MAHAPURUSA PANCHASAKHA

M A H A P U R U S A  P A N C H A S A K H A

Age of Panchasakha            

Five poets emerged towards the 16th century: Balaram Das, Jagannath Das, Achyutananda Das, Ananta Das and Jasobanta Das. Although their dates of activity span one hundred years, they are collectively known as “Panchasakhas”, since they adhered to the same school of thought, Utkaliya Vaishnavism. Balaram Das’s Jagamohan Ramayan provided the other pillar on which subsequent literature was to thrive. His Laksmi Purana is considered to be the first manifesto of Women’s Liberation and Feminism in Indian Literature. However, the most influential work was yet to come. 

It came in the form of Jagannath Das’s Bhagabata, which had a great influence among Oriya people, as a day-to-day philosophical guide, and on Oriya Culture. The Panchasakhas are very much Vaishnavas by thought. In 1509, Chaitanya came to Orissa with his Vaishnava message of love. Before him, Jaydev had prepared the ground by heralding the cult of Vaishnavism through his Geetagovinda. Chaitanya’s path of devotion was known as Raganuga Bhakti Marga, but the Panchasakhas differed from Chaitanyas and believed in Gyana Mishra Bhakti Marga, which has similarities with the Buddhist philosophy of Charya Literature stated above. In the holy land of Kalinga (Orissa) many saints, mystics, and devotional souls have taken birth, from time to time, and have fortified the culture and the spiritualism. The land is witness to most of the important Hindu traditions and spiritual movements. Jewelled by sacred Buddhist monuments to temples of Shakti (the supreme female power), Shiva (the supreme male power), and Jagannâth Vishnu (Lord of the Universe), the state is unique in itself. Most important spiritual rituals have been extensively practised here by several seers – including Buddhist ceremonies, Devi “Tantra” (tanric rituals involving worship of Shakti), Shaiva Marg (the path followed by devotees of Shiva), and Vaishnava Marg (the path followed by devotees of Vishnu). Hardly there is any “Sadhak” who would not pay a visit to the Shri Jagannâth temple once.

Among the various great souls, the most prominent (in the domain of the known History) are the Panchasakhaa (=Five friends) who have deeply influenced both the Oriya Spiritualism and the Literature. These five friends lived between 1450 to 1550 AD and enriched the spiritualism in a way that normal man can also understand and benefit out of that. These great souls are: Achyutânanda Das, Ananta Das, Jasovanta Das, Jagannâtha Das, and Balarâma Das. They popularly were called as Panchasakhaa (=Five friends).

Pancha means five and Sakhaa means friends -The great spiritual leader and naamayogi avataar Chaitanya Mahaaprabhu has referred to these five of his disciples as Panchasakhaa and stated that the Panchasakhaa are like his Pancha Atma, i.e., five souls (Atma-Tattva) and are in no way lesser than some of the Avataars of Vishnu. Shri Chaitanya was the first to establish the Bhaaba-Mishrita Naama Marga (the path of chanting the holy name with proper feelings and faith); before him this method was not so popular or well-known even if the path is partly described in the ancient Vedas. He first introduced this method for all the simple-minded people and made many realize that God-realization can also be achieved by simpler method of pure devotion without undergoing difficult method of austerities. It is he who first disclosed the importance of the HareKrusna MahaaMantra.

The Panchasakha converted ancient Hindu texts into prose (of simple language) easily understood by the people of Udra Desha (Orissa). Shri Achyutananda Das was the most prolific writer of the Panchasakhas and has written numerous books (called as Pothi’s), believed not in one life but in many successive lives. He is known as the Mahapurusha, which means – a great man. 

Mahapurusha Achyutânanda was a shunya sadhak and had acquired immense knowledge about almost every aspect, i.e. spiritualism, Ayurveda (Indian healing medical science that uses only natural resources and herbs), various other sciences, and social regulations. For details please look at the “Literature Pancha-Sakha” topic.

There is an interesting belief (school-of-thought) about the origin of Panchasakhâ which relates them to the Mahabhârat era (Dwapara-yuga), and is also stated in Shunya Samhitâ written by Mahapurusha Achyutânanda. Here, Mahapurusha describes, Panchasakhâ literally means “five mates or friends”. Towards the end of Mahabhârat era when Lord Krusna was leaving the mortal body, Nilakantheswara Mahadeva (another name of Lord Shiva, residing in Puri, with a blue-colored neck caused by intake of poison to save the world) appeared and had a conversation with Lord Krusna. He revealed that the Lord’s companions Dâmâ, Sudâmâ, Srivatsa, Subala, and Subâhu would reincarnate in the Kali-yuga and will be known as Ananta, Acyutânanda, Jagannâtha, Balarâma, and Yasovanta, respectively. Thus, the believers of the Panchasakhâ consider that these five saints were the most intimate friends of Lord Krusna in Dwapara-yuga, who came again in Kali-yuga to serve Him. They are also instrumental to perform the crucial and much-awaited Yuga-Karma of destroying the sinners and saving the saints, according to the Sanatana-Hindu beliefs.

To describe briefly the individual ways and specialties of the Panchasakhaa, it is told that :

Agamya bhâba jânee Yasovanta Gâra katâ Yantra jânee Ananta Âgata Nâgata Achyuta bhane Balarâma Dâsa tatwa bakhâne Bhaktira bhâba jâne Jagannâtha Panchasakhaa e mora pancha mahanta. [in Oriya] Yasovanta knows the things beyond the reach Yantras using lines and figures are known to Ananta Achyuta speaks the past, present and future Balarâma Dasa is fluent in tatwa (ultimate gist of anything) Ultimate feelings of devotion are known to Jagannâtha These five friends are my five mahantas [direct translation might result in slight loss of information]

The birth/origin of the Achyutânand is described as:

!! Shunyaru khasilaa Pavane misilaa, anaakare helaa thula !!

!! Thula bhangigale athule misiba, rahijiba anaahata !!

“Mahapurusha Achyutânanda”, is believed to have been born with special mercy or divine intervention from “” which is symbolic for Lord Jagannâth himself (“Vibhuti Yoga, Shrimad Bhagavat Geeta”). Hence the name of Mahapurusa is Achyuta (“A + chyuta”: A= Shri Visnu; Chyuta = created from). Occasionally, “Mahapurusha Achyutânanda” is also referred to as “Achyuti”, which literally means “who has no fall (“chyuti nahin jâhâra” in Oriya language)”. Sri Achyuta Das was born to Dinabandhu Khuntia and Padma devi in a village called Tilakona in Orissa in about 1510 AD on a “Magha Sukla Ekadasi” (a specific time described in Oriya calendar). His parents were childless for a long time and were praying to Lord Jagannâth for a child. One night his father had a vision that Garuda (the bird of Vishnu, an Eagle) gave him a child. 

Next morning he rushed to the temple and prayed at the “Garuda Khamba” (a pillar in front of the Jagannâth temple) thanking the Lord for his mercy. At this point there are two different beliefs: some are of the opinion that he (Dinabandhu Khuntia) found a newborn divine child there and he is Achyuta (“A + chyuta”). Some others believe that, soon after this incident (vision), Padma devi was booned with a divine child.

Mahapurusha Achyutânanda had established various spiritual energetic centers called ‘Gâdi’s distributed throughout east India (former states known as Anga, Banga, Kalinga, Magadha) and some in Nepal. These ‘Gâdi’s were host to most of the spiritual actions, discourses, penance, and provided various services to the seekers. Examples are, Nemal, Kakatpur, Garoi, Jobra Ghât (a river bank in Cuttack) etc. During this brilliant era of Panchasakhâ, another seer His holiness Arakhsita Das (the presiding seer of Olasuni near Paradweep) who was not among the Panchasakha but was a revered saint, once found a divine child and handed over the newborn child to Mahapurusha Achyutananada. This child was known as Ram Das who is the disciple of Mahapurusha Achyutananda, Panchasakhaa, and Arakhsita Das together. The PanchaSakhaa were called as Pancha Guru (five Gurus) and together with Shri Arakhsita Das they were known as Sada-Goswami (six Lords). Shriguru Arakhsita Das, a great Shunya Sadhak, is the patron saint and seer in the Olasuni hills.

Olasuni hill is located near the border of Cuttack and Jajpur district, adjacent to the Daitari- Paradip Express Highway near the Ratnagiri and Laitgiri hills. The Gobari river also flows nearby. Olasuni hill was the place of Sadhana where Shri Arakhsita Das performed austerities in a cave (Olasuni gumphaa) before attaining salvation. The annual nine day Gumphaa festival of Olasuni is very famous. There is also the temple of Goddess Olasuni, near the tomb of Saint Arakhit Das. Baba Buddhanath Das sings in a song that Goddess Olasuni is the mother of Shri Arakhsita Das, one of the greatest ShunyaVaadi sadhakas. He is extremely merciful and accepts every offer, irrespective of any other factor, when they are offered with feelings.

Subsequently the Pancha Sakhaa and Arakhsita Das, in Samaadhi, could know that in the 13th birth (also the last birth) of this child (Ram Das), all their souls (Atma-Tattva) will remain in Ram Das and he will perform Yuga Karma on behalf of his Gurus during the transition from Kaliyuga to Satyayuga. The devotees and followers believe that His holiness Baba Shri Buddhanâth Das is the last incarnation of Yogi Ram Das and is enlightened by the conscious of his six Gurus.

Source :  http://jagannathnkabadadanda.wordpress.com/page/2/

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The Five Saints of Orissa

The famous five Saints or five Friends (pancha sakhas) of Orissa were Balarama Das, Jagannatha Das, Achyutananda Das, Yasobanta Das and Sisu Ananta Das.

They started their own Sampradaya, already preaching Bhakti for Radha and Krishna in Orissa before the arrival of Chaitanya, following a tradition that had been established by Jayadeva Gosvami’s Gita Govinda. Such was the popularity of Gita Govinda that, as we have already mentioned, king Purushottama Deva wrote his own imitation, called Abhinava Gita Govinda, hoping to establish it as the new devotional success of his times. Many other Oriya poets such as Dinakrishna, Abhimanyu, Bhakta Charan, Baladeva and Gopala Krishna composed poems about Krishna’s romantic stories, such as the famous Valis.

Songs on Radha and Krishna written by Vidyapati of Mithila (in north Bihar) had also become famous in Orissa, and in fact both Jayadeva’s and Vidyapati’s songs were deeply appreciated by Chaitanya, who had them sung again and again to him by his companions. Before meeting Chaitanya, Ramananda Raya had written the Mahabhava prakasa, in which Kanai (Krishna) describes Radha as the embodiment of mahabhava, and the Jagannatha vallabha nataka. Another work on Krishna Bhakti that enjoyed great popularity before the arrival of Chaitanya was Markanda Dasa’s Kesava koili.

The five Friends all came in contact with Chaitanya, who arrived in Sri Kshetra in 1510, and often associated with him and his followers. Chaitanya Bhagavata mentions Nityananda and Ramananda Raya celebrating Sankirtana together with Balarama and Achyutananda.

They found Chaitanya’s preaching very near to their own ideas, because Chaitanya introduced the Nagara Sankirtana where there were no discriminations based on caste or social class, and the songs of the kirtanas were not only in classical Sanskrit but also in the popular languages such as Bengali and Oriya, encouraging ordinary and low-caste people to participate more directly. Chaitanya also accepted low-caste people as his followers, embraced fishermen and honored “ex-Muslim” devotees such as Haridasa, Rupa and Sanatana etc.

The liberality of the Pancha sakhas antagonized the Brahmins, who disparaged the Oryia translations of the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavata and Harivamsa compiled by Sarala, Balarama, Jagannatha and Achyutananda. The Oriya Bhagavatam of Jagannatha Das was even called “teli bhagavata”, the “Bhagavata of the low-caste oil-maker”. However, the literary work of the Pancha sakhas was vital to the development of the Oriya language and cultural identity, uniting the people and creating a feeling of solidarity that protected the region for a long time.

The five Friends preached the Vaishnava dharma or ninefold process of Bhakti and chanting the Holy Names (Harinama), giving more importance to the realization of the soul rather than worship of the Deities.

The most important aspect of their preaching was the abolition of all discriminations among Vaishnavas, no matter from which caste or background they came; Achyutananda, Yasovanta, Balarama and Ananta met a strong opposition from the caste-conscious Brahmins, who even disparagingly called Jagannatha Dasa’s Oriya Bhagavata as “teli bhagavata” (“the Bhagavata of the oil-maker”). However, this Oriya Bhagavatam became so popular that every village had a Tunga, a hall where the villagers regularly gathered to listen to its reading.

As a reaction against the excessive ritualism of the caste Brahmins and their monopoly and control over the temples and Deity worship, the Pancha Sakhas preached that Lord Krishna/Jagannatha could be worshiped as Sunya, “void”, a particular “non-shape” that transcended the Deity in the temple and therefore could be accessible by everyone at all times. It is important to understand that such “void” is not an impersonal emptiness devoid of sentiments, qualities and relationships – in fact quite the opposite, as Jagannatha Dasa preached the Rasa krida, Acyutananda preached the Nitya Rasa, Yasovanta preached the Prema bhakti brahma gita and Ananta the Tula sunya rasa.

They accepted Radha Krishna as Paramatma and Jagannatha as Radha Krishna yugala murti or bhava murti, and taught that Guru is the manifestation of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesvara. According to their doctrine (that is also shared by many other groups, including the Natha yogis and several traditions of Bhakti in Bengal), the human body is a microcosm where the Supreme Lord resides and manifests His pastimes, including the most intimate lilas of Radha Krishna, where Radha is the pure devoted soul and Krishna is Paramatma.

The Pancha sakhas followed the path of Bhakti adopting mantra, tantra and yantra in their sadhana; they manifested mystic power and could change their body into different forms.

For many generations, there has been a serious rift between the followers of the Atibadi Sampradaya and the Bengali followers of Chaitanya, and especially the Sarasvata Gaudiyas, sometimes with excessive emphasis on marginal details such as the order of the two verses of the Maha mantra sloka:

“Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna  Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare,”

While the Atibadi Sampradaya and several other ancient Gaudiya Mathas in Puri chant the mantra starting with the “Rama line”, the Sarasvata Gaudiya insist that the mantra should start with the “Krishna line” in order “not to be offensive by reversing the lines”. It is not clear how sincere followers of Chaitanya could find “offensive” the recitation of the Holy Names simply because one verse is put before the other - also considering that by continued recitation, neither of the two verses appears to come first, but they form a circle.

In fact, we have heard that Narada Muni tricked Valmiki into chanting the name of Lord Rama by instructing him to chant the name of Death (Mara); the constant chanting “in circles” of the syllables Ra and Ma was nevertheless so powerful that it turned a highway robber into the greatest devotee of Sri Ramachandra. Besides, we should remember the clear teaching of a verse of the Sikshastakam, the short ideological summary considered the only text actually written by Chaitanya: 

namnam akari bahu-dha nijasarva-saktis tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah

“O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benedictions to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names.”

The Jagannatha charitamrita, a biography of Jagannatha Das written by Divakara Das, states that the difference between the Oriya (Utkali) and the Bengali (Gaudiya) Vaishnavas is that the Oriyas consider Jagannatha as the avatari, the source of all avataras, while the Bengalis say that Krishna is the avatari.

Such distinction could be easily overcome by considering that Jagannatha is Krishna Himself, and especially in the light of the acintya bhedabheda tattva taught by Chaitanya. The rift between the Bengali and Oriya Vaishnavas has lasted long enough, and is based on very flimsy grounds, more emotional than philosophical or theological. Divakar Das wrote that the Bengali devotees were jealous of the Oriya devotees, and in fact still today we find people from the Sarasvata Gaudiya line writing that the title “Atibadi” given by Chaitanya to Jagannatha Das was meant in an offensive and sarcastic way, while we know that Chaitanya strictly taught and demonstrated the utmost humility towards all groups of people.

Some also say that the powerful influence of the Atibadi Sampradaya, challenging the excessive ritualism and casteism of the orthodox society, was carried to the extreme consequences by the antibrahminic and iconoclastic movement called Mahima Dharma in more recent times. However, this would be an exaggeration considering that the Mahima Dharma actively opposed the worship of Jagannatha, to the point of attacking the Puri temple with the intent of destroying the Deities. This seems to be quite far fetched, as all the Atibadi Mathas worship the form of Jagannatha as well as other divine forms, and uphold the sacredness of the Shastra, which the Mahima sect do not recognize.

The Acharya in the sixth generation of the disciplic succession from the Atibadi Sampradaya, Purushottama Das, had five prominent disciples, the first of which, Mukunda Das, became the Mahanta of the Bodo Oriya Matha, and the other four established new branches of the Matha in Puri, called Sana Oriya Matha, Rama-Hari Das Matha, Vanamali Das matha and Bhagavata Das Matha.

Balarama Dasa

He was born between 1472 and 1482 in Erabanga village at Gop (near Konarak); his father was Somanatha Mahapatra and his mother was Mahamaya Devi. Some say that he was born in the village of Chandrapur, where he also met Chaitanya. Balarama Dasa became a minister of king Prataparudra Dev, but after meeting Chaitanya he left the Government service and utilized his previous knowledge of Kundalini yoga, vaidhi bhakti in the mood of Ramanuja Acharya, and jnana to propagate the chanting of the Holy Name. He is sometimes called Matta Balarama, because of his disregard for social conventions in favor of ecstatic Bhakti.

He used to participate to the discussions on Vedanta in the Mukti Mandapa in the Jagannatha temple (inspite of the resentment of the Brahmins), and it is said that anyone who touched his head would become instantly able to explain the philosophy of Vedanta. One day a beggar (who was dumb and deaf) approached him, touching his head, and he was not only cured and became able to speak, but he also started to discuss philosophy immediately. This beggar then became Balarama’s foremost disciple with the name of Hari Das. 

The mula mantra chanted and taught by Balarama Das was the Krishna mantra. His residence in Puri is called Gandharva Matha. Balarama Dasa wrote the famous Jagamohana or Dandi Ramayana, as well as a number of other works entitled Gita Abakasa, Bhava samudra, Gupta Gita, Vedanta Sara, Mriguni Stuti, Saptanga yogasara tika, Vedanta sara or Brahma tika, Baula gai gita, Kamala locana chotisa, Kanta koili, Bedha parikrama, Brahma gita, Brahmanda bhugola, Vajra kavaca, Jnana chudamani, Virat gita, Ganesh vibhuti, Amarakosha Gita, Lakshmi Purana (which is very popular in Orissa). 

In his Bata Abakasa he writes hat Lord Jagannatha is served by 64 yoginis.In his Virata Gita, he describes the nirakara form of Krishna as Sunya. However, his idea of Sunya is quite particular, as it includes form and relationships. He was also a social worker and reformer, and an expert astrologer as well. He disappeared in 1540.

Achyutananda Dasa

He was born in Tilakana near Nemala, Cuttack, in 1485; his father was Dinabandhu Khuntia and his mother’s name was Padmavati. His grandfather Gopinath Mohanty had served in the army of the Gajapati King. As a child, he was named Agani. When he grew older, he had a mystic dream where the Lord taught him the Gita, the Upanishads and the Tantra. Immediately he went to pilgrimage and on the way he met Chaitanya and it is said he received Harinam initiation from Him. Some other people say that he went to meet Chaitanya together with his father; he was then 18 years old. At the time of Achyutananda’s initiation,

Chaitanya asked Sanatana Gosvami to take care of him and coach him in spiritual knowledge. Achyutananda married the daughter of Raghurana Champati Rai and stayed in Dhauligram. He had 12 main disciples, of whom the most prominent was Ramachandra Das. The King gave him some land in Banki Mohana.   The mula mantra he chanted and taught was the Radha mantra. Achyutananda is mostly famous for the book of prophecies called Achyutananda Malika, composed of 13 chapters, describing the future destruction of the town of Puri after Jagannatha has moved out, and the appearance of Kalki avatara who will annihilate all the evildoers starting from Orissa. A few summary studies have been published in Oriya language Achyutananda also translated into Oriya and commented Harivamsa, Tattva bodhini, Sunya samhita, Jyoti samhita, Gopala Ujjvala, Baranasi Gita, Anakara Brahma Samhita, Abhayada Kavacha, Astagujari, Sarana panjara stotra, Vipra chalaka, Mana mahima.

He wrote a book about the preaching mission of the Pancha sakhas (five friends) and organized a travelling party of Rahasankirtana, for which he also wrote several bhajan songs. It is said that once he was attacked by some envious Brahmins and he manifested his laghima yoga siddhi by becoming extremely light and floating away in the air. Achyutananda’s teachings present a fusion of Saguna and Nirguna worship, uniting the doctrines of Dvaita and Advaita, and knowledge from Upanishads and Kundalini yoga. He left his body on Jyestha sukla Ekadasi.

Atibadi Jagannatha Dasa

He was born in Kapilesvarapur or Kapilesvar grama (one of the 16 traditional Sasana villages) at 14 kms from Puri towards Brahmagiri, on the day of Radhastami of 1487 (some say in 1490). Because he was born on Radhastami, he is considered to have a close relationship with Srimati Radhika.

His mother was Padmavati Devi and his father was Bhagavan Das, from the Kaushiki Gotra. He used to recite the Bhagavata Purana in Lord’s Jagannatha temple, and his explanations were so attractive that king Prataparudra gave him the title of “Purana Panda”. As son of the Purana Panda, Jagannatha Dasa used to sit by his father and learn the Bhagavata. One day, while visiting the temple, Chaitanya noticed the 18 years old boy sitting near the Bata Ganesha Deity in Sri Mandira, reciting the Brahma stuti from Gopa lila (10^th Canto), and honored him by offering him a cloth and the title of Atibadi (“very great”).

Jagannatha Das also used to go to recite the Bhagavatam in the houses of people and made no discrimination on the basis of bodily identification, befriending men and women in the same way. A famous incident regarded such confidential exchanges with Medha and Sumedha, two ladies endowed with great spiritual power and who were said to be going in the night to visit Jagannatha in the temple by their mystic powers after it was closed. Some envious men complained to king Prataparudra accusing Jagannatha Dasa of immoral behavior (illicit relationships with women) and the King called him for questioning. Jagannatha Dasa replied that for him there was no difference between men and women; he said that in fact when he was associating with ladies, he actually regarded himself as a woman, too.

The King did not believe him but when Jagannatha Das was put in jail he actually manifested himself in the form of a woman and the guards, impressed, called the King to witness such an extraordinary feat.

King Prataparudra realized he had committed an offense to a great devotee, so not only he released him/her from prison, but he also asked that s/he gave initiation to his chief Queen into Bhakti yoga. The Queen invited Jagannatha Dasa within the royal palace, where he could open his own Matha, called Bada Odiya Matha. 

It is said that by the order of Narada Muni, Jagannatha Das translated Srimad Bhagavatam into Oriya. This work gave him the reputation of the best spiritual teacher in Orissa in his times, and is still extremely popular even today, being worshiped and recited in all households. In fact in Orissa this text is considered on the same level of Tulasi Das’ Rama charita manasa.

Jagannatha Dasa wrote also Gupta Bhagavat, Tula vina, Sola chapadi, Chari chapadi, Tola bena, Daru brahma gita, Diksa samyad, Artha koili, Muguni stuti, Annamaya kundali, Goloka sarodhara, Bhakti chandrika, Kali malika, Indra malika, Niladri vilasa, Nitya gupta chintamani, Sri Krishna bhakti kalpa lata and other books. The mula mantra he chanted and taught was the Rama mantra. He established two Mathas in Puri, the Bada Odiya Matha and the Satalahari Matha. His main disciple was Baliga Das. Jagannatha Dasa passed away on Sukla Magha saptami (the day of Chandrabhaga Mela in Konarak) in 1557, and his Samadhi Mandira is on the beach. His main disciples were Uddhava, Ramachandra, Gopinatha, Hari Das, Nandani Acharya, Vamani Mahapatra, Srimati Gaura, Gopala Das, Akhandala Mekapa, Janardana Pati, Krishna Das, Vanamali Das, Govardhana Das, Kanai Khuntia, Jagannatha Das and Madhusudana Das.

Yasobanta Dasa

He was born in 1482 near Aranga Nandi village, district of Cuttack, in a kshatriya family. His father was Balabhadra Mala, his mother was Rekha Devi. He married Anjana Devi, the sister of king Raghunath Champatti of Aranga. Later on, he took sannyasa and traveled to many holy places in India, he attained mystic powers and was able to change his form at will. The mula mantra he chanted and taught was the Shyama mantra.

He wrote Govinda chandra, Shiva sarodaya, Sasti mala, Prema bhakti, Brahma gita, Atma pariche gita, a Malika and several bhajans. The Govinda chandra became very famous in Assam, Bengal and north India; it is basically related with traditional dance and teaching of dance, connected with the Vaishnava tradition. His best disciple was Lohi Das. It is said that also the famous saint Salabega was his disciple. He left his body on Margasira sukla Sasti.

Sisu Ananta Das

He was born in Balipatna village, near Bhubaneswara, in 1488. His father’s name was Kapila, and his mother’s Gaura Devi.

In a dream he received from Surya Narayana in Konarak the order to go and meet Chaitanya, so he approached the party and took diksha initiation from Nityananda Prabhu. Sisu Ananta Das resided in Khandagiri, in what is today called Gadi Tapovana Ashram; through his Sadhana he attained mystic powers, and he was able to change his form at will. Usually he would take the form of a little child, hence his name as Sisu. In this form, he became the adopted son of the wife of king Prataparudra, who nursed him.

He personally found a Patita pavana (Jagannatha) murti in the Matha in Balia patana. His main disciples were Barang Das, Hamsa Das, and Sisu Das.

He wrote the Bhakti mukti daya gita, one of the oldest and most important popular scriptures of Orissa, and other texts like Sisu Deva gita, Artha tarani, Udebhakara, Tirabhakana, a Malika and several bhajan songs. In Udaya bhagavata he describes Lord Jagannatha as the combined form of Radha and Krishna. However, due to general lack of interest, these books are not properly valued at present.

Source : http://indiaconmassimotaddei.com

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Pañca Sakhā

The five Mahāpuruṣa of Orissa are the initiators of the lineages. Our lineage of Vedic astrology comes from the holy feet of Sri Achyutananda.

अच्युताय नमस्तुभ्यं गुरवे परमात्मने।
सर्वतन्त्रस्वतन्त्राय चिद्घनानन्दमूर्तये॥

acyutāya namastubhyaṁ gurave paramātmane |
sarvatantrasvatantrāya cidghanānandamūrtaye ||

Pancha Mahapurusha of Orissa …

Pancha means five and sakha means friends – it is noteworthy that just like Sri Krishna referred to Arjuna as a friend, so also did Chaitanya Mahaprabhu refer to these five Maha Purusha (great men) disciples of his as Pancha Sakha or five friends. Under this page you will find links to their various works related to Jyotish and dharma.

Astrology has a lot to draw from parallels in history. One such parallel is that every time the Guru-Shisya parampara (literally master/teacher & student/disciple relationship in an unbroken chain or lineage/tradition) is to be revived or revitalized, the Guru (Bhagavan as the ultimate teacher) establishes Dharma along with FIVE disciples. This is observed in the panch-pyare (five dear ones) of Sri Guru Gobind Singhji or the Pancha Sakha of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. These five Mahapurusha disciples were Yashwanta Das, Ananta Das, Achyuta Das, Balram Das & Jagannath Das. Sri Chaitanya has commented that these five are like His five atma-tatwa and are in no way lesser than some of the avatars of Vishnu.

ତୁମ୍ଭ ପଂଚ ସଖାଂକୁ ମୋ ଜନ୍ମେ ଜନ୍ମେ ଆସ‌
ତୁମ୍ଭ ପାଇ ଅବତାର ଲୀଲା ଅଭିଲାସ. [ଶୂନ୍ଯ ସଂହିତା]

tumbha panca sakhanku mo janme janme asha
tumbhapae avatara lila abhilasha|[sunya samhita, oriya

Amshavatar Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had five Mahapurusha (great men) disciples in Orissa called his Panca sakha (five friends or witnesses of His activities and teachings). These five Mahapurusha (disciples) were Yashovanta Dasa, Acyuta Dasa, Ananta Dasa, Jagannath Dasa and Balaram Dasa. Sri Caitanya explains that the avatara lila (by Him) is due to the desire of the sakha.

ଆଗମ୍ଯଭାବ ଜାଣେ ଜଶୋବନ୍ତ
ଗାରକଟ୍ଟା ଯନ୍ତ୍ର ଜାଣେ ଅନନ୍ତ
ଆଗତ ନାଗତ ଅଚ୍ଯୁତ ଭଣେ
ବଲରାମ ଦାସ ତତ୍ତ୍ବ ବଖଣେ
ଭକତିର ଭାବ ଜାଣେ ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ
ପଂଚ ସଖା ଏ ଓଡିଆ ମାହାନ୍ତ

agamya bhava jane yashovanta
gara katta yantra jana ananta|
agata nagata acyuta bhane
Balaram dasa tatva bakhane|
bhaktira bhava jane Jagannath
panca sakha e odia mahanta|[sunya samhita, oriya]

Sri Jagannath Das was the foremost having understood the teachings related to bhakti bhava. Sri Balaram Das understood the tatva. Sri Ananta Das was adept at mantra shastra and understood the complete knowledge associated with yantra. Sri Yashovanta Das had complete knowledge of the rituals, procedures etc, associated with purity. Sri Acyuta Das was blessed to know about the past, present and future events as a part of destiny (Jyotisha).

ତୁମେ ମୋର ପଂଚ ଆତ୍ମା ଅଟ୍ଟ ପଂଚଜଣ‌
ଅବତାର ଶ୍ରେଣୀ ତୁମ୍ଭପାଈ ପୁନହଃ

tumbhe mora panca atma atta pancajana|
avatara shreni jete tumbha paen puna||[sunya samhita
Sri Caitanya has commented that these five are like His panca atma (five atma-tatva) and deserve the status like that of an avatara. Sri Achyuta was the youngest of the panca sakha. 
                                                    …

source : http://srath.com/spirituality/jagannath-visnu/lineage/

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PANCHASAKHA SRI SRI JAGANNATHA DAS

PANCHA SAKHA SRI SRI JAGANNATH DAS

Jagannath Das’ life

Jagannath was born on the Radhashtami day in 1490 in the village of Kapileshwarpur, about six miles west of Puri town. This village is one of the sixteen Shasans, that is, it is one of the Brahmin villages surrounding Puri founded by the Gajapati king Kapilendra Deva, whose leaders sit in the Mukti Mandap.

Jagannath Das was a Brahmin family of the Kaushika Gotra, which had the family title “Das.” Jagannath Das’ mother was named Padmavati. His father Bhagavan Das attained considerable renown as a speaker on the Bhagavatam in Orissan. King Purushottam Deva was particularly pleased with his delightful explanations of the Bhagavata philosophy and gave him the “Purana Panda” title. Bhagavan Das trained his son to follow in his footsteps as a Purana Panda. He started making arrangements for Jagannath Das’ marriage when he was twelve years old, but Jagannath asked to put off the wedding until after he had finished studying the scriptures. He never married.

Jagannath Das became an expert in his work as a speaker of the Bhagavatam. He went to the Sri Mandir and set up a place inside the Kurma Berha by the Bata Ganesh deity near the southern entrance where he could reach a large number of pilgrims visiting the temple. Because of his handsome appearance, sweet voice and wide learning, he was able to attract a substantial following.

Jagannath Das was still a young man at the time that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyas and came to Sri Purushottam Kshetra with His associates in order to teach the world to seek out love for Lord Krishna. According to the Jagannätha-caritämåta, Jagannath Das’ first meeting with Mahaprabhu came when the Lord was visiting the temple. The Lord saw him lecturing on Lord Brahma’s prayers from the Tenth Canto. Jagannath Das got up from his seat and followed Lord Chaitanya as He and His other companions circumambulated the temple.

Not long thereafter, Jagannath Das went to Kashi Mishra’s house to ask Mahaprabhu to give him initiation. Since Mahaprabhu did not give initiation, He sent him to an Orissan devotee named Matta Balaram Das, another one of the Pancha Sakhas, who gave him diksha in Kashi Mishra’s house.

According to another account, Jagannath Das met Mahaprabhu in Jajpur while the Lord was on His way to Puri for the first time. Mahaprabhu took Jagannath Das with Him to Puri and after some time had Hari Das Thakur initiate him in the chanting of the Maha Mantra. After this, Jagannath Das returned to Jajpur where he started making disciples and translating the Bhagavatam into Orissan verse. While here, he began developing an independent vision of Vaishnava philosophy, in particular giving up following the example set by Hari Das Thakur, the acharya of the Holy Name. Gaudiya Vaishnavas cannot understand why Jagannath Das reversed the order of the Maha Mantra, chanting the names of Rama before those of Krishna, in contradiction to the teachings of the fathers of sankirtan, Gauranga and Nityananda Prabhus, and the acharya of the Holy Name, Hari Das Thakur.

Jagannath Das’ Bhagavata

Jagannath Das’ Orissan Bhagavata is considered by many to be the jewel of early Orissan literature. It had a great influence in the standardizing of the Orissan language of Orissa, through its judicious combining of Sanskrit and local words. Its popularity in Orissa is comparable to that of Tulasi Das’ Räma-carita-mänasa in North India and it is still worshiped in many Orissan homes. Every Orissan village used to have a small house or room known as bhagavata tungi, where villagers would gather to listen to recitations of Jagannath Das’ Bhagavata. Many of its verses have become proverbial and are cited frequently by people throughout Orissa.

The Boro Oriya Math continues to supply the Sri Mandir with copies of Jagannath Das’ Bhagavata and its members recite it to groups of pilgrims inside the temple every day. This Bhagavata has also been published in Bengali characters in the Midnapore district, which was politically a part of Orissa at many different times in history and where the culture and language are something of a hybrid of Bengali and Oriya.

Jagannath Das’ Bhagavata is not an exact translation. He added several chapters and in many place contradicts the meaning of the original text, allowing elements of Mayavada to enter. In fact, the introduction of Mayavada into Jagannath Das’ writings can be explained by the general background of Orissan religious history. Buddhism had been very strong in Orissa for many centuries, and even after the turn to Vaishnavism with Ganga dynasty in the 12th century, elements of Vajrayana Buddhism persisted in the society, just as it did in other parts of Eastern India. The Orissan Buddhists considered Jagannath to be a manifestation of the Buddha. It seems that Maharaj Prataparudra even persecuted the vestiges of overt Buddhism in Orissa during the early part of his reign. Many of these Buddhists took shelter of Vaishnavism as a way of escaping persecution, but the Buddhist philosophy of shunya-vada found a home in the teachings of the Pancha Sakha, who combined Mahaprabhu’s path of bhakti with jnana and yoga.

Many elements of the Pancha Sakha doctrine have similarities to Baul and Sahajiya beliefs in Bengal. Like the Nath Yogis, they hold that the body is a microcosm of the universe in which the cosmic dance of the Supreme Lord plays itself out. They identify Radha and Krishna with the individual soul and the paramatma in the body. They conceive of the ultimate truth as Void, or shunya, which becomes manifest in creation as Maha Vishnu. In his Bhagavata, Jagannath Das refers to Lord Jagannath as shunya-niranjana, alekha-niranjana, nirguna brahma and avatari.

On the Pancha Sakha path, devotional practices like chanting the Holy Name are to be combined with the physical disciplines of Hatha Yoga and the cultivation of knowledge. In their writings, the Pancha Sakha identify Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with both the Buddha and Lord Jagannath. Jagannath Das does not overtly present all of the Pancha Sakha doctrines in his Bhagavata, though they are found in some of his other works.

Jagannath Das is said to have written a number of books besides his verse translation of the Bhagavata. These include Shola-caupadi (“Sixteen quatrains”), Shaivagama-bhagavata (“The story of the Lord in the Shaiva Agama scriptures”), Gundicha-bije (“The trip to Gundicha”), Satsanga-varnana (“A description of saintly companionship”), and Goloka-saroddhara (“Extracting the essence of Goloka”) and Tulabhina. There are also a few titles of Sanskrit books that are claimed, to various degrees of credibility, to Jagannath Das.

The title “Atibori”

Jagannath Das’s hagiographer, Dibakar Das tells how he was given the title “Atibori.” One day Chaitanya Deva asked Jagannath Das to tell him who he had been in his previous life. Jagannath Das answered, “You are the Supersoul, O Lord, and so you know everything already. Even so, I will tell you what I believe. Once I was meditating on Radha and Krishna and completely forgot my material body. I saw Radha and Krishna ecstatically gazing into each other’s eyes. They started to laugh and out of Krishna’s laughter I saw You appear. Then I was born out of Radharani’s laughter.”


äpaëa çré-aìga pächoåi kaçä basan aìgu käåi
däsaìka çire bändhi dele atibaåa boli boile
atibaåa kathä kahile teëu atibaåa hoile


Mahaprabhu then took His upper cloth and wrapped it around Jagannath Das’ head and said, “You have said something very profound. Thus you shall be known from now on as ‘very great’ or Atiboro.” (Jagannätha-charitamrita, chapter 3)


Orthodox followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu remember that He ostracized Vallabha Bhatta for showing pride in his achievements as a scholar and superiority to Sridhar Swami, the great commentator on the Bhagavatam. Mahaprabhu disapproved of the Mayavadi custom of addressing a renunciate or sannyasi as “Narayan.” If anyone formally addressed Him in that way, or being overwhelmed by His spiritual power called Him “Krishna,” He would cover His ears and say,

viñëu viñëu ihä nä kahibä
jévädhame kåñëa jïäna kabhu nä karibä
jei müòha kohe jéva éçvara haya sama
sei to päñaëòé haya daëòe täre yama

“O Vishnu, Vishnu! Don’t say such things. Never consider an ordinary conditioned soul to be Krishna. The fool who takes an ordinary living being to be the same as God is nothing more than an atheist who will be severely judged at the time of death.” (CC 2.18.111, 116)

When Prakashananda Saraswati called Mahaprabhu “Bhagavan” and tried to touch His feet, the Lord showed how a jiva should behave when spoken to in this way:

viñëu viñëu ämi kñudra jéva héna
jéve kåñëa mäne ei aparädha cihna
jéva viñëu buddhi kare je brahmä rudra sama
näräyaëe mäne täre päñaëòe gaëana

“O Vishnu! O Vishnu! I am an ordinary, fallen jiva. Anyone who thinks a jiva like Me is Krishna is committing an offense. The scriptures say that anyone who thinks even gods like Brahma or Rudra to be on the same level as Narayan is an atheist. This is true for someone who thinks any jiva is Vishnu.” (CC 2.25.75-77)

Mahaprabhu made statements like these in order to give fair warning to those who confuse the individual soul with the Supreme Being. He did this despite being the Supreme Lord Himself. It is very hard to accept that He would have rewarded anyone for publicly claiming to be a manifestation of the Lord’s svarupa shakti, Srimati Radharani. Gaudiya Vaishnavas therefore do not accept the truth of Dibakar Das’s account. If Mahaprabhu did indeed say any such thing to Jagannath Das, it was surely sarcasm or deception. The Gaudiyas thus interpret Mahaprabhu’s words as meaning, "My dear sir, you have become too great (ati boro). An insignificant and fallen soul like Me can have nothing to do with you."

Schism of Bengali and Orissan Vaishnavas

Dibakar Das writes that Mahaprabhu’s Bengali devotees became jealous of Jagannath Das because of the special favor that their master was bestowing on him. He goes on to say that the Bengali devotees made efforts to stop Mahaprabhu from giving the title Atiboro to Jagannath Das. The reason for this was that if he were to be somehow singled out in this way, their own status would be diminished. When the Bengali devotees were unable to convince Mahaprabhu to do as they asked, they asked Him to leave Puri. When Mahaprabhu refused, they themselves left Jagannath Puri to go to Vrindavan. Though from time to time they would return to meet Mahaprabhu during the Rathayatra, they were unable to abide seeing the influence Jagannath Das had over Him and so never remained there for long.

The feeling that Mahaprabhu’s Bengali devotees were jealous of His Orissan followers like Jagannath Das remains a source of friction to the present day. Sundarananda quotes the following article from the English-language newspaper, New Orissa, published in 1945:

“Mahapurush Jagannath Das was a personal friend of Chaitanya. It is written in Dibakar’s Jagannätha-caritämåta that Gaudiya Vaishnavas did not like that Chaitanya should hold Jagannath Das, the Oriya Brahmin saint, in high esteem. It was at their insistence that Chaitanya asked Balaram Das to formally initiate Jagannath Das, though as a perfect being he required no formal initiation. After that, when they saw Chaitanya still loving Jagannath Das and addressing him all the while as atibaåé, the Gaudiya Vaishnavas had to leave Puri in a rage and go back to Bengal. They stayed for some time at Jajpur. Chaitanya went there to bring them back, but to their surprise they found Jagannath Das accompanying Chaitanya. They were so arrogant that they did not listen to Lord Chaitanya and so had to go to Bana Bishnupur and from there to Vrindavan. It is a pity that there is no mention of the names of Jagannath Das and the four Mahapurushas in Chaitanya Charitamrita by Krishna Das Kaviraj, Chaitanya Bhagavata by Vrindavan Das and Chaitanya Mangal by Lochan Das. They were all Bengali Vaishnavas. The Gaudiya Vaishnavas go so far as to say that Jagannath Das was a “Mayavadi” and was driven out by Chaitanya Chandra from his fold.” 

More recently, the Orissan historian K. C. Panigrahi has been even more explicit in leveling the same accusation:

The aforesaid great Vaishnava Oriya poets have not found mention in the Bengali Gaudiya literature. This narrow outlook of the Bengali Vaishnavas was the cause of antagonism between the Bengali and Oriya followers of the great saint, echoes of which have found mention in the Jagannatha-charitamrita of Dibakar Das. 

Mahaprabhu’s biographers were amongst His spiritually most advanced followers, and in their writing they demonstrated all the Vaishnava virtues, including freedom from envy. They showed no reticence in glorifying other Vaishnavas, whatever their race or caste, and repeatedly did so with great energy. Not being conditioned souls with all their lamentable characteristics, they showed no signs of misplaced nationalism or racial discrimination when writing about Mahaprabhu’s associations. In their love for Mahaprabhu, they transcended all these differences and created an atmosphere of harmony conducive to the service of the Lord.

Mahaprabhu’s Bengali followers never hesitated to glorify Orissa and its people, both directly and indirectly. Sanatan Goswami glorified Mahaprabhu in his Lélä-stava as néläcala-vibhüñaëa – “the ornament of Nilachala,” and Rupa Goswami writes in his Stava-mälä that he desires to see Mahaprabhu as Nilachala-vihari, “enjoying life in Nilachala.” In the Stavavali, Raghunath Das worships Mahaprabhu standing behind the Garuda pillar in the Jagannath temple and describes many of the Lord’s extraordinary activities in Nilachala in his Gauräìga-stava-kalpa-våkña.

In the Sarva-samvadini to the Tattva-sandarbha, Jiva Goswami glorifies Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, stating that He was worshiped by devotees from Gauda, Varendra, Banga, Suhma and Utkala (Orissa). In Chaitanya-chandrodaya, Kavi Karnapur writes that Mahaprabhu accepted the philosophy of Ramananda Raya, an Orissan, as being the only one that was wholly consistent (niravadya siddhänta).

Kaviraj Goswami goes even further in highlighting the Orissan devotees when he says that of Mahaprabhu’s four most intimate devotees, three were Orissans – Ramananda Ray, Sikhi Mahiti (a Deul Karan, or temple record keeper) and his sister Madhavi Devi. Krishna Das describes the conversations between Ramananda and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu on the highest esoteric level of devotional understanding. He called Bhavananda Ray the incarnation of Pandu, his wife Kunti, and their five sons the five Pandavas.

Krishna Das identified Kanai Khuntia and Jagannath Mahanti as Lord Chaitanya’s eternal associates, imbued with the spirit of Krishna’s parents, Nanda and Yashoda (CC 2.15.19). He named many of the Lord’s Orissan devotees, never shying away from glorifying them liberally: Maharaja Prataparudra, Kashi Mishra, Krishna Das, who would walk in front of Lord Jagannath holding a golden cane, Tulasi Paricha (the temple manager), Janardan (another temple Brahmin), Harichandan Mahapatra (a military officer and minister), Murari Mahiti (a temple accountant), Pradyumna Mishra (the head cook in the temple kitchen), Shivananda, Krishnananda, Paramananda Mahapatra, Singheshwar, Svapneshwar, Chandaneshwar and many others. But Krishna Das did not stop here; he even wrote with approval of an aged Orissan widow, who in her excitement to gaze upon the lotus-eyed Lord Jagannath, placed her foot on Mahaprabhu’s shoulder!

Far from leaving Nilachala in frustration with Mahaprabhu’s favoritism, the Bengali Vaishnavas flocked to Nilachala, as Vrindavan Das states in the Chaitanya Bhagavata:

pratäparudrera prabhu sahita darçana
ihä je çunaye täre mile prema-dhana
néläcale janmilä jateka anucara
sabe cinilena nija präëera éçvara
paramänanda mahäpätra mahäçaya
jäìra tanu çré-caitanya-bhakti-rasa-maya
käçé miçra parama vihvala kåñëa-rase
äpane rahilä prabhu jäìhära äbäse
ei mata prabhu sarva bhåtya kari saìge
niravadhi goìäyena saìkértana-raìge
jata jata udäséna çré-caitanya-däsa
sabe karilena äsi néläcale väsa

Anyone who hears about Mahaprabhu’s meeting with King Prataparudra will attain love for Krishna. All of Mahaprabhu’s eternal servants who took birth in Nilachala were able to recognize their lord and master. Amongst them were Paramananda Mahapatra, whose body was permeated with devotion to Lord Chaitanya, and another ecstatic devotee Kashi Mishra, in whose house Mahaprabhu made His residence. Mahaprabhu gathered all these devotees together and spent His time engaged in chanting the Holy Names in their company. All of Mahaprabhu’s sannyasi disciples came to Nilachala to reside near Him there. (Cbh 3.5.208-10, 212-5)

Mahaprabhu’s sannyasi disciples included Svarupa Damodar Goswami, who had previously lived in Nabadwip but came to serve Mahaprabhu by staying near Him in Puri, where the two of them could share the most esoteric experiences of devotional life. There is no evidence anywhere that Svarupa Damodar ever thought of leaving Puri for Vrindavan.

Ishwar Puri’s disciple and servant, Govinda Das, came to Puri on his spiritual masters order in order to serve Mahaprabhu there. Paramananda Puri and other devotees who were Mahaprabhu’s seniors, including Namacharya Hari Das Thakur, came to live permanently in Nilachala. Gadadhar Pandit Goswami, Mahaprabhu’s shakti, took the vow of Kshetra sannyas – to never leave Jagannath Puri for even a day.

It is true that Mahaprabhu ordered Rupa and Sanatan Goswamis to go to Vrindavan in order to discover the lost sites of Krishna’s pastimes, establish deity worship, clarify the doctrines of Vaishnava theology and the standards of Vaishnava ethics and devotional practice. He thus “gave” them the land Vrindavan, which they never left, as it had become their prabhu-datta-desh. It is difficult to understand how anyone could think that they or any other of Mahaprabhu’s followers would have gone to Vrindavan simply as a result of a personality clash with Jagannath Das or because Mahaprabhu had shown favoritism to him.

Another incident from Jagannath Das’ life

In Ram Das’ Dadhyata Bhakti, a later Orissan text of the Atibori sampradaya, another story is told about Jagannath Das that clearly illustrates the difference between the Atibori way of thinking and that of the Gaudiyas. After Jagannath had completed his Oriya translation of the Bhagavatam, he travelled throughout Orissa giving discourses in his sweet, musical voice. He attracted large numbers of people to his emotional performances and especially charmed the womenfolk, who flocked to hear him. These women showered him with money and gifts and often invited him into their homes for private Bhagavata classes, something that was clearly against the custom of the time. Hearing him sing and speak on the highest aspects of Krishna’s pastimes in the privacy of their own quarters, these women would be overcome with ecstatic symptoms, rolling on the ground and in general lost all sense of decorum despite being in mixed company. Furthermore, they served Jagannath Das in various other ways, by fanning him and massaging his feet. In particular, two extraordinarily powerful women named Medha and Sumedha became his close disciples.

The men in these women’s lives became uncomfortable with such goings-on and complained to Maharaj Prataparudra. The king sent his police to arrest Jagannath and bring him to court. He asked Jagannath angrily,

kope boile däsa çuna, eki tumbhara viòambana
chädiëa puruña saìgata, stiré madhyare gäa géta
niçi dibasa sabu bele, kebala thäa näri mele


“What’s going on here, Jagannath Das? It seems that you no longer keep the company of men, but sing in the midst of women. You mix with them without any restriction, day and night. Is all this true?”

Jagannath answered Prataparudra with the following words,

svarüpa çuna daëòa-dhäré, ämbhe ta aöu brahmacäré
puruñe puruña boläuì, stiréìka saìge saìgé heuì

“Here is the truth, O King. You have the power to punish me if you will, but my vow of celibacy is unbroken. When I am amongst men, I am a male, and when amongst women, I am one of them.” 

The king did not accept this argument as an adequate defense; indeed it confirmed his suspicions. He challenged Jagannath to show him proof of his female form and threw him in prison. Many of Jagannath’s women followers became quite distressed with the turn of events and stopped food and drink and even threatened to commit suicide if he were not released.

That night Jagannath Das fell to prayer, asking the Lord to save him from this calamity. Finally Lord Jagannath appeared to him in a dream and fulfilled his desire to have a female form whenever he liked.

boile bäïchä siddha heu
puruña tanu tora jäu

“May your wish be fulfilled and your male body be gone.”

The next morning Jagannath Das astonished the Gajapati by appearing before him with feminine features. According to this account, it was then that the king asked Jagannath Das to initiate his chief queen, Gauri, in this female form.

Other accounts say that Jagannath appeared as a woman to the prison guards, who released him, thinking that a mistake had been made. In either case, though this tale is told in glorification of Jagannath Das’ spiritual attainments, those who are advanced in their understanding of Gaudiya siddhanta have misgivings about them. For them, the female spiritual body is something that is extremely private and meant for one’s most personal dealings with the Lord. It is most certainly not something to be publicly displayed for the sake of achieving personal goals like adoration, prestige or even personal freedom. It is for such flaunting of his spiritual achievements that Jagannath Das’ critics consider the title “Atibori” to be veiled mockery.

The question really comes down to this: if Jagannath Das could accept the title Mahaprabhu bestowed on him, why did he not wholeheartedly accept Mahaprabhu’s teachings? The sarcastic use of a word like “very great” is not unknown. Sanskrit dictionaries give mahA paNDita (“great scholar”) as a synonym for “fool.” In Bengal, Rupa Kaviraj was another person who was condemned by such a title. Srinivas Acharya’s daughter Hemalata Thakurani broke his tulasi necklace and named him ati-bori. Thenceforth he wore but one strand of tulasi beads around his neck. The Orissan Atibori Sampradaya similarly wore only one strand of beads for many centuries and have only taken to wearing three strands in recent years.

The essence of Mahaprabhu’s teaching about Vaishnava praxis is humility – sarvottama haiyä äpnake mäne tåëädham – “Though superior to all, he considers himself lower than the straw.” Rupa, Sanatan, Hari Das Thakur, Krishna Das Kaviraj and Narottam Das – these devotees all personified this teaching. There is no evidence anywhere that any of Mahaprabhu’s devotees went about calling himself “very great.” Indeed, they consistently did the opposite. Despite the brilliance of his virtues, Krishna Das even said, “I am lower than a dung beetle; I am a greater sinner than even Jagai and Madhai.”

When Mahaprabhu complimented them or heaped praise on them, as He so often did, these devotees responded by showing an even more profound humility. If we are to believe the legends that have found life in the Atibori tradition, then the founder of their line was evidently an avid seeker of personal aggrandizement. If we believe or accept the truth of tales that say he took pride in a title that mocked such avidity, or that he made a public display of his intimate spiritual realizations and mystic achievements, then we do not glorify him as a truly great Vaishnava.

Jagannath Das’ disciplic succession

There are differing opinions amongst the Atiboris about Matta Balaram Das’ disciplic succession, but Dibakar Das writes in his Nitya-gupta-maëi (19.19-20) as follows –

çrémac-caitanya-devasya gauré-däsäkhya-paëòitaù
tasya çiñyas tu gosvämé hådayänanda-paëòitaù
tac-chiñyo matta-pürvas tu balaräma iti småtaù
mahän api jagannätha-däsas tat-paricärakaù

This verse gives the disciplic succession as (1) Chaitanya Deva, (2) Gauri Das Pandit, (3) Hridayananda Pandit Goswami, (4) Matta Balaram Das, and (5) Jagannath Das. In Ishwar Das’ Orissan Caitanya-bhägavata, Vakreshwar Pandit is named as Hridayananda’s spiritual master.

Dibakar’s version of the Boro Oriya Math’s disciplic succession is confirmed inside the temple itself. There, on one of the inner walls, paintings of the gurus in the line have been hung on the wall with their identities. The line of Mahants of the Math are given as follows:

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Gauri Das Pandit
Hridayananda Pandit
Balaram Das
Atibori Jagannath Das
Ramakrishna Das
Murari Das Goswami
Purushottam Das Goswami
Mukunda Das Goswami
Madhavananda Das Goswami
Srinath Das Goswami
Vamshidhar Das Goswami
Shyamcharan Das Goswami
Niladri Das Goswami
Rasa Bihari Das Goswami
Ramakrishna Das Goswami
Vrindavan Das Goswami (Mahant during Sundarananda’s visit)

This disciplic succession is obviously problematic. The relationship of Gauri Das to Hridayananda is well known, as Shyamananda, the great apostle of the Goswamis’ message in Orissa, was his disciple. But it is also well known that Hridayananda never witnessed Mahaprabhu’s pastimes. If Jagannath Das was truly the grand-disciple of Hridayananda, he would have been Shyamananda’s junior, and certainly not a direct associate of Lord Chaitanya himself. We are left with two alternatives: either the disciplic succession as given is false, or the customary dates ascribed to Jagannath’s life (1490-1550) are incorrect. If the disciplic succession has been falsified, it still indicates that the Atibori line found it necessary to create a disciplic connection to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for legitimation. If this line is genuine, then almost everything that has been written about Jagannath Das must be called into question. A third alternative – that the Gauri Das Pandit and Hridayananda named here are different from those found in Shyamananda’s guru parampara -- seems too great a coincidence to be considered.

Members of the Atibori sampradaya say that Jagannath Das’s name is mentioned in Devakinandan’s Vaishnava-vandana, one of the earliest sources of information about Mahaprabhu’s life. There the names of both Oriya Balaram Das and sangita pandita Jagannath Das are found. This seems to be incontrovertible evidence that these two were Mahaprabhu’s associates in Puri. However, tradition at the Siddha Bakul Math holds that a Siddha Jagannath Das was the first Mahant there after the departure of Hari Das Thakur. This Jagannath Das established the six-armed form of Mahaprabhu that is worshiped there as well as the image of Hari Das. Who is to say that this Jagannath is not the expert musician named in the Vaiñëava-vandanä? According to the Siddha Bakul traditions, this Jagannath Das was indeed an expert musician and often sang for Lord Jagannath in the temple.

The accusations of Jagannath Das’ followers that the universal absence of his name from all the accounts of Mahaprabhu’s life is due to friction between him and Mahaprabhu’s Bengali followers becomes meaningless if Jagannath Das was not Mahaprabhu’s contemporary, as indicated by the Boro Oriya Math’s disciplic succession.

Why was Jagannath Das not mentioned in Mahaprabhu’s biographies?

Mahaprabhu’s biographers named many religious leaders of the period who met with Mahaprabhu, even those whose opinions differed from Mahaprabhu’s -- Vallabha Bhatta, Keshava Kashmiri, Ramadas Vishwas, Mukunda Saraswati, Prakashananda Saraswati, to name some of them. Kaviraj Goswami did not hesitate to speak the plain truth about all of these individuals, so what was to stop him from dealing with Jagannath Das if there were historical fact there?

There are many Orissan devotees described in the biographies of Chaitanya Deva and in the subsequent generations – Gopal Guru, Dhyana Chandra, and the Oriya poet Govinda Deva, to name but a few – who have accepted orthodox Gaudiya siddhanta in these matters. If Kavi Karnapur and other biographers of Mahaprabhu have not mentioned Jagannath Das’ name, it must be because He never met him, contrary to his biographers’ accounts. The proof is the guru pranali given in the Boro Oriya Math itself.

It is also a historical truth that for many generations, the Vaishnavas of the Atibori line were ostracized by the Gaudiya Vaishnavas of Puri. They would not share Maha Prasad with them, even in Jagannath Puri. If the Atiboris were such great friends of Mahaprabhu, then why this great division?

Succession to Jagannath Das

Jagannath Das had sixteen chief disciples. In Jagannätha-caritämåta, the following verses name them,

uddhavo rämacandraç ca gopénäthaç ca çré-hariù
nandané vämané gaurä gopäläkhaëòalas tathä
janärdana-patiù kåñëa-däsaç ca vana-mälikaù
govardhanas tathä kähnu-khuëöikä na kramaà vadet
punaù çiño jagannätha-däsaç ca madhusüdanaù

(1) Uddhava, (2) Ramachandra, (3) Gopinath (4) Hari Das, (5) Nandani Acharya, (6) Vamani Mahapatra, (7) Srimati Gaura, (8) Gopal Das, (9) Akhandala Mekap, (10) Janardana Pati, (11) Krishna Das, (12) Vanamali Das, (13) Govardhan Das, (14) Kanai Khuntia, (15) Jagannath Das, (16) Madhusudan Das.

One of Mahaprabhu’s followers, the author of Mahäbhäva-prakäça, was also named Kanai Khuntia. Krishna Das Kaviraj has mentioned him in several places and states that Mahaprabhu respected him like a father (CC 2.15.19, 29). It is unlikely that Jagannath Das’ disciple of this name is the same person. Krishna Das Kaviraj does not mention Jagannath Das’ name in the Chaitanya Charitamrita, so it seems unlikely that he would name his disciple.

Sundarananda heard from the Math’s mahant, Vrindavan Dasji, that Purushottam Das, who was sixth in line of descent from Jagannath Das, had five principal disciples. Chief of these was Mukunda Das, who became the Mahant of the Boro Oriya Math. The other four disciples established branch maths, which are known as Sana (small) Oriya Maths. These are named (1) Sana Oriya Math, (2) Rama-Hari Das Math, (3) Vanamali Das Math, and (4) Bhagavata Das Math.

In the Kundhei Bent and Dandimal Sahis, there are between ten and twenty other maths belonging to this line, all of which accept the preeminence of the Boro Oriya Math. When it comes time for a new mahant to be ordained in any of these minor establishments, it is the head of the Boro Oriya Math who wraps the silk sari around his head. This sampradaya of Vaishnavas who follow Jagannath Das are spread throughout Orissa and connected maths who recognize its authority are found in the towns of Khandpara, Tigiria, Nilgiri, Athgarh, Barhamba, Narasinghapur, Dashpalla, Talcher, Dhenkanal, Nayagarh, Mayurbhanj, Ganjam and Midnapore.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur and Bishikishan

When Bhaktivinoda Thakur was a deputy magistrate stationed in Jagannath Puri in the early 1870's, he arrested, judged and jailed a pseudo-incarnation of Maha Vishnu named Bishikishan, who claimed to belong to the Atibori apasampradaya. This man had mystic powers: he would sit near a fire and lean into the flames, then lift his head and make flames come out of his hair. He had two companions who went by the names Brahma and Shiva. Many wealthy and influential Hindus of Orissa came under his sway and sent him funds for constructing a temple; they even provided him with women for “rasa-lila.” Bishikishan boasted that he would drive the British out of Orissa and rule it as a divine king.

The incident prompted Bhaktivinoda to investigate the Atiboris as a result of which he wrote a letter, dated August 18, 1871, addressed to the editor of Progress, a Cuttack newspaper, in which he described the origin, philosophy and practices of the Atibori sect. Other than the points already covered above, the Thakur also questioned the genuineness of the Atiboris’ devotion to Lord Jagannath. He wrote,

“It is a source of pride among this group to claim that Lord Jagannath has personally revealed some truth or prophecy to them. Thus every respected Atibori can recite what they call their mälikä, or series of revelations from the Lord. A common prediction one will hear from them is the year the world will end...

“The Atiboris are mystics. They practice yoga and sometimes work magic, to cure diseases, for instance. They form a secret brotherhood, like the Freemasons in the West, and are also involved with drugs like marijuana and opium.” 

The Thakur reckoned there were 15,000 Atiboris in Orissa during his stay there. At that time, they were often engaged in conspiracies against the government.

Sat Lahari Math

The Sat Lahari Math is situated not far from the Hari Das Samadhi Math near the Swarga Dwar. It is the burial place of Atibori Jagannath Das. A shrine with an image of Jagannath Das once stood on this site. The followers of the Atibori Sampradaya say that this murti self-manifested twelve days after his disappearance, but it appears to have been installed much later. This figure was lost or stolen half a century ago and is no longer there.

The math is currently in serious difficulty and has been placed under the management of a committee under the chairmanship of the Puri district collector. When Sundarananda reported on it in Çré Kñetra, it was a totally abandoned to itinerant ascetics and stray dogs.

It is said that Jagannath Das once engaged a Mayavadi sannyasi named Brahmananda in debate and defeated him. He won recognition from Prataparudra who rewarded him with a math south of the Markandeya Sarovar, which became the Boro Oriya Math. Some critics of Jagannath Das say that Prataparudra became displeased with him and took this gift back, forcing him to go elsewhere. In view of the continued influence of the Boro Oriya Math in the Sri Mandir, this account seems unlikely.

The name of the math means “seven waves.” It comes from a legend that Jagannath Das used his mystic powers to move back the ocean the distance of seven waves in order to make room for a place to building.

According to legend, Jagannath Das lived at Sat Lahari Math until he was sixty years old (1550 AD). He then called all his disciples together and gave them last instructions and spiritual directions. He gave his wooden sandals to his chief disciple, Hari Das, and appointed him his successor. He then sat in a yogic posture and went into deep meditation and then left his body. His disciples buried his remains there and built a samadhi shrine in his memory.




Source :  http://www.gaudiyadiscussions.com/topic_2957.html

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B H A K T A     S A L A B E G A 

Biography :


Salabega (1607/1608 - unknown; Oriya: ସାଲବେଗ) was an Oriyan religious poet of India in the early 17th century.

Salabega occupies a permanent position among the devotional poets of Orissa who devoted his life for lord jagannath. He lived in the first half of the 17th century. Nilamani Mishra, who has written a comprehensive account of the poet and his works, determines the birth of Salabega between circa AD 1607-1608. Salabega was the son of the Mugual subedar, Lalbeg, His father on one of his military excursions came across a young widowed brahmin widow taking bath at Dandamukundapur. Fascinated by her youthful beauty, Lalbeg forcibly took her away and made her his wife. Salabega was their only son.

As soon as he was old enough, Salabega took up fighting in his father's campaigns. Once he was severely wounded in battle. Battling for life he accepted the advice of his mother, he chanted the holy name of Lord Krishna and was cured miraculously. Feeling greatly indebted to Lord Krishna he tried to know more about Hinduism. From his mother he came to know that Lord Jagannath is incarnation of LordKrishna. Amazed and thrilled he went to Puri but was refused entrance into the temple of Jagannath due to his Muslim birth. Thereafter he went on foot to Vrindavana wherein he lived the life of an ascetic in the association of sadhus reciting bhajans in honour of Lord SriKrishna. After one year in Vraja(Vrindavana), he returned to Puri desiring to see the Ratha yatra festival of Lord Jagannath, but on the way he suddenly fell ill. Feeling helpless and realising that he would not reach Puri in time to see the Ratha yatra festival, he offered prayers to Lord Jagannath petitioning Him to wait until he arrived. On the day of the return Cart festival, Nandighosa, the cart of Lord Jagannath, did not move until Salabega's arrival. The place where the cart remained stationary to give darshana to Salabega was later used by Salabega for composing his many bhajans in honour of Lord jagannath. His body was cremated there after his death. The Samadhi of this great devotee is still standing on the Grand road in Puri near Balagandi. In honour of him every year during the cart festival, the cart of lord Jagannath stays for a while near his Samadhi.

The poet identified Jagannath completely with Sri Krishna. His bhajans are still popular among the devotees of Lord Jagannath. Salabega composed numerous devotional songs but not all of them have survived. Most of his compositions are prayers and hymns to Lord jagannath and Krishna. A good number of these deal with the romantic dalliance of Krishna with the gopis and Radha, while a few are inspired by the vatsalya ras, the sweet, motherly feeling Yashoda had for child Krishna. His deep devotion has intensity and passion, outstanding even in the devotional literature of the Bhakti era. Although the poet was denied entry into the temple, his descriptions of the inner compound and the sanctum are among the most detailed and accurate in the devotional literature of Orissa. His song ‘Ahe Neelagiri...’ is perhaps the best description of Bedha Parikrama, or the prescribed circumambulation of the Srimandira. Many of the historical events of the period are recounted in his songs. The poet refers, with deep anguish, to the depredations of the marauders in their attacks on Puri and the repeated attempts to loot and desecrate the Srimandira. This frequently necessitated shifting the deities outside the main sanctum and the poet gives graphic details in the song ‘Kene gheni jaucchha jagannatha nku...

Aahe Nila Shaila; Prabal matta Varan
mo aarata nalinee bana ku kara dalana!

Gajaraja chinta kala thai ghora jalena,
Chakra peshi nakra nashi, uddhrile aapana!

Ghorabane mrugini ku padithila kashana,
Kede bada beepatti ru kariaccha tarana.

Kurusabha tale suni Draupadi ra janana,
Koti bastra dei hele lajja kala barana!

Ravana ra bhai Bivishana gala saran,
Saran sambhali tanku, Lanke kala raajana.

Prahlada pita se je bada dushta daruna,
Stambha ru bahari taku bidarila takhana.

Kahe Salabega hina jaati re me jabana,
Sriranga charan tale karuachhi janana.        Source :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salabega

जगबन्धु हे गोसाईं

तुम्भ श्री चरण विनु अन्य गति नहीं ||

सातश पचाश कोश चली न पारइ  

मोह जिबाजाएँ नंदीघोषे थीबरही ||

Translation :      

O my Lord, friend of the whole world, there is no destination but Your Lotus Feet.

It is very difficult to walk the 750 Kosas (One Kosa equals two miles) to see you. You please remain on Nandighosa until then.

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