Text 9]
The Lord’s Dancing at Ratha-yātrā
117
balișțha dayită’ gaņa — yena matta hāti jagannātha vijaya karāya kari’ hātāhāti
SYNONYMS
baliṣṭha dayitā’ gaṇa —very strong  dayitās , or carriers of Jagannātha;  yena —as if;  matta hātī —drunken elephants;  jagannātha —of Lord Jagannātha;  vijaya —departure;  karāya —cause;  kari’ —performing;  hātāhāti —hand to hand.
TRANSLATION
The very strongly built dayitās [carriers of the Jagannātha Deity] were as powerful as drunken elephants. They manually carried Lord Jagannātha from the throne to the car.
PURPORT
The word  dayitā  refers to one who has received the mercy of the Lord. Lord Jagannātha has a number of stalwart servants known as  dayitās . These servants do not come from very high-caste families ( brāhmaṇas ,  kṣatriyas  or  vaiśyas ), but because they are engaged in the service of the Lord, they have been elevated to a respected position. Thus they are known as  dayitās . These servants of Lord Jagannātha take care of the Lord from the day of the Snāna-yātrā up to the time the Lord is carried from the throne to the Ratha car. In the  Kṣetra-māhātmya  these  dayitās  are said to come from the  śabaras , a caste that keeps and sells pigs. However, among the  dayitās  there are also many who come from the  brāhmaṇa  caste. Those  dayitās  coming from the  brāhmaṇa  families are called  dayitā-patis , or leaders of the  dayitās . The  dayitā-patis  offer food such as sweetmeats to Lord Jagannātha during the  anavasara , the resting period after Snāna-yātrā. They also make the early morning offering of sweetmeats daily. It is said that during the  anavasara  Lord Jagannātha suffers from fever and that the  dayitā-patis  offer Him an infusion of drugs represented by fruit juice. It is said that in the beginning Lord Jagannātha was worshiped by the  śabaras  and was known as the Deity Nīla Mādhava. Later, when the Deity was established in the temple, the Lord became known as Jagannātha. Because the Deities were taken from the  śabaras , all the  śabara  devotees were
Text 9
কতক দরিত্তা করে স্কক্ষ আলম্বন ।।
কতক দয়িতা ধরে শ্রীপদ্মচরণ ॥ ৯ ॥
kataka dayitā kare skandha ālambana
kataka dayitā dhare śrī-padma-caraṇa