Dasia Bouri One of the most famous non-Brahmin devotees of Jagannatha, Dasia Bouri is said to have been a contemporary of the Pancha sakhas, but there is no clear information about the time frame of his life. He was a devotee born in a low caste family of sweepers in the village of Baligram near Puri, but he gave up the traditional occupation of his family, which he considered too dirty, and became a weaver by profession. Although he married, he had no children. Every evening he used to sing new songs for Jagannatha in his hut, composing beautiful poetry even if he was illiterate. Once he heard the voice of Lord Jagannatha saying, “I have created everybody, and all are My sons and daughters. For Me there is no difference between low caste and high caste, as nobody is ever separated from Me”. When the Ratha Yatra day arrived, Dasia Bouri traveled to Puri with other pilgrims from his village, and reached the city when the chariots were already starting to move. So he waited at Balagandi instead of going all the way to the temple, and he remained immersed in the contemplation of the Lord, humbly feeling that because of his birth he was not worthy of getting on the chariot to embrace Jagannatha. When he came back home that night, he was so immersed in the ecstasy of love for Jagannatha that he was seeing Jagannatha everywhere, including within his bowl of watery rice, and thus he was unable to eat. In the night, Jagannatha appeared to him and offered a boon, so Dasia Bouri asked to be able to offer Him something personally in spite of his low social position. The next morning Dasia Bouri purchased a coconut from his landlord, then he entrusted the coconut to the head priest of his village who was going for Darshana to the temple of Lord Jagannatha, together with several devotees carrying many offerings from the village. The priest was perplexed, but Dasia Bouri insisted, saying, “”Do not give the coconut to Jagannatha unless He takes it directly from your hand. Just say that I am sending this coconut and ask Him to take it. If He doesn’t, bring back the coconut to me.” The Brahmin decided that after all he could at least show the coconut before the Deity in the temple hall, and then return the coconut to Dasia Bouri. So when he reached the temple he stood in a little empty space near the Garuda stambha holding the coconut in his hands, and mentally presenting it to Jagannatha in the name of Dasia Bouri. Suddenly the coconut disappeared from his hands, to the great amazement of everyone. Almost immediately, one of the Puja Pandas cried out from the altar, saying that something very strange was happening: pieces of coconut shells were falling around there. Some time later, Dasia Bouri personally went to Puri with a basket of mangoes and while standing outside the temple, contemplated Lord Jagannatha in the Nila chakra above the temple dome. Immediately the mangoes disappeared from his basket. Some temple priests who had seen the miraculous event rushed inside the temple and found mango peels and seeds laying around the altar, and drops of mango juice dripping down the face of Lord Jagannatha’s Deity. Some say that Dasia Bouri used to send a basket of mangoes every year to the Lord, and that the same miracle would happen again and again. Several other miracles are also ascribed to Dasia. It is said that once he showed his wife Malati the reflection of Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra within the Gothagadia pond behind their hut; this pond is still considered sacred and nobody uses it to bathe or wash utensils or clothes. Nobody also uses it to fish, especially since then a villager who was cooking some fish caught from the pond found his pot filled with blood. The local people also say that the pond is protected by black cobras. The story of another miracle, similar to the story of Draupadi’s pot, says that once Jagannatha visited Dasia Bouri’s house one night, disguised as an ordinary traveler, and asked for food. Dasia’s wife offered whatever scraps she could from the pot, and the traveler was satisfied. At the same time, the King of Puri had a dream in which he was alerted about Dasia Bouri’s precarious conditions, and he arranged for food to be sent to his house; it is said that it was the King’s duty to send the first Mahaprasadam to Dasia Bouri’s house. After the death of Dasia Bouri, the King of Puri granted his relatives the service of carrying the wooden horses and the charioteers to the Rathas for the festival.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 07:58:40 +0000
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