Text 9] The Lord’s Dancing at Ratha-yatra 117
balistha dayita’ gana——yena matta hati
jagannatha vijaya kardya kari’ hatahati
SYNONYMS
balistha dayita’ gana—very strong dayitas, or carriers of Jagannatha; yena—as
if; matta hati—drunken elephants; jagannatha—of Lord Jagannatha; vijaya—
departure; karaya—cause; kari’—performing; hatahati—hand to hand.
TRANSLATION
The very strongly built dayitas [carriers of the Jagannatha Deity] were as
powerful as drunken elephants. They manually carried Lord Jagannatha from
the throne to the car.
PURPORT
The word dayitd refers to one who has received the mercy of the Lord. Lord
Jagannatha has a number of stalwart servants known as dayitds. These servants do
not come from very high-caste families (brahmanas, ksatriyas or vaisyas), but be-
cause they are engaged in the service of the Lord, they have been elevated to a
respected position. Thus they are known as dayitas. These servants of Lord Jagan-
natha take care of the Lord from the day of the Snana-yatra up to the time the
Lord is carried from the throne to the Ratha car. In the Ksetra-mahatmya these
dayitaés are said to come from the sabaras, a caste that keeps and sells pigs.
However, among the dayitas there are also many who come from the brahmana
caste. Those dayitas coming from the brahmana families are called dayita-patis, or
leaders of the dayitas. The dayita-patis offer food such as sweetmeats to Lord
Jagannatha during the anavasara, the resting period after Sndna-yatra. They also
make the early morning offering of sweetmeats daily. It is said that during the
anavasara Lord Jagannatha suffers from fever and that the dayita-patis offer Him
an infusion of drugs represented by fruit juice. It is said that in the beginning Lord
Jagannatha was worshiped by the sabaras and was known as the Deity Nila
Madhava. Later, when the Deity was established in the temple, the Lord became
known as Jagannatha. Because the Deities were taken from the sabaras, all the
sabara devotees were elevated to the position of dayitas.
TEXT 9
SSF WAS] SCA SH SAGA |
Bos afHel aca Blria-pae dt
kataka dayita kare skandha dlambana
kataka dayita dhare sri-padma-carana
