Today you will come to know about the very auspicious festival – Gundica Marjana.

Gundica is the name of the wife of King Indradyumna, the great devotee who wanted to have the darshan of Nila-Madhava arranged to have a deity carved, ultimately resulting in the appearance of Lord Jagannatha, along with Baladeva and Subhadra.

Marjana means – Cleaning. As we sing Daily in the Gurvastakam: mandira-marjanadau (The spiritual master engages the disciple in cleaning the Lord’s temple).

It has been said in the Puranas that if a person takes the Darshan of Lord Jagannath in Gundica Temple, then he gets 100 times more benefits. A person who takes the darshan of Lord Jagannath, Baladeva, and Subhadra Maharani In Gundica Temple for consecutive 7 Days will definitely attain Vaikuntha- The abode of God.

The Shukla pratipad tithi in the Month of Ashadha Marks the important festival Shri Gundica Marjana, the day when the temple of Gundica is cleansed in preparation for the arrival of Jagannath, who will come to the temple the next day, riding on his chariot and accompanied by his sister Subhadra and elder brother Baladeva. At the time when Mahaprabhu was performing his pastime with his devotees in Jagannath Puri, he would go with all his associates and clean the temple of Gundica.

Reason For Visiting – Gundica Temple By Lord Jagannath

When Lord Jagannath deities appeared in Gundica Temple. Then King Indradyumna went for his Darshan and to seek his Blessings. Then King Indradyumna requested Lord Jagannath to shower with the blessing that he will not beget any son in this life. But when Gundica Devi (King Indradyumna’s wife) heard this news, she became very disappointed.

For the pleasure of Gundica Devi – Lord Jagannath told her that from now onwards I am your son. As soon as she heard this Gundica Devi was absorbed in immense love and felt so happy. Thereafter Lord Jagannath told her that every year I pay a compulsory visit to your home (Gundica temple).

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Inauguration Of Gundica Marjana Service

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Taught by his Conduct How the nature of devotees should be. When Lord Jagannath Darshan remains close after the Snan Yatra, the Chaitanya Mahaprabhu feels separated from Jagannath swami. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Planned a meeting before Jagannath Rath yatra in which he called Kashi Misra, Sarvbhaum Bhattacharya, and many other devotees and said that – If Jagannath Ji went to Gundica Temple then we would clean this temple. Lord Chaitanya asked permission from his authorities for him and his devotees to clean the temple. The Authorities were most respectful to Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his Followers, most obedient and they replied – Yes. Whatever you like we will arrange. Cleaning a temple is not a fit service for you but if it is your desire, we shall supply whatever you required – waterpots and brooms.

The Superintendent of the temple delivered a hundred waterpots and hundred brooms, and Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu engaged hundreds of devotees in cleaning, and He personally took part himself. They clean the Lord’s paraphernalia whether it be his dishes, clothes, temple floor, windows, walls all things. He swept straw, dust, and grains of sand into one place, gathered it all in His clothes, and threw it outside the temple. He and His associates removed all the debris that had accumulated in the temple.

During the process, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would observe each devotee- How well each was cleaning and if someone was cleaning well, He would praise them and if someone was not cleaning so well, He would correct them. Lord Chaitanya was showing how an Acharya must train devotees, Correcting and encouraging them as appropriate. If one devotee wanted a pot of water, he would explain to another devotee “Krishna! Krishna!” understanding that this meant that he needed a pot of water would be brought by chanting Krishna Krishna and so in this way only Krishna names were uttered throughout the entire cleaning process.

Along with cleaning the Gundica Temple, the devotee would also clean The Narsimha Temple nearby and thereafter take a bath in the Narendra Sarovar, where they would enjoy various water sports, Splashing each other with the refreshing water and thus experiencing great joy.

The devotee should take care of 3 things while Cleaning the Temple-

1)      Responsibility – Must reach the temple on time.

2)      Approach with Caution – Complete the service that you have received and there should be no dust left in any corner.

3)      Devotion – This sewa must be done for the Pleasure of Jagannath ji, do not consider it as a burden.

Clean Your Temple – Clean Your Heart

The cleansing of Gundica Temple is compared to the cleansing of the Heart. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as the world leader, was personally giving instructions on How one should receive Krishna with one’s cleansed and pacified heart. If one wants to see Krishna seated in his heart, he must first clean the heart. As prescribed by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in His Siksastaka: Ceto-darpana-marjanam means to drive away from the fog in the Mind. Mahaprabhu advised everyone to chant Hare Krishna Mantra. The first result will be that the heart is cleansed. Cleansing oneself from an unwanted desire within the heart. Even seemingly menial work that is done for the Lord Pleasure help to remove Anarthas from the heart.

I request that everything in the Temple should be kept nice and clean, we should always remember that Krishna is the purest and similarly only the pure can associate with him.

This is a Golden opportunity to clean the mirror of the heart. We should participate very enthusiastically in cleaning Gundica Temple every year.

Gundica Mandir Maha Mahotsav Ki Jai.

Sri Sri Rukmani Dwarkadhish Ki Jai.

Shobha Radhika Devi Dasi

(ISKCON Dwarka New-Delhi)

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