84. The Dayana festival of Lord Jagannath

The Dayana festival of Lord Jagannath:

Under the veil of darkness on the 13th evening of the bright fortnight of the month of Caitra, a little known festival takes place for Lord Jagannath in Sri Kshetra Dham Jagannath Puri. This festival revolves around a plant known variously as "dayand, damanaka, damana, and damanna" (Artemisia indica). 

The Skanda Purana (5.2.2.38.124) glorifies this special

variety of herb as follows:

tasya mala bhagavatah 

parama-priti-kärini

suska paryusita vapi 

na dusta bhavati kvacit

A garland made of this plant is very pleasing to the Lord. Even if it becomes dry, or even after the lapse of a long time, it never becomes defiled.

There are two stories about the origin of this herb. One is from ancient times, found in the Skanda and other Puranas and the other from a local legend in Puri that connects damanaka to Lord Jagannath's worship today.

The Demon Damanaka:

The Skanda Purana (5.2.2.38. 118-126) relates a story about a demon named "Damanaka". This daitya had become extremely powerful, and was harassing the inhabitants of the earthly as well as heavenly planets. The demon was an expert in the magical arts. He could even move through the waters of the oceans and cause disturbances there.

In answer to the prayers of Brahma for relief from this daitya, Lord Vishnu assumed His form as "Matsya, the fish incarnation", and searched for and found Damanaka in the ocean. After dragging the demon to the shore, he defeated him in a battle at midnight on the 13th day in the bright half of the month of Caitra. The Skanda Purana relates that the Lord was pleased with the demon and therefore gave him the benediction of residing on the Lord's chest in the form of a plant.

Due to contact with the hands of the Lord, the daitya Damanaka became a fragrant herb of the same name. Some say that the plant is called "damanaka" because the demon tried to damana, "restrain" or "punish", the gods. The Skanda Purana (5.2.2.38.123) describes that the scent of damanaka or dayand leaves excels the fragrance of all flowers, and that their scent will stay as long as they exist. True to His promise to the daitya, the next day, on the 14th day of the bright fortnight of the month of Caitra, Lord Vishnu wore the demon on His chest in the form of a garland made of damanaka leaves. The Skanda Purana (5.2.2.38.123) states that the color of the leaves thus became splendid like that of the Lord's bluish hue. Lord Vishnu gave the plant the benediction that he who devotedly wears the maha-prasada dayand garland of the Lord will attain the merit of a 1000 horse-sacrifices. 

This section of the Skanda Purana finishes by extolling the virtues of the damanaka plant as follows (5.2.2.38.125):

tasya sugrathitām maalām 

dattva damanakaaraye 

utpaadayen mahaa-pritim 

visnor ya mukti-dayini

"Anyone who makes a fine garland of it and offers it to the enemy of Damanaka, will bring pleasure to Vishnu and attain salvation".

Stealing of the Dayana Leaves:

The second explanation of the origin of this festival is a local Puri legend that tells the history of how damanaka came to be associated with Lord Jagannath's worship: 

A long time ago in Orissa there was a Gajapati king (of Puri) who was hopelessly addicted to gambling. In those days, playing with dice was a common vice for royalty. However, on one occasion the king had to pay a severe price for his failure to control his addiction to this habit.

It is the customary norm of the Jagannath temple to fix before mangala-arati any garland, garment or flower that might have fallen off the divine forms of the Lords during their night rest. Early in the morning the ärati bhitara-chu mahāpātra, the priest, who opens up the temple and performs the first ärati, goes on the altar and replaces the ornaments-except for the "gabhas", the flower decorations on the foreheads of the deities. A gabha that has fallen down is not offered to the Lord again. If it is Lord Baladev's, it is sent to goddess Bimala; if Subhadra devi's, to Garuda; Lord Jagannath's gabha is offered to Gajapati mahārāja, who is considered to be "the first servant of the Lord", and who respectfully accepts it as Jagannath's mercy. Once when Lord Jagannath's flower headdress fell off, the raja-guru and the prasada badu (the sevak responsible for distributing the prasada) took it straight to the royal palace. They found Gajapati mahanty absorbed in a game of dice. The king paid no heed to his untimely visitors. He assumed that his guests had brought something to give to him, thus; as his right hand was holding the dice. he nonchalantly extended his left hand towards them.

The bewildered priest helplessly handed over Lord Jagannath's abha. When the king glanced to see what they gave him, he was horrified to find that he had accepted the sacred maha-prasadam of the Lord in his left hand! He stared at the prasada flowers on his left palm with unblinking eyes, as the dice slowly slipped from his right hand. He concluded that the only atonement for his grave offense would be to end his life. However, as suicide is a terrible sin, and one cannot become free from the reaction of one sin by committing another, he was confounded as to what to do. 

Eventually, the king settled on the course of his punishment in an unbiased way: the culprit who disrespected the prasada of the most worshipable Supreme Lord Jagannath deserves to have his hand cut off! That will teach the common people. Henceforth, no one would dare to touch sacred items with their left hand.

Decisive though the remorseful king was in determining the sentence, he quickly realized that to carry out the punishment would be a difficult matter who would be willing to cut off his hand! After careful consideration, he fabricated an intriguing plot, and chose the vidyadhara mahapatra, the prime minister, to administer the penalty.

The next day while idly talking with his close friend and prime minister, he mentioned to him that he spent the previous night turning in his bed, sleepless, Pretending to be afraid, Gajapati mahārāja related that in the middle of the night there was a ghost outside his bedroom who reached through the window and was trying to grab hold of him with his ghastly hand. He jumped to his feet, terrified, and chanted mantras to chase him away-but to no effect. The ghost lingered outside his window till the early hours.

Upon hearing the account of these events, the Vidyadhara mahapatra requested. "My lord, do not fear. Please let me stay in your room one night. If you give me the chance. I promise I will deal with the situation quite efficiently." The king was apparently reluctant, his prime minister however, assured him, "You need only to order me, and tomorrow I will present that ghostly hand to you."

Accordingly, that night Gajapati maharaja's sleeping arrangements were made in another room nearby, while in his own bedroom his faithful minister remained on the watch. In the middle of the night, a hand was creeping into the pitch dark room through the window. Without the least delay, the vigilant minister delivered a forcible-stroke with his sword-and the hand fell to the ground. Sri vidyadhara mahapatra felt relieved that he managed to keep his word to his royal friend. Having received appropriate punishment, the king who was standing outside the window in the dark night was also satisfied.

When the prime minister understood just whose handsome, well-built hand it was that he hacked off, he was shocked. The king ordered the contrite minister to bury the useless limb in the garden as a reminder of the serious consequences of disrespecting the Lord's prasada.

Thereafter, Gajapati mahārāja, due to his disability, had to remain distant from his beloved Jagannath's direct service. He spent much of his time in the royal garden, where a few days after the incident he noticed a scented grayish-blue sprout coming out of the ground at the place where his hand had been buried. The leaves of the seedling had an exquisite fragrance that attracted the king's mind. Gajapati mahārāja became fascinated by the little plant, and was curiously watching its growth day by day. He inquires about its name, but no one, not even the royal gardener, knew. He ordered his men to take good care of the anonymous aromatic herb, and soon the whole garden was filled with its fragrance.

The king developed a desire to make an offering of the sweet-smelling leaves to his Lord. However, because no one knew anything about the plant, he refrained from doing so. One day, much to his surprise, he found that all the leaves of the sprout were missing. Later that day, he learnt about a mysterious event in the Sri Mandir - the priest came on the altar and discovered Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra devi decorated with the leaves from the nameless herb in his garden!

"How can that insignificant little plant be offered to Purushottam, the supreme person, without the king's permission? 

Who but the royal gardener could have committed such a crime?" Raging with anger, the puri-raja immediately ruled that the caretaker be beheaded for his audacity. The poor man was immediately thrown into prison with the gruesome prospect of coloring the earth with his blood before the next rising of the sun.

In his desperate condition, the gardener offered prayers to Lord Jagannath, "O my Lord! You are the seer of all-past, present, and future. You know that I never offered those unknown scented leaves to your Lordship. Oh my Lord Chakadola! Your beautiful round eyes that never blink can see everything all over the universe. You are aware that tomorrow this innocent servant of your first servant, the king, is going to die for something he did not do unless you rescue him. Please hear me. Please protect me."

The devotees' sincere prayers at the lotus feet of the Lord never go in vain. That very night, in answer to the heart- rending cries of the royal gardener, the Supreme Lord Jagannath appeared in a dream to the Gajapati maharaja and said, "Oh king! The fragrant bluish plant in your garden was manifested from your pure devotion and renunciation. Attracted by your love, it was I who stole those delicate leaves and decorated Myself, My brother, and My sister. This herb is obtainable in the heavenly kingdom of Indra, it is called "dayand".

"Know that the imprisoned caretaker is my dear devotee and is innocent. Offer him service in the temple as the dayand mall, the gardener of this plant, whose scented leaves I will henceforth regularly accept.

"As for you, dear king, tomorrow is the 14th day of the bright fortnight of the month of Caitra. Hence forth, every year on this day, I want you to hold a festival in remembrance of my acceptance of your devotion by stealing the dayand leaves from your garden. Celebrate me as "bhakta-vatsala", He who is always affectionate to His devotees. This is my desire."

Jagannath disappeared and the king awoke, over-whelmed with joy at having received his Lord's merciful instructions on the pretext of a dream. Moreover, he was amazed to find that his left hand had been restored! Offering his grateful obeisances to Lord Jagannath, he released the royal gardener from prison, and in the morning he introduced the festival called the Dayana-cori-utsava. From that day on, the king's garden became known as Jagannath Vallabha (literally "Jagannath's beloved") garden, where every year this festival is observed.

The Festival:

Most of the ceremonies of the Dayana-cori-utsava in Puri are taken from the Skanda Purana (5.2.2.44.5-16) describing Damana-bhanjika, "The Splitting of Damana". The Skanda Purana elaborately describes the procedure of worshiping Lord Vishnu (Jagannath) with the dayand plant, complete with mandalas and artistic performances.

Following the Skanda Purana injunctions, the festivities start around midnight on the Trayodasi of the bright fortnight in the month of Caitra -at the same time that formerly the Lord of the demigods defeated Damana, and Lord Jagannath instructed the devout gajapati maharaja to observe the Dayana-cori-utsava. The ceremonial deities Balaram and Krishna, whom the puri-vasis affectionately refer to as "Rama Krishna", are carried on a palanquin, along with a painting of cupid known as the kandarpa-pati, from the Jagannath mandir to the Jagannath Vallabha Gardens. A homa, fire sacrifice, is performed, and the deities receive late night worship. They are offered sandalwood paste, sumptuous foodstuffs, tambüla, and arati. After the Lords retire for their night rest, they "steal" the dayand leaves as follows: the dayana mali gives 6 dayand plants to the bhitara-chu mahapatra, who in turn ties one dayana plant each onto the arms of Rama and Krishna. The Skanda Purana gives the following mantras for this ceremony 

avadhid damanam 

daityam pura

trailokya kantakam

sa evettham parinatah 

puratas tava tisthati

anyotpattau tada pritir

asidya tava madhava

ahunapi tathaivastam pritir 

damana bhanjane

Formerly you killed the daitya Damanaka, who was a thorn unto the three worlds. He has thus become transformed and stands in front of you. At that time you felt pleased, O Madhava ! May you now have the same pleasure in splitting this damanaka plant! (Skanda Purana 52.244.9-10)

hiranyakasipum hatva

hy antra-maalaam tad angajam 

dhvatva kanthe yatha pritis 

tathedam damanam trnam

After killing Hiranyakasipu and putting round your neck the entrails taken out of his body, you became delighted. O Lord, I am now offering you this damanaka grass so that you may enjoy similar pleasure. (Skanda Purana 5.2.2.44.15)

The Skanda Purana recommends that the remaining part of the night should then be spent with bhajans kirtans, and dance performances.

After sunrise, the devotees take the small deities Rama and Krishna, each with a dayand plant tied to their arms, back to the Sri Mandir where they are locked up in a room all day for their mischief. The 4 other dayana plants are also brought from Jagannath Vallabha Gardens. Three are given to another vijaya-vigraha of Jagannath Madan Mohan, with His consorts Sri Devi and Bhu Devi (Lakshmi and Saraswati). Then, on the evening of the Caturdasi the vijaya-vigrahas are taken on parikrama around the temple 3 times. That evening Lord Jagannath is worshiped by various offerings, foremost among which is the 6th fragrant dayand plant, brought from Jagannath Vallabha Gardens, which the puja panda then places on the Lord's head.

It is said that one who respects the maha-prasada damanaka of the Lord by placing it on his own head shall be rid of all sins and dwell in the abode of the Lord. The Skanda Purana (5.2.2.44.16) states:

tava prityai tu bhagavan 

maya dattam tavangake 

ity uccarya harer-murdhni dadyad 

gandha-trnam subham

A person who is distressed due to worldly miseries but sees Hari's lotus-like face beaming with pleasure at the time of the placing of dayana leaves on the Lord's head, attains excellent happiness.

Skanda Purana (5.2.2.443) describes;

yasyam krtāyām drstayam prináti purusottamah

"If this festival is performed or witnessed, Purushottam Jagannath becomes pleased."

The Dayand-cori-utsava commemorates the renunciation of the devout puri-raja, and is a reminder of how Jagannath accepts the offerings of each and every one of His devotees, be they kings, paupers, or gardeners. By the yearly celebration of the Dayana-cori-utsava, the festival of the stealing of the dayana leaves, Lord Chakadola has proclaimed to all that His devotees are never lost; they are ever under His kind and compassionate eyes Cauragraganya-purushottama, the Supreme Person who is the best of the thieves, protects them, maintains them, steals the fruits (and leaves) of their devotion, and in due course of time, by His causeless mercy, He may also irrevocably steal their hearts.

For Gaudiya Vaishnavas, the ultimate confirmation of the pleasure that damanaka brings to Shyamasundar Jagannath is Srila Rupa Goswami's words describing the evening preparations of the gopis (Sri Ujjvala Nilamani 8.7):

nile nila-nicolam arthaye maghe dehi srajam damanim 

tvam kalaguru-kardamaih sakhi tanum limpasva campe mama janihi bhramaraksi kutra guravah pasya pradosodgame kunjabhikramanaya mam tvarayate sphärandhakaravali

Shyama says: 

Nila, cover me with this black cape. Magha, give me that garland of damanaka flowers. My friend Champa, anoint my body with this dark aguru paste. Bhramarakshi, watch for my elders. Now that evening has arrived, this great blinding darkness will aid my swift journey to the forest-rendezvous with Krishna.