DAYANA CHARURDASI - one of the 12 rituals of PURI JAGANNATHA TEMPLE

🕉️ SHUBHODAYAM 🕉️

SHORT STORY OF JAGANNATHA LEELA ON THIS AUSPICIOUS SRIKRISHNA ASHTAMI🙏😊

The kings of Orissa treated themselves as servants of PRABHU JAGANNATHA and considered it as their great fortune. Every day, when the temple is opened, the garland Nirmalya (used flowers of JAGANNATHA), was given to the King, as a blessing, which was treasured by them.

One day, the Archaka brought a garland to the king, as was brought Every day. The king was busy playing the game of Dice, at that time, and engrossed in the game, the king took the garland, which was considered Mahaprasada, with his left hand, and put it aside.

Later, after the game was completed, he realised his mistake, and profusely repented for the sin he committed, though unintentionally.

Unable to forget, or forgive himself, the King became dull and uninterested in life.

The wise minister was worried that the king was becoming negative, withdrawn, and depressed, and asked the king the reason. The king said that every day, at midnight, he is haunted by a hand, that shows up from the window of his bedroom, and that is making him restless.

The minister proposes to spend the night in his bedroom and tackle the problem.

At midnight, as told by the king, a hand barges from the window into the room, and the minister chops it out. He takes the hand to the king, and to his shock realises, that it was the left hand of the king himself. When he breaks into tears, the king calms him down and confesses to him about the sin he committed, towards Prasada of PRABHU JAGANNATHA, and that this was the punishment he imposed on himself.

The hand of the king was buried in the royal NANDANA KANANA Garden. The next day, the entire garden gets filled with a divine Aroma, and when searched for, the gardener finds a newly grown shrub, that had these divine leaves. He informs the king, who realises that the plant came from the place where his hand was buried, and concludes them inauspicious, and strictly instructs the gardener to guard the shrub and its leaves.

The next day when he comes to the garden, he finds that the shrub was totally without leaves, and when the gardener says he was totally unaware who stole them as none entered the garden. The angry King warns the gardener of stringent punishment if he doesn't catch hold of the person responsible by the morning the next day.

That night the King dreams of JAGANNATHA, who says that the leaves that grew from the place where his hand was buried was his favourite, and as he thought that they were inauspicious, he stole the leaves, and adorned them on his wrist, and the same can be found on the idol in the Sanctum Sanctorum of the temple. And as told, the leaves were indeed found on the idol of PRABHU JAGANNATHA.

The king was moved by the Daya of PRABHU JAGANNATHA, and he named them DAYANA.

The day this incident occurred, is celebrated in PURI, as DAYANA CHARURDASI, OR DAMANAKA CHARURDASI OR DAYANA CHORI, and is one of the 12 rituals of PURI JAGANNATHA TEMPLE.

JAI JAGANNATHA🙏

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