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MASS OFFERINGS OF BHOGA-FOOD TO LORD JAGANNATH. (The Pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu during Jagannatha Rath Yatra – Part 2)

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When they reached the place called Balagaṇḍi, Lord Jagannātha stopped His car and began to look left and right. On the left side, Lord Jagannātha saw the neighborhood of brāhmaṇas known as vipra-śāsana and the coconut tree grove. On the right side, He saw nice flower gardens resembling those in the holy place Vṛndāvana. Vipra-śāsana is a name generally used in the Orissa province for the quarters where brāhmaṇas live. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His devotees were dancing in front of the car, and, having stopped the car, Lord Jagannātha watched the dancing. It was customary that food be offered to the Lord at vipra-śāsana. Indeed, innumerable dishes of food were offered, and Lord Jagannātha tasted each one of them. All kinds of devotees of Lord Jagannātha-from neophytes to the most advanced-offered their best cooked food to the Lord. This included the King, his queens, his ministers and friends and all other big and small residents of Jagannātha Purī.

All the visitors who had come from different countries to Jagannātha Purī, as well as the local devotees, offered their personally cooked food to the Lord. The devotees offered their foods everywhere, in front and behind the car, on the two sides and within the flower garden. Wherever possible, they made their offering to the Lord, for there were no hard-and-fast rules. While the food was being offered, a large crowd of people gathered. At that time Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stopped His dancing and went to a nearby garden. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the garden. Immersed in a great ecstatic emotion, He fell flat on a raised platform there. The Lord was very fatigued from the hard labor of dancing, and there was perspiration all over His body. He therefore enjoyed the fragrant, cool breeze of the garden. All the devotees who were performing saṅkīrtana came there and took rest under each and every tree.

Ref >> Srila Prabhupada Vani.

 

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