(29/JUNE/2014) - Kolkata,
India
Today being Ratha-yatra. Guru Maharaj
was ready by 11am to go to Rath site to inaugurate the 43rd Kolkata
Ratha-yatra. With Guru Maharaj car, many devotees followed with many taxis. And
Guru Maharaj reached Rath site on time. But chief guests were late. So Guru
Maharaj decided to first go to Balaram Rath and did the coconut breaking
ceremony; sweeping ceremony; sprinkling sandalwood water. And after that he
went to Subhadra Maharani Rath and did the same. The he came to Jagannath Rath
and did all, then offered ghee lamp. Then spoke for two to three minutes about
the importance of Ratha Yatra. Then with chief guests he swept the road and
inaugurated the Ratha Yatra.
After that we return to our flat. When
Gm arrived Puri Ratha Yatra was on live on DD Odisha channel. And devotees had
put it on the big screen with projector. So Guru Maharaj started doing his
Gayathri and watching Ratha Yatra. Then Lord Jagannath was getting up on His
chariot... And Guru Maharaj called me and said, "I was there in 1970. That
time there was not these buildings..." And after some time again he called
and said, "First Kolkata Ratha-Yatra was packed with people as like Puri
the whole road in Kolkata was full..."
Then Guru Maharaj went to take his
lunch. I got the opportunity to feed him. So I was feeding him. As we heard
that chief minister of West Bengal is going to visit Gundicha Mandir (Pandal)
to take Jagannath Darshan. So Guru Maharaj has to be there at 5 pm. But it was
already 3pm. So we forced him to take rest. And Guru Maharaj said I will take
one hour rest.
At 4pm we woke him up and he took his
shower and got ready by 5:15 pm. Then we got the message that 5:30pm will be
the program. Then Guru Maharaj went to Maha Varaha Pr's room and got some nuts
to offer to Lord Jagannath. Which Guru Maharaj got from Dubai.
Then we went to Pandal. It was raining.
And when we entered the main entrance Acharya Ratna Pr came to receive Guru
Maharaj and took him to the Lord Jagannath's altar. And in front of Lord
Jagannath, there was performance of Odisi Dance. And all the chief guests with
chief minister was watching that performance offered to the Lord. Guru Maharaj
was also the joined with them. After the performance Chief minister left the
pandal. Then the leader of the Odisi dancers was Sourav Ganguly (Cricket
Player's wife). And she came and offered her pranams to Guru Maharaj. Guru
Maharaj said, "wonderful performance, by seeing this I thought Lord
Krishna would come down from the Altar and join with you all and dance..."
And she said, this Odisi dance is only for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath. So
we offered it to Him. Then Guru Maharaj went to take darshan of Lord Jagannath.
And Guru Maharaj offered nuts and fruits to Lord Jagannath and then did arati.
Then few devotees were introduced to Guru Maharaj, they were mainly working on
Fund raising department. In that one devotee he had a batch or like ID. Guru
Maharaj saw it and asked what is that. He said, "RATH SEVAK",
Immediately Guru Maharaj said, "I AM RATH SWEEPER"... "I AM RATH
SWEEPER..."
Then Guru Maharaj went to ViP Lanch to
take his dinner. There devotees were eating Lord's famous Kitchadi prasadam.
Guru Maharaj said, I wil take my dinner here. But somehow, the dinner got
delayed. And it reached late. By the time Guru Maharaj said, I also need
Jagannath's Kitchadi. Then we got one plate. Guru Maharaj started to eat. We
said, this prasadam is full if ghee it is not good for your health. Guru
Maharaj was keep on eating; without considering our plea. And then half plate
he finished. Then his diet prasadam. Arrived. Then Guru Maharaj took little
from that. Then I asked him "Guru Maharaj it is not good for your health,
then why you took so much." He said, "when Lord Jagannath's prasadam
is in front of you. You should not see any rules." Then laughed...
After finishing his dinner. We said,
you are schedule to give class at 7:30pm. And it is already 7:30pm. Then he
asked Acharya Ratna Pr about public prasadam distribution. He said, we have
distributed so far 10,000 plates and we are giving Alu sabji and sweet with
Kitchadi. Guru Maharaj said, I want little sample to check the quality. Then
only I will go to lecture pandal. So we got it and gave to him. Then after
tasting it Guru Maharaj showed with his finger like this SUPERB!!!!
Then we reached pandal and Guru Maharaj
gave 30mins speech in Bengali on the glories of Lord's maha Prasadam.
Then we started our way back. While
coming back Guru Maharaj asked to call Different temple presidents, who were
also celebrated their Ratha festival locally. So we called Silchar, Patna,
Tripura Gwuahati, Siliguri, Hyderabad, Visakapattanam and to Bhakti Purusottama
Swami, who was in Mora Road, Mumbai Ratha Yatra. So Guru Maharaj blessed all
the presidents and asked for their reports on their successful Ratha Yatra and
how many participants, prasadam distribution, Chief Guests like this all the
details. Every one was happy... When they heard the voice of Guru Maharaj, that
to unexpected call... No one can imagine that moment of happiness.
At last reached back to flat at
11:00pm. I was tired so I left Guru Maharaj Flat And to servants flat. But Guru
Maharaj was tiredless... He was talking to some devotees even at that time. All
glories to Gurudev!
-(Shyama
Rasika Dasa - Personal diary)
