As millions of devotees from across the country and abroad have
assembled in Puri Badadanda to witness the grand
spectacle of the first Nabakalebara of the millennium,
Orissa POST scribe Ratan Pradhan
interacts with Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb at his palace in the holy city. Excerpts:
You are viewed as chalanti pratima of Lord Jagannath (live icon of Lord Jagannath). Is it because of your noble birth or acquisition of such qualities through efforts? Or do you consider it your ‘Prarabdha’ karma?
Gajapati is the sevak or servitor of Lord Jagannath and nothing else. The ‘Chalanti Pratima’ of the Lord is the beautiful Lord Madanamohan. The qualities you ascribe for this traditional position come by birth. The Law of Primogeniture prescribes that the eldest son of the Gajapati inherits the seva after him. You don’t have to pass any examinations to get into this seva. As you said seva comes according to your ‘Prarabdha karma’. Because it is something which is predestined – what we have done in our previous births will lead us to our present situation. So, it is in His hands.
What is Brahma? If it is ‘soul’ or the life force how can it be planted as an object? Can it be ‘objectified’?
Brahma, according to scriptures, is beyond human intellect. It is the belief of all devotees of Lord Jagannath and also of the Mahapurusas and Acharyas who had started the tradition of Ghata Paribartan. It suggests that Brahma moves from the old idols to the new. We believe that Brahma dwells in the heart of the bigrahas. Obviously, you cannot call Brahma as a ‘bastu’ or material. It is ‘Aprakrutika’. There may be some object, but it is something in addition to the object which is Brahma. You have rightly said, pure Brahma cannot be objectified. It is the ‘pratik’ of Brahma. Symbolically, we objectify it for worship.
A judicial panel set up in 1977to look into delays in rituals during Nabakalebara had suggested abolition of hereditary rights of priests. Your opinion?
The temple is managed by the state government. Such sensitive issues should be considered by the government. The objective of the Jagannath Temple Act and the purpose of the government takeover of the temple is to ensure smooth management of temple affairs. You need to coordinate among servitors to ensure this. The issue is not abolition of hereditary rights of servitors but it is about how we can transform the servitor community into ideal servitors.
We need servitors who are financially sound, well qualified and who perform duties with devotion and commitment. So you have to have a programme which will deliver this objective. That’s for the government to consider and think about seriously. So far, we have not addressed this issue. Now, with all the things that have happened during the Ghata Paribartan, I hope the government will look into the issue of welfare of servitors. Once that is done, the problems such as the delay in rituals and difficulties that the devotees had experienced during the darshan – will not arise. And the state government, the temple management and the servitors should contemplate on this.
Do you have any political ambition?
This question was asked to me when my father died in 1970. A lot of people, including leading politicians at that time, told me “Your father was an MLA and your uncle was an MLA; so what about you?” I had my own thinking on the subject and I still maintain it – the Aadya Sevak should be servant of the Lord. In monarchy, it is possible to be the servant of the Lord and yet rule the kingdom. But in democracy, people rule the kingdom. So, the Aadya Sevak cannot be in that position. He should only confine himself to his Seva. The reason: In monarchy there is one party – King’s party. The king belongs to his subjects, not to a particular group. But in democracy you need to join politics and belong to party A or B. Then what happens – Gajapati stops belonging to everyone. He is claimed by one party and therefore he is denounced by the other. This would mean ruin of the tradition. Every Oriya has an equal stake in Gajapati. And Gajapati cannot discriminate. Politics like kingship is a full time job. If Gajapati joins politics, he can neither deliver here nor deliver there.
There has been a demand for construction of permanent chariots for Rath Yatra. What is your take?
These are all for the state government to consider. It has to look into the scriptural, religious and traditional aspects apart from security. This needs serious thinking. I hope the government would look into these aspects before taking a decision.