Prasadam => Food Taken with Respect
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Madan Mohan
Around two hundred years back, when Gopal Das Mukherjee was the temple
pujari. One morning when he was doing Madan Mohan’s shringar, he found it
difficult to put the deity’s turban on him. He couldn’t put the turban even
in after several attempts. Annoyed by the difficulty, the pujari slapped
Madan Mohan with his left hand and did not bother trying to put the turban
on afterward.
That night Madan Mohan himself appeared to the then Mahant, Shri Chandra Das
Goswami, and told him what had happened. He complained, “When Yashoda Maa
dressed me up before I went off to gocharan (cow grazing), she would give me
kheer or butter to eat. I was thinking of my mother’s love while the pujari
was putting the turban. While remembering the mother I shook my head, which
made it difficult for the pujari to put the turban.”
The next day, the mahant went to the temple to see if the turban had been
put on the deity. He found that it was missing from Madan Mohan’s head. When
interrogated about the missing pagri, the pujari said that the bhandari (the
storehouse manager) had not been able to get a good turban from the market,
and this one was too small. Then the Mahant asked him if he had slapped
Madan Mohan and the pujari shamefully admitted his misdeed. So the Mahant
immediately sacked the pujari after paying him off.
The pujari was so disappointed that he went to the Pushpanandan Ghat and
began a hunger strike to the death, as he could not bear to live without
serving Madan Mohan. With each passing day his condition deteriorated. All
this was too much for Madan Mohan, who could not bear to see his devotee in
trouble. He appeared again to the mahant in a dream and pleaded with him to
re-employ the pujari. Madan Mohan excused the pujari’s offense as he had
been in haste to perform his father’s shraddh ceremony that day.
When the pujari was asked about it, he admitted that he had been late for
the shraddh and was in hurry and that is why he had been frustrated. Pujari
was finally given his job back and the tradition to offer kulia after
shringar was established in the temple.
The samadhi of the Pujari Shri Gopal Mukherjee is still there in the temple
grounds.
pujari. One morning when he was doing Madan Mohan’s shringar, he found it
difficult to put the deity’s turban on him. He couldn’t put the turban even
in after several attempts. Annoyed by the difficulty, the pujari slapped
Madan Mohan with his left hand and did not bother trying to put the turban
on afterward.
That night Madan Mohan himself appeared to the then Mahant, Shri Chandra Das
Goswami, and told him what had happened. He complained, “When Yashoda Maa
dressed me up before I went off to gocharan (cow grazing), she would give me
kheer or butter to eat. I was thinking of my mother’s love while the pujari
was putting the turban. While remembering the mother I shook my head, which
made it difficult for the pujari to put the turban.”
The next day, the mahant went to the temple to see if the turban had been
put on the deity. He found that it was missing from Madan Mohan’s head. When
interrogated about the missing pagri, the pujari said that the bhandari (the
storehouse manager) had not been able to get a good turban from the market,
and this one was too small. Then the Mahant asked him if he had slapped
Madan Mohan and the pujari shamefully admitted his misdeed. So the Mahant
immediately sacked the pujari after paying him off.
The pujari was so disappointed that he went to the Pushpanandan Ghat and
began a hunger strike to the death, as he could not bear to live without
serving Madan Mohan. With each passing day his condition deteriorated. All
this was too much for Madan Mohan, who could not bear to see his devotee in
trouble. He appeared again to the mahant in a dream and pleaded with him to
re-employ the pujari. Madan Mohan excused the pujari’s offense as he had
been in haste to perform his father’s shraddh ceremony that day.
When the pujari was asked about it, he admitted that he had been late for
the shraddh and was in hurry and that is why he had been frustrated. Pujari
was finally given his job back and the tradition to offer kulia after
shringar was established in the temple.
The samadhi of the Pujari Shri Gopal Mukherjee is still there in the temple
grounds.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments