Dear Lord Jagannath, on this auspicious day of Rath Yatra festival, please inundate the world by your mercy. O Lord of the Universe, please come and see how we are suffering here without you.
Our heart which is now flooded with nasty desires weeps again and again. Lust, anger and greed has captured my heart, and I feel incapable of freeing myself from its captivity. So, please come and free my heart of these impurities and permanently reside here.
Never leave me, never allow me to leave you.
Today to show unlimited mercy you will be riding on a mammoth chariot along with your elder brother Lord Baladeva and younger sister Subhadra to see the condition of your eternal part and parcel who left you. We thought that without you, we will be happy. But now we know that life without you is like body without a soul.
But in spite of our obstinance to not be with you, you never leave us. You are always there for us in the temple as a deity. And once in every year you come out of your sanctum sanctorum to sanctify the world and purify the heart of the impure. Your Rath Yatra festival is a great gift to the world.
Scriptures say that just by seeing you on the chariot and welcoming you with joy makes us qualified to attain your spiritual abode.
You always reside in Jagannath Puri Dham, and the residents of Puri Dham are fortunate because they always have the opportunity to see you.
54th Kolkata Rath Yatra festival by Iskcon
But by the grace of your great devotee, Srila Prabhupada, today people all over the world are able to take your darshan and are also able to celebrate Rath Yatra festival. As a child living in Kolkata, Prabhupada would always be eager to go to Puri to seek your blessings.
He was so fond of you that as a child he would celebrate Rath Yatra at his home. And when he established Iskcon, he installed your deity and started Rath Yatra festival in Kolkata. Today in Kolkata, Iskcon is celebrating 54th Rath Yatra festival. And devotees not only from Kolkata but from many parts of India are here to participate in this great festival of chariot.
Flood my heart with the desire to always serve you
Unfortunate souls like me will also try to be part of this great festival. My dear Lord Jagannath, today give me an opportunity to see your wonderful face and take your darshan to my hearts content.
Give me an opportunity to pull the transcendental ropes which is fortunate than me because it is always tied to the chariot on which you sit like an emperor of the entire universe.
Dear Lord Jagannath, please bind my heart to your lotus feet with the ropes so hard that I never leave you even when I try to leave you.
You are the Lord of the Universe, there are millions of devotees not only on earth but in the entire universe including great demigods like Shiva, Brahma, Indra, Chandra who worship you. In front of them I am insignificant both materially and spiritually.
But I know you are a gracious Lord, you are a merciful God, so you won’t deny your mercy to me. My only prayer at your lotus feet is to purify my heart of all material desires and flood my heart with only one desire – the desire to always see you, serve you, worship you, glorify you and always participate in your Rath Yatra festival life after life.
Three Reflections
- Once in every year Lord Jagannath along with his elder brother Lord Baladeva and younger sister Subhadra Devi come out of their sanctum sanctorum during the Rath Yatra festival.
- If we welcome Lord Jagannath riding on the chariot during the Rath Yatra festival, then next life we will go back to the spiritual world.
- Let us pray to our very Dear Lord Jagannath to free our heart of all material desires and bind our heart to his lotus feet.
Ask Yourself
- Today did I pray to Lord Jagannath to fill my heart with spiritual desires so that I always serve him?
Action Item
- Pray to Lord Jagannath and participate in Rath Yatra festival. If not possible to participate then celebrate the festival at home.
