāta is now undoubtedly present at the atharnalā, and to the south of the guṇdica, lies the hidden Mathurā. (w-y)
Elsewhere in this chapter Mahāprabhu tells the same Vaisnavas that are asking him to go to Vraj, that how on a previous visit to Vraj, he had missed Puri to such an extent, that it appears that he perhaps did not enjoy his pilgrimage. Here is a short sample.
pūrve govinda līlā sthāna
chāla jibā ṣrī vrundāvana (a)
emante boli bāhārele
śrī vrundāvanaa praveśīle (b)
(Gaurāñga said) Sometime ago I thought, “let me go to Śrī Vrindāvana, the place of Govinda’s līlā.” Thinking thus, I ventured forth, and entered Śrī Vrindāvana. (a-b)
chāḍī puruṣottama āśa
vrundāvane kale nivāsa (c)
nirmālya seva dura kale
vraja rajaku āsyvādile (d)
For the time being I forsook all my longings for Purusottama, and spent my time instead in Vrindāvana. I threw far away my seva of relishing nirmālya, (Mahāprasāda) and had to taste instead the dust of Vraja. (c-d)
sankacakra ankita nohi
nāma ankita sarva dehi (e)
chādi jagannāth murati
madanmohane pīriti (f)
kalpataru chāyā chadi
kadamba mule thānti paḍi (g)
ksetra bhraman cāḍikari
bulanti govārdhana giri (h)
The gaudiya vaisnava abhidana mentions niether Dibākar Dās, or his jagannnāth-caritāmruta. Although in chapter 5 Dibākar Dās writes that he was born in Cuttack (Orissa) and his fathers name was Nimadeva, and his mother was called Campavati. The rendition I used was printed at Śrī Printers, Dolamandap Sāhi, Puri, in 1963, and published by Baḍa Oriya Math, Puri. Some chapters in the jagannāth-caritamruta, for example, tell how Lord Jagannāth is the combined form of Rādhā and Krsna. Other chapters how the hare-krsna maḥamantra mantra dwells in Lord Jagannath’s form and also in the forms of Baladeva and Subhadra, Chapter 8 talks of the swakiya and parikar nayaikā, as well as the eight amorous dispositions of the herione. Chapter 6 dwells on Radha tattva. Two or three chapters discus weather the mahāmantra should start with hare-rāma or hare-krsna. Jagannath, Baladeva, Subhadrā bija mantras are discussed in chapter 4. Dibākar Dās is of the conviction that Atibadi Jagannāth Dās is appeared from Rādhā’s smile and writes at length in chapter 10 of līlās performed by Jagannāth Dās. Chapter 13 shows the swarupas of Mahāprabhu’s asssociates in the Vraj līlā. Chapter 18 has descriptions of the markings on Rādhā and Krsna’s feet. Chapters 19 and 20 catalogue all the rules of how to wear tilak, bathe, observe ekadasi etc. Overall I think it is well worth translating the entire document into English. There is an awful controversy over the exact date of this document, but perhaps the late 1500’s.