The Jagannāth Caritamruta by Divākar Dās.

[Jagannāth Miśra Dās]

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)

(Gaurāñga said) To the immediate right of the Guṇdicā you will see Bilveśvara, wherein lies Vrindāvana, a place that contains everything. (l-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)

This serves as an arena for all of Krsna’s playful dalliances and is beautified by the forested banks of the kalindī wherein rest many raised mandaps,

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)

I no longer drew the sanka-cakra tilak upon my limbs, but bore instead impressions of nāma tilak. I had to give up the mūrtti of Jagannāth, and love Madanmohan. I likewise had to renounce the shade of the kalpataru, and lay instead at the root of a kadamba tree; and I also gave up wandering around the ksetra, and took to meandering around a hill called Govardhan. (e-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.