88. Pastime of Mother Lakshmi devi allowed no entry into Jagannath Temple

Pastime of Mother Lakshmi devi allowed no entry into Jagannath Temple:

There is an ancient and popular story in Puri' describing how Lakshmi devi, the goddess of fortune, was once refused entrance to Lord Jagannath's temple.

In Orissa, every Thursday during the month of Marga- Sirsa (November-December) the ladies worship Lakshmi devi, the goddess of fortune. This tradition is still going on today. The ladies clean their houses nicely and decorate the entrances with designs made from rice flour paste. Worship and foodstuffs are then offered to Lakshmi.

There was a candálini, outcaste woman, named Shriya who observed this ceremony with great devotion. Lakshmi devi became so pleased by Shriya's worship that she decided to personally leave her residence in the Jagannath temple to visit and bless Her devotee. When Lord Balaram heard that Lakshmi had gone there, He manifested some external anger. He spoke to His younger brother, "This is very bad! By going to the house of an untouchable, your wife has transgressed the tradition of the Jagannath temple. By this visit, Lakshmi has become contaminated and therefore she cannot be allowed back inside the temple!"

Lord Jagannath tried to pacify His brother, "Balaramji, it's not so serious. Lakshmi merely wanted to bless Her sincere devotee. Locking Her out of the temple is too harsh. Don't worry, I will speak to Her and correct Her fault."

Balaram said, "No! We have our rules here, and they must be strictly followed. Regardless of the fact that she is your wife, we have to abide by the customs of the temple. Remember what happened in Treta-yuga when we came as Lakshman and Ramachandra and Lakshmi came as Sita. In that incarnation you were known as maryada-purushottama, the perfect embodiment of observing Vedic regulations. At that time, to strictly follow Vedic injunctions it became necessary to reject Sita and banish Her from Ayodhya. You are that same maryada-purushottama, and now you are manifesting pastimes in Purushottama dham, Puri, a place where tradition is strictly followed. Therefore, you have no choice. Lakshmi must be locked out."

"But, my dear brother, she is just a woman. She made an innocent mistake. Please forgive Her."

"No! Jagannath, I will not budge on this. You have to decide. You have to choose between having a wife or having a brother. If you don't agree with this, then I'm leaving!

Reluctantly, Jagannath said , "Then what can I say? But, Haladharji, I don't think this is a good idea." "Don't worry, everything will be okay. We have to strictly follow tradition, otherwise what will happen to the world?"

When Lakshmi returned to the temple a short time later, she was surprised to find the gates locked. She knocked loudly, and after a few minutes a guard came and spoke to her apologetically, "O Mother Lakshmi, please forgive me, but Lord Balaram has decreed that due to your fault of visiting the candālini, you cannot be allowed back inside of the temple."

Flustered, Lakshmi said, "But I just went to bless a sincere devotee. There is no fault on my part. I should be allowed in." The guard said, "O mother, please forgive me. This is the order of Balaram."

"Let me speak to my husband."

Jagannath arrived at the gate holding His head down. "Devi, I'm sorry. There is nothing I can do. Balaram has insisted on this."

Lakshmi devi became angry and said, "Very well, then. For your offense of disciplining an innocent woman, I curse both of you to suffer without comfort or food until you apologize and take it from my hand."

Jagannath went back inside and told Balaram, "I don't have a good feeling about this."

Lord Balram said, "Don't worry, everything will be okay. We have to follow tradition."

In this world, very few people are pious enough to worship Krishna. More people worship Shiva, but again, not everyone. More people yet worship Ganesh. But if we contemplate the matter, we can see that directly or indirectly, whether in India or the West, everyone worships Lakshmi, wealth. The Mahabharata (6.41.36) states:

arthasya puruso dãso
dasas tv artho na kasya cit

All men are slaves of wealth, but wealth is no one's servant.

Hungry Jagannath:

In Her sulky mood, Lakshmi began to call various persons. "O goddess Nidra, I want you to do something for me. By your power, I want you to put the two brothers in a deep sleep tonight."

"Yes, mother, as you instruct." That night while Jagannath and Balaram were sleeping soundly, Lakshmi called for the asta-vetalas, 8 ghostly creatures, and ordered them to plunder the temple. "Take all of the opulent dress, ornaments, and bedding Take every bit of foodstuff from the temple. Don't leave even one grain of rice."

The next morning Jagannath and Balaram woke up late. "Where are all of the pandas!" Jagannath asked. "Where is our breakfast? What's going on? Where has all of our fine bedding and clothing gone! Balaram, I told you, we should not have offended Lakshmi."

Lord Balram said, "Kalia, don't worry. I'm a good cook. This morning I will personally prepare your meal."

But when the brothers went to the temple kitchen they found that all of the stock of grains and vegetables were gone.

Lord Balram again said, "Don't worry, Kalia. This is Jagannath Puri! We are famous! Everyone loves us here. Let's adopt the disguise of sadhu-brahmacaris and go out and beg for food from the houses of pious brahmins. Certainly people will feed us."

However, to their surprise and disappointment, they found that wherever they went no one would give Them anything. Rather, on the order of Lakshmi, everyone abused Them and shouted at Them, "Rascals! Get out of here! Get a job! Why are you bothering honest people like us? Go away!"

After several hungry days, the two brothers came across a poor beggar lying under a tree by the road. They saw that he was rubbing his bloated belly and moaning. "Oh, I've never eaten so much in my life! What a wonderful charity!. What a feast!"

Balaram and Kalia asked him, "Where did you get food!" "There is a rich woman who lives near Chakra Tirtha by the ocean. She is very kind. Every day she feeds any hungry person who comes to her house."

Hearing this news, the two brothers happily set out walking barefoot on the beach for the home of the pious lady. Meanwhile, Lakshmi called for the sun god, "O Surya, turn up the heat. Increase the strength of your rays."

Suddenly the sand became blazing hot and the sun rays unbearable. The feet of the two brothers were burning as they ran quickly along the beach.

Finally arriving at the house of the wealthy matron, they knocked and loudly called out, "Bho mätar bhagavati, bhikşam dehi! - O mother, please give us alms."

A maidservant answered the door. "Can I help you?"

"Tell your mistress we are very hungry. Please give us something to eat."

The maidservant went back inside and returned after a moment, "My mistress says that she is very sorry, but she cannot offer anything for you to eat. She said that she is from a candala family, and since the two of you are obviously high class persons, how is it possible for you to eat what she has cooked!"

Balaram said, "Yes. We follow high standards. We do not eat what has been cooked by untouchable persons. However, we are very hungry. If you could please give us a pot, some fire-wood, grains and vegetables, then we will cook for ourselves."

The arrangements were made and a few minutes later the two brothers were happily cutting vegetables for cooking. "See, I told you", said Balaram, "There was nothing to worry about. I'm a good cook. In just a few minutes we will have a nice feast."

Meanwhile, Lakshmi devi called for Agni Dev, the god of fire, and Vayu, the god of wind. "Agni, no flame-just smoke, And Vayu, blow it in Their faces!"

Try as they might, the two brothers were not able to get the wood to burn. Their attempts only produced thick clouds of smoke which the wind blew in Their eyes. After an hour of such torture, they returned to the house of the wealthy lady. The air was permeated with a heavenly aroma. "Do you smell that cooking! Jagannath asked, "It smells just like what Lakshmi is used to cook for us. Balaram, I'm hungry!"

Begging Forgiveness:

Humbled, the two brothers again knocked on the door. The maidservant answered, "Oh, it is you two again. What do you want now!"

"We are very hungry. Please ask your mistress something to give for us to eat."

"But she is a candalini, how can you take her cooking?"

"We don't care. We are very hungry."

"Very well, come inside." When the two brothers went in they were astonished to find a fantastically opulent palace with hundreds of beautiful maid servants.

"My mistress said that you should please sit here. She will personally come and feed you."

When the rich woman arrived a few minutes later followed by her maidservants carrying a huge feast, the brothers were embarrassed to see that it was Lakshmi devi. "Please forgive us", Balaram said, "We made a mistake. Please give us something to eat."

Hearing their humble entreaty, Lakshmi devi, who had come out victorious in their quarrel, agreed. She happily fed her brother-in-law and her dearly beloved husband- on the condition that maha prasadam would henceforth be shared with on the all, regardless of any considerations of birth, caste, or ritual purity.

Lakshmi devi's sulky dealings with Her husband offer a purport to a phrase from the 4th verse of Jagannäthäṣtakam:

rama-vani-ramah

"Lord Jagannath derives great pleasure hearing the words of goddess Lakshmi."

Krishna says in Srl Caitanya-caritamrta (adi 4.21-22,26):

mora putra, mora sakha,
mora prana-pati
ei-bhave yei more 

kare suddha-bhakti

apanake bada mane,
amare sama-hina
sei bhave ha-i
ami tahara adhina

"If one cherishes pure loving devotion to Me, thinking of Me as one's son, friend, or beloved, regarding oneself as great and considering Me to be equal or inferior, I become subordinate to such a devotee."

priya yadi mana kari
karaye bhartsana
veda-stuti haite hare
sei mora mana

"If my beloved consort reproaches me in a sulky mood, that steals my mind from the reverent hymns of the Vedas."