Lord Shree Jagannath - a Great Assimilator of Tantric Impressions ...

day Sambalpur) which is amply proved from
the seats of the idols which are Yantras of various
type. Lord Shri Jagannath sits on Kali Yantra,
Balabhadra on Tara-yantra, Subhadra on
Bhubaneswari - Yantra and the Mantras adopted
for their worship should also be studied. Though
these Mantras have been widely corrupted by
subsequent additions and interpolations, the basic
Vija Mantras appear to be Tantric and not Vedic.
The Lord Shri Jagannath is worshipped by the
following Mantra. “Klim Krishnaya, Govindaya
Gopijana Vallabhaya Svaha”. It is undoubtedly a
fact that except the primary vija Mantra ‘Klim’,
the other portion of the Mantra is a Chaitanitic
addition whose creed overwhelmed the then
Oriya religious thoughts and culture due to royal
patronage at the time of Gajapati king Pratap
Rudra Dev and naturally the seat of Oriya Culture,
i.e, Shri Jagannath of Puri adopted the religion of
the king with consequential changes.
What is this ‘Klim’ which is the Vija
Mantra for worship of Lord Shri Jagannath?
Actually, Klim is the Vija Mantra of Sakta Tantrik
Deity Kali and very often Lord Shri Jagannath
has been described as ‘Dakshina Kalika’ (in
‘Mahanirvana Tantra’).
Influence of Tantric way of Puja in case
of Lord Shri Jagannath can be well observed from
various Nyasas such as “Sadanga-Nyasa”,
“Keshavadi Nyasa”, “Shrikanthadi Nyasa”,
“Kala-Nyasa”, “Matruka-Nyasa”, “Sodha-
Nyasa” and “Mahasodha Nyasa” which are
attributed in daily mode of worship of Lord Shri
Jagannath.
Moreover, “Panchasakhas” (five friends),
i.e., Balaram Das, Ananta Das, Yasobanta Das,
Achyutananda Das and Jagannath Das are all
Vaishnavites and their presiding Deity is Shri
Jagannath of Puri, Purusottam Khetra. But they
are all devotees of Lord Shri Jagannath in a Tantric
July - 2011
Orissa Review
mode (i.e., Kaula- charies). We find mention of
Yantra, Mantra and Tantra in their literatures.
According to them, Lord Shri Jagannath is both
“Saguna Brahma” and “Nirguna Brahma”. Yantra,
Mantra, Tantra are nothing but “Saguna Sadhana”.
According to them, one can realise Shri Jagannath
in his own body by both Saguna Sadhana and
Nirguna Sadhana which is famous as “Pinda -
Brahmanda Tatwa or Theory” which has been
delineated in earlier paragraphs.
Besides, the following daily rituals would
show that the articles offered to the Lord are
symbols of five M’s of the Tantra Dakshinachara
worship. In the morning, cocoanut water is offered
to Lord Shri Jagannath and Madan Mohana
(moveable representative Deity of Shri Jagannath)
in a Kansya-Patra, i.e bell metal pot or water with
Jaiphala thrashing in an earthen pot as a symbol
of wine. This is also offered during day’s offering
of Panktibhoga. Similarly offering of black gram
(biri) cakes admixtured with Hengu is made as a
symbol of flesh offering. Offering of various green
Sakas (lettuce) with ginger (ada) and ‘hengu’ are
made as a symbol of fish. Offering of various
cereals are made as symbol of Mudra. At times,
Mudra is identified with various gestures of hand
while offerings are made to the Deity. The last
Tantric symbol of worship is Maithuna or
copulation. This may appear odd but, it was
symbolically represented by Mahari or Devadasi
dances (till 1956) in the Shri Jagannath Temple at
the time of sleep of the Lord at night. These dances
were offered to the Lord by an unmarried girl in a
semiclad body in a trance position. The system is
no more prevalent, as no unmarried girl is
available who would remain unmarried for whole
life in order to perform Devadasi Nrutya before
Lord Shri Jagannath alone. Even Lords are
dressed like women by wearing Saries with veils
head dresses of women and nose-rings at the time
of worship.
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