Takki Khan and Shree Jagannath

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There was a big gathering of devotees in front ofthe Lions’ Gate of the Grand Temple Puri. As itappeared, those people had come to Puri fromsome other State for Darshan of the Lord. Twopilgrims among them were calmy talkingwith each other. One was saying to theother, "Friend, do you know thatPuri is the heaven on earth. TheGrand Temple is adored asthe Goloka-Baikuntha ofLord Narayana onearth. This way,Puri is known asthe fourth pilgrimcentre of theHindus. There is areligious sayingthat one who diesat Puri and iscremated here willhave a straightaccess to heaven."

The other pilgrim was listening to his friendwonder-struck. He added that he had heard thosefacts from his father and grandfather. LordJagannath is a Great God. He dwells here withMaa Laxmi. Lord Jagannath that way is the richestGod of India. His store in the Temple is known

Takki Khan and Shree Jagannath

Dinabandhu Pradhan

as “Akshaya Bhandar”. It is full of ornaments andjewels It is said in this connection that in the past,some merchants were invited to Puri by the thenAdministration of the Temple to assess the value

of the jewels and precious stones of the Lord.But they could not assess the value of

many stones. Having admitted theirfailure, they had left the Temple.

This is the greatness of theplace. This is the

greatness of the Lordwho is adored asthe Lord of theuniverse.

It is alsosaid that ShreeMahadev locallyknown as ShreeLokonath is thecustodian of the

Temple of LordJagannath. He keeps steady

watch over the Lord’s store. He whounauthorizedly lifts anything from the Temple hasthe rigorous punishment of the Divine.

At a short distance away from the Lions’Gate was standing a person named Takki Khan.He had come to Puri and was staying in a private

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house near the Grand Temple. He had actuallycome for a different purpose. He had no adorationfor the Lord. He was listening to the discussionof the two pilgrims. He laughed at them hearingtheir discussion. He scoffed at their blind faith inthe Lord. He said to himself, “The Lord aboutWhom the two pilgrims are talking is a mere pieceof log. How can such a deity have any life or asense of thinking ? Is it not ludicrous to believethat a person unauthorizedly taking anything fromthe Temple shall be visited by a sort of divinepunishment ? Is it not bunkum"?

Takki Khan was a Muslim by birth. Hehad come to Puri with a different mission in hismind. He had his covetous eyes on the RatnaBhandar of the Temple. His mission was toprepare an action-plan to commit theft in theTemple at a convenient time. He had picked upthe language of the place. He was closelyassociated with the life-style of the people. Healso looked like a Hindu youth. So none at Puritook him for a member of Islamic religion.Moreover, he had picked up friendship with manylocal people. He had given his identity to them asTakki.

Takki used to come to the Lions’ Gateeveryday. He talked with the ‘Pandas’ about theTemple and its Ratna Bhandar. His eyes hadsparkled with a high ambition.He had heard fromothers about the Bhandar Ghar of the Lord. Hehad built many castles in the air when he heardthat the Bhandar Ghar of the Lord had a big stockof expensive diamonds, stones and very costlyornaments.

One day, in the company of a DhuliaGumasta of the Temple, he entered the premisesof the Temple. The Temple police had no occasionto know him as a Muslim as he was accompanyinga Dhulia Gumasta who had picked up friendshipwith him. The Dhulia Gumasta took him round allthe important places of the Temple. When theycame near the Garuda-pillar, the Dhulia Gumastasaid to him, “Now you have come to the properplace of the Temple. You stand behind theGaruda-pillar and have a look at the Lord andthe other Deities."

Obeying him, Takki stood behind theGaruda pillar and looked at the Lord and the otherdeities. Lo! Takki virtually trembled in deepsurprise. His inner self was in a state of mortifyingquiver. It was a situation which created in his minda ruffled surge of extraordinary wonder. Hethought to himself. “How fearful the deities appearto be”!

After some time Takki thought to himself.“Jagannath has another mystifying feature. Thesmile on his face is however the most glamorousfeature of His Divine self. The devotees aretherefore inwardly attracted towards Him.’’

Casually Takki wanted to know from theDhulia Gumasta the location of the Bhandar Gharof the Lord. The Gumasta showed him the placewith all detailed information.The Gumasta furthersaid, “Friend Takki, our Lord is not small. He is avery Big Lord of the universe. He is very powerful.He is said to be the Lord of all Lords. He has themost precious jewelry bedecked with the stonesof a very superior quality. All these have beenstored in the “Ratna Bhandar of the Temple.’’

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Takki Khan was very keenly hearingeverything about the Lord. In the name of payinghis obeisance to the Lord, he was very carefullymoving his eyes around the location of theBhandar Ghar.

It was then the time of ‘Sahanamela’(general Darshan) in the Temple. Takki availedof the opportunity and went inside the sanctum ofthe Temple and had a very close darshan of thedeities. The Gumasta standing in front of the DivineAlter said to Takki, “Listen, my friend, the threemain deities along with other Gods are seated onthis altar known as Ratna Simhasan. Please havea look at the head of Lord Jagannath. Theornament you find at the top of His head is knownas ‘Chita’. It is bedecked with very expensiveJewels. Please see how they dazzle. You may seethe same types of ornament on the heads ofBalabhadra and Subhadra. You cannot look atthem for more than a minute. Tears will come toyour eyes.

Takki saw the ornaments, He could notbelieve his eyes.

Takki asked the Dhulia Gumasta,“Friend, the white stones in the Chitas appear tobe glass-pieces. Are they actually Jewels ? TheGumasta said, "yes, of course. They are Jewels.It is very difficult to assess their value. There arealso diamonds on these ornaments”.

Sometime after, Takki and the DhuliaGumasta came out of the sanctum. Now,Takkiwas very much disturbed, in his mind. He felt very

restless. In fact, he was anxious to lift the Chitasfrom the three deities as quickly as possible. Sincethe security arrangements in the Temple were veryelaborate, he could not instantly make out anyplan. However, he noted all the details and atlastreturned to his house.

From that day onwards, he visited theTemple everyday. He collected all other detailsto simplify his mode of operation. He made out aplan to commit robbery on the Ratnasimhasanafirst.

A hoard of “Nitis” is followed in theTemple to perform the daily and periodic “Nitis”of the Temple. Of them, the most popular andfascinating ‘Niti’ was ‘Badasimhar’ and ‘Pahuda’that are observed mostly in late night hours whenthe deities retire for divine slumber. The robes ofthe deities are changed at this period of time. Andfinally they retire for divine slumber and take restin the usual way. The Temple is then closed forthe night. Mostly the devotees living at Puri attendthis divine ritual and return to their houses afterthis ritual.

Takki made out a plan to commit theintended robbery in the Temple in the late nighthours after observance of the ‘Niti of‘Badasimhar’ and‘Pahuda’. Takki used to visitthe Temple at that period of time. But the mysterywas that when Takki was present in the Temple,the‘Badasimhar’ could not be observed in propertime. There was some reason or the other forwhich the ‘Niti’ was abnormally delayed. On somedays, ‘Badasinghar Niti’ was not at all observed.

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For such reason,Takki could not carryout his plan. He could not commit the intendedrobbery. He could not lift the “Chitas” from thedeities. So in deep sorrow, he used to return tohis house when he did not attend the Niti of‘Badasimhar’. That was the mystery of the entirehappening.

There was utter restlessness in the mindof Takki. He was soon exposed to severe illness.He was ultimately bed ridden. He could not go tothe Temple on the subsequent days. He could notbudge an inch from his bed because of the saidillness. Lo and behold the mystery of the entirehappening was beyond anybody’scomprehension. On the days of his illness, all the‘Nitis’ of the Temple were however properlyobserved. There was no delay in observance ofthe Nitis of ‘Badasimhar’ or Pahuda. At long last,Takki was cured of his illness. He became entirelyfit to embark upon his mission again. He re-startedhis strategy and set out on his plan. He used toregularly visit the Temple. Now, he noted in theTemple that the “Nitis” of the Temple wereregularly observed. So he waited for anopportunity to hide himself somewhere in theTemple and commit the robbery when the Templewas empty of devotees and there was perfectquietude all around.

When gods cannot know the ‘Maya’ ofthe Lord, how can an insignificant person likeTakki understand His divine deception ? In thisway, four to five days passed without any workdone by Takki as planned out by him in this regard.

At last a chance came to Takki. One day,he entered the Temple with his plan. Somewhereat an exclusive corner of the Temple, he hidhimself and remained there till the Temple wasentirely cleared out. After the divine slumber ofthe deities, all the lights in the Temple were putoff in the routine procedure. There was thusdarkness on the Temple-premises all around. Allthe servitors after closing the gates including themain gate returned their homes. None could seeTakki and the place he had hidden himself.

After all had left the Temple, Takkiclimbed the Ratna Singhasana. Although there waspitch darkness all around, the ‘Chitas’ of thedeities looked very dazzling. The rays of the Chitaswere piercing his eyes.

At first Takki extended his hands to takeout the ‘Chita’ from the head of Lord Balabhadra.But he could not succeed in his attempt. He felt inthe process of his action that hundreds of Snakeswere moving out from the Lords head hissingfiercely to sting him on his head. He tried to seethe face of the Lord. It was not possible as it waspitch dark inside. So he lighted the torches. Hesaw as if the snakes were rushing towards him.The deities were not seated on the divine Alter.And there was fire in the eyes of the snakes. Hetrembled in fear. He could no longer breathe. Heshouted in excruciating pain. He cried for help.

The next day early in the morning whenthe servitors opened the main gate of the sanctum,they found to their utter surprise that Takki waslying on the floor senseless. When, by sprinklingwater on his face, they made Takki sit on the floor,

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and asked him how he was sleeping there, Takkisaid, "See the snakes. They are rushing towardsme from the Lord’s head to sting me to take awaymy life. Help me, help me, my friends.”

The servitors were surprised. They couldnot believe their ears. Some of the servitors hadknown Takki, as he was a regular visitor to theTemple. They gave him water to drink. Takki didwhat they said. When he came to his normal sense,he was a different person then. He was blabberinglike a mad man.

Takki was apprehended by the King’spolice. He was apprehended on the charge ofrobbery.

But when he was produced before theKing, there was no concrete evidence against him.The charges could not be proved. Takki was atlast set free and released.

After some days,Takki was found movingon the Grand Road like a mad man. The diseaseof Leprosy had gradually entered into the vitalparts of his body. He was begging from door todoor to eke out his livelihood.

One day Takki heard a person saying toanother person, See this sinner. He had beenarrested by the King’s police on the ground ofrobbery. However, he was released as there wasno concrete evidence. But before the providence,he was an established criminal. The fellow was

trying to commit robbery in the Temple. Can hedo any such act in the abode of the Lord ? Seethe man, how he is attacked by leprosy.

When Takki heard those aspersions,tears flowed down from his eyes.

He stood at a distance and with foldedhands said to Lord Patitapaban, “Prabhu, I hadheard many things about You. I had scoffed atthe sayings of others. You are really very great,as people say. You are God of the Universe. Youare all powerful. You are the Omnipresent Lord.You are aware of the language of the inner-self. Iam actually a sinner. You are the Lord of all Lords.Forgive me, my great Lord. I may be exoneratedof my sins.

Takki felt in his heart of hearts thatPatitapabana was speaking to him, “Takki, cometo me. I am waiting for you. It is enough that youhave repented your mistakes. I have extendedmy hands to give you shelter irrespective of caste,creed and religion. I am everybody’s God. I amPatitapabana. I also bring you under my shelter.

Takki saw in the broad eyes ofPatitapabana a ray of atonement. Takki becamea great follower of the Lord thereafter.

Dinabandhu Pradhan, Teaching in CommunicativeEnglish, At- Suajhari, Po- Balipasi, Via- Rengali Damsite, Dist- Angul-759105.