Jagannātha

Jagannātha means “master of all worlds”. He is Bhagavān Vishṇu in the form of the self-arisen dāru-mūrti (wooden image) at Purushottama Kshetra, also called Jagannātha Purī. It stands on Nīlācala hill, by the eastern ocean.

The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, says this image is not made by hand. Parabrahman himself came down from his own cosmic body into a sacred tree trunk floating in the ocean. He did this to give moksha (liberation) to all beings, whatever their fitness, effort or standing. Jagannātha appears with his brother Balabhadra, his sister Subhadrā and the Sudarśana cakra. Together they are the four-mūrti form.

Names and nature

The text uses several names for Bhagavān Vishṇu in this form.

• Jagannātha: master of all worlds and all universes.
• Purushottama: the Supreme Purusha, higher than both the perishable (kshara) and the imperishable (akshara).
• Dāru Mūrti and Dāru Brahman: Brahman shown in the form of wood (dāru).
• Nīla Mādhava: the sapphire-blue form in which Bhagavān Vishṇu was worshipped at this spot before the dāru-mūrti appeared.
• Svāmi: the Master, a name used with great reverence all through the text.

Brahmā says in Chapter 28: “This is not merely a wooden image. This is the direct svarūpa (own form) of Parabrahman. It is called dāru-brahman because it gives akhaṇḍa-ānanda (undivided bliss) by destroying all duḥkha (suffering). In the dāru form, Svāmi created himself from the four Vedas and through the Vedas created the entire world.”

The earlier form, Nīla Mādhava

Before the age of the dāru-mūrti, Bhagavān Vishṇu was worshipped at this same kshetra (sacred place) in a form of indranīla stone (deep blue sapphire) called Nīla Mādhava. Only Viśvāvasu the Śabara knew this form. He kept it secret for generations and worshipped it privately at the Rohiṇī Kuṇḍa.

When Vidyāpati, the envoy of King Indradyumna, at last saw it, its beauty was described as unsurpassed. But Nīla Mādhava withdrew of his own will. Golden sand buried him, and an aśarīra-vāṇī (a voice from no body) said that the time for the dāru form had come. (Chapters 7, 8, 9)

Brahmā explains later in Chapter 23: “In the first parārdha (half) of my life, Svāmi was present at Purushottama in the Nīla Mādhava form. Now my second parārdha has begun. In this parārdha, Svāmi has chosen the dāru form.”

How the dāru mūrti appeared

King Indradyumna finished one thousand Aśvamedha yajñas and took the avabhṛtha bath that ends them. Then a great divine tree trunk (dāru-vṛksha) appeared, floating in the ocean. An aśarīra-vāṇī told Indradyumna to do two things.

1. Pull the tree out of the ocean and keep it covered for fifteen days.
2. Find an old carpenter and let him work inside alone. No one else may enter or watch.

Viśvakarmā, the divine architect, came in the form of an old carpenter. After fifteen days the enclosure was opened. Four complete mūrtis had appeared from the one trunk. (Chapters 18, 19)

The four forms

Four mūrtis appeared from the dāru-vṛksha.

Brahmā says in Chapter 28: “Though four, they are in the end one, as gold in different ornaments remains the same gold. Svāmi is one though he appears as many. All mantras please Svāmi. Whoever worships Svāmi in whatever form, Svāmi gives the fruit in that form.”

Why Brahman chose the form of wood

The text has a long discussion on why Brahman chose to appear in wood. In Chapter 23 it says: “Svāmi came down in this dāru form so that all beings, even those who have not done the hard work of dhāraṇā (steady focus), dhyāna (meditation) and tapas (austerity), can gain moksha through his darśana alone. The whole universe is Svāmi’s body. In whatever way a person sees him, that is the way he shows himself to them. Through his darśana all pāpa (sin) is destroyed, the ātmā becomes pure and the being becomes fit for moksha.”

In Chapter 21 a brahmin at the assembly speaks of the supreme place of the dāru-mūrti. It goes beyond all the paths of Vedānta, he says, because it gives moksha with no conditions. The learned and the unlearned, the brahmin and the low-born, the devotee and even the one without devotion all gain moksha through contact with this kshetra.

Brahmā’s installation

Brahmā himself performed the pratishṭhā (installation) of Jagannātha in the prāsāda (temple) built by Indradyumna. The text treats this as unmatched in the Purāṇas. Brahmā came down from Satyaloka in a divine vimāna drawn by golden haṃsas. Durgāmā, Nārada and the host of devas came with him.

He did the rites with the Narasiṃha mahāmantra from the Atharvaveda. He performed abhisheka with waters from all tīrthas. He set up the mūrtis with these words: “O Jagannātha, you who hold up all worlds, be firmly set in this prāsāda. When you are well set, we are all set.” (Chapters 26, 27)

The date of the pratishṭhā is Vaiśākha śukla ashṭamī, Pushyamī nakshatra, Guruvāra (Thursday). (Chapter 27)

Svāmi’s own words

After the pratishṭhā, the dāru-mūrti spoke to Indradyumna. He gave varas (boons) and made promises that last for ever. (Chapter 29)

• “Even if this prāsāda falls into ruin, I will not leave this spot. Whoever builds a new wall around me, the glory of that work belongs to you alone.”
• “I was born on Jyeshṭha daśamī in the first mahāyuga of the second parārdha of Brahmā’s life, in the first pāda of the Kṛtayuga of Svāmī Manvantara. That day is to be kept as my bathing festival.”
• “For nine days in Āshāḍha, I will go to the Guṇḍicā Maṇḍapa and stay at the Indradyumna Sarovara. All tīrthas will be present there during those days.”
• “I will stay in this dāru form at Purushottama through the second parārdha of Brahmā, which is the measure of Brahmā’s remaining life.”

The Narasiṃha aspect

The prāsāda also holds Bhagavān Narasiṃha in his ugra (fierce) form. Brahmā meditated on the Narasiṃha mahāmantra before the pratishṭhā. Then the cosmic form of Narasiṃha appeared. It filled all directions with its many faces, eyes, throats, arms and legs, and blazed like the fire at the end of the world.

Brahmā called this the best of all the forms of Bhagavān Jagannātha. Whoever worships it is not born again. (Chapter 28)

The text equates the dāru-mūrti with Narasiṃha: Narasiṃha is the Sāmaveda and is the chief form of Jagannātha. (Chapter 28)

Worship and who may come

Among the sacred images of the Purāṇas, this text alone lays down that all may come.

• The dvijāti (twice-born) may worship with mantras.
• Others may offer namaskāra and nāma-saṅkīrtana (singing the divine names).

The Narasiṃha mahāmantra from the Atharvaveda is named as the highest mantra for the worship of Jagannātha. The dvādaśākshara mantra (twelve syllables) and the pañcadaśākshara mantra (fifteen syllables) are also laid down for various rites.

The fruit of darśana

The text lists great spiritual fruits for the darśana of Jagannātha at Purushottama.

• Seeing the dāru-mūrti gives moksha with no further birth.
• Dying at the kshetra gives sāyujya-mukti (union with Bhagavān Jagannātha) at once.
• Even saying the name “Jagannātha” destroys the pāpa of many lifetimes.
• Seeing the ratha yātrā (chariot festival) destroys the pāpa of one crore lifetimes. If the shadow of the ratha touches a person, brahmahatyā (the pāpa of killing a brahmin) is destroyed. If its dust touches a person, all three kinds of pāpa are destroyed.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Purushottama Kshetra Māhātmya, Chapters 1–37+ (Chapters 7, 8, 9, 18, 19, 21, 23, 26, 27, 28 and 29 are cited above)