Gundicha Marjan:
"Let Jagannath Come to My House"

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
5 April 2013, Sri Puri Dham

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

"The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill—all it takes is mercy from Gurudev."

Bhavartha Dipika

gurvvabhista-supurakam guru-ganair asisa-sambhusitam
chintyachintya-samasta-veda-nipunam sri-rupa-panthanugam
govindabhidham ujjvalam vara-tanum bhakty anvitam-sundaram
vande visva-gurun cha divya-bhagavat-premno hi bija-pradam

I offer my obeisance unto he who perfectly fulfils his Gurudev's most cherished desires; who is fully adorned with the blessings of his Gurudev’s associates; who is expert in all aspects of Vedic knowledge, both conceivable and inconceivable; who is the pre-eminent follower of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's line; who is known as 'Govinda'—Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj; whose beautiful, effulgent, exalted form is infused with pure devotion; who is the Guru of the entire universe; and who is the giver of the seed of divine love for the Supreme Lord.

You are all fortunate because after Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama you came to Puri. This place is Jagannath's place, Sri Puri Dham. You know that Mahaprabhu chose Puri for His last Pastimes: antaranga lila (internal, intimate Pastimes). He stayed here for eighteen years. That is why I am paying obeisance to you all because you are very fortunate to do a parikrama of Sri Puri Dham.

When Mahaprabhu, and Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also, finished parikrama and the devotees were going to leave for Nabadwip Dham, they would pay obeisance to all the devotees saying, "You all are giving mercy to me because you are so fortunate: you have come and gone on the parikrama in Sri Puri Dham."

It was actually Mahaprabhu's order to the devotees: you know that all the devotees, led by Sivananda Sen and Nityananda Prabhu, would come here from Bengal, and Mahaprabhu told them, "প্রত্যব্দ আসিবে সবে গুণ্ডিচ দেখিতে, pratyabda asibe Gundicha dekhite." Mahaprabhu cannot say, "Come every year to see Me," so He said, "Come every year to see Gundicha."

Gundicha is the temple where Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra stay for seven days after the Ratha Yatra. Gundicha bari (the house of Gundicha) is nondifferent from Vrindavan, so if Puri is called Nilachal, Gundicha bari is called Sundarachal. The Ratha Yatra festival is a Pastime when the devotees take Jagannath to Vrindavan (Gundicha)—Krishna left Vrindavan, and all the gopis go to Mathura, Dvaraka, and take Him back to Vrindavan on this day.

Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself who comes as the Guru, the Acharya—He teaches us with His own example. Mahaprabhu takes the devotees to clean the Gundicha mandir because Krishna and all the Vraja gopis are coming there. So, Mahaprabhu, the combined form of Radha-Krishna, poses as Srimati Radharani in His antaranga lila (internal pastimes) and searches for Krishna: just as Radharani becomes mad for Krishna, so does Mahaprabhu. In that mood, He stayed in Gambhira and performed His Pastimes with Ramananda Ray and Svarup Damodar.

Every year when we go for the Ratha Yatra parikrama we also go to clean the Gundicha mandir. Gundicha Pastime is cleaning (marjan) the Gundicha mandir, temple. Mahaprabhu told the devotees at that time, "Let us see who can clean better—the one who collects more dust will feed all the devotees!" Everybody began to clean and even if all the dust they had collected was to be put together, still Mahaprabhu's heap was more. Mahaprabhu, Krishna Himself, was teaching everyone.

Another meaning of Gundicha marjan is cleaning the heart, and Mahaprabhu Himself was showing how to do it. At first He swept, then poured water, and then with His own cloth, uttariya, He washed the temple. He was showing how thoroughly you must clean your heart...

You may wonder what 'Gundicha' means. Gundicha Devi was the wife of King Indradyuma. She asked her husband, "Let Jagannath come to my house too," so the temple was eventually named after her.

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