36 - Juggernaut

Summary

The podcast 'Stories from India' narrates the mythical tale of Lord Krishna's heart, which, after his death, turned into a divine blue stone. The stone, bound to a log, drifted from the Arabian Sea to Odisha's shores, where it brought miracles to a group of unfortunate tourists. The local village began to worship it, but a king's curiosity led to its disappearance. The story continues with the king building a temple around the log and an old carpenter's attempt to carve divine idols from it, which remain unfinished to this day, reflecting the tale's themes of curiosity, reverence, and the divine.

Takeaways

• 🎵 The podcast 'Stories from India' explores myths, legends, and folk tales from India, hosted by Narad Monei, a mythological character with eternal life and knowledge of the past, present, and future.
• 🌊 In a previous episode, Narad Monei corrected a mistake about Mount Kailasa's location, clarifying it is in the Kash range, not the Himalayas.
• 🐀 The episode discusses the story behind the Rath Yatra, a festival that usually takes place on a Tuesday, emphasizing the importance of curiosity and the consequences of meddling with divine matters.
• 🌊 The story begins with Lord Krishna's death and his instructions to his brother Balaram, who bound Krishna's heart to a log of wood and set it adrift in the Arabian Sea.
• 🌊 The log, with Krishna's heart, eventually becomes a brilliant blue stone after drifting across the ocean for millennia, landing on a beach in Odisha, near Puri.
• 🌦️ A group of tourists from a nearby village, who had a terrible day due to a thunderstorm and other mishaps, discovered the log and the blue stone on the beach.
• 🌈 The moment the village chief picked up the stone, miraculous changes occurred: the rain stopped, the sun came out, and nature seemed to celebrate.
• 🏺 The villagers decided to worship the stone, keeping it in a secret location to avoid it being taken away by anyone who knew of its power.
• 👑 The king eventually learned about the stone and sent a spy to find it. The spy married the village chief's daughter and tricked the chief into revealing the stone's location.
• 🌳 The king built a temple around the log when he couldn't possess the stone, which is known today as the Jagannath Temple in Puri.
• 🛠️ A carpenter was hired to carve the log into idols, but he vanished after the king's curiosity led him to interrupt the carpenter's work, leaving unfinished idols that are now worshipped.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the podcast 'Stories from India'?

The podcast 'Stories from India' focuses on discussing myths, legends, and folk tales from India.

Who is the host of the podcast 'Stories from India'?

The host of the podcast is Narad Mone, a mythological character with the gift of eternal life and knowledge of the past, present, and future.

What is the significance of Mount Kyash in the context of the podcast episode?

Mount Kyash is mentioned as a correction in the podcast; it is not in the Himalayas but in the Kash range, which lies beyond the Himalayas.

What is the story behind the Rat Yatra explored in the episode?

The story behind the Rat Yatra involves Lord Krishna's heart, which was bound to a log of wood and set adrift in the Arabian Sea, eventually becoming a divine blue stone after many years.

Why did Lord Krishna instruct his brother Balram to bind his heart to a log of wood?

Lord Krishna left specific instructions for Balram to bind his heart to a log of wood and set it adrift in the Arabian Sea as part of his funeral rites.

How did the divine heart of Lord Krishna transform over time?

The divine heart of Lord Krishna transformed into a brilliant blue-colored stone after being bound to a log and exposed to the ocean for thousands of years.

What miraculous event occurred when the village chief picked up the blue stone from the log?

When the village chief picked up the blue stone, the rain stopped, the sun came out, a rainbow appeared, birds sang, dolphins jumped, and coconuts fell from the trees, indicating the divine nature of the stone.

Why did the villagers decide to worship the blue stone?

The villagers decided to worship the blue stone because of the miraculous change in weather and the stone's divine nature when it was discovered.

What is the significance of the mustard seeds in the story of the spy and the village chief's daughter?

The mustard seeds were used by the spy to mark the path to the stone, allowing him to lead the king and his army to its location later.

What did the king do with the log of wood after the divine stone vanished?

The king built a big temple around the log of wood, known today as the Jagat Temple in Puri, after the divine stone vanished.

Why do the idols at the Jagat Temple appear unfinished?

The idols at the Jagat Temple appear unfinished because the carpenter, who was carving them from the log, vanished before completing the work, leaving behind four idols of Krishna, Balram, and Subhadra.

What is the connection between the English word 'juggernaut' and the Rat Yatra festival?

The English word 'juggernaut' originated from the Rat Yatra festival, which begins at the Jagat Temple, reflecting the immense size and impact of the festival.

Why is the Rat Yatra festival unique in terms of its tradition?

The Rat Yatra festival is unique because it involves a king sweeping the path of the Chariot with a golden broom, symbolizing the gap between being a God and a mere King, and the idols of the deities temporarily leave the temple during the procession.

Outlines

00:00

🎵 Introduction and Clarifications

The host, Narad Monei, introduces 'Stories from India,' a podcast about myths, legends, and folk tales. Narad, a mythological character with eternal life and omniscience, corrects an error from a previous episode about Mount Kyash's location. He previews the episode's content, which includes the story behind the Rath Yatra, a cautionary tale about curiosity, and a miraculous drifting log.

05:02

🌧️ Tourists Discover a Miracle

A group of tourists from Gujarat, plagued by a series of unfortunate events, discover a miraculous blue stone attached to a log on a beach in Odisha. The moment the village chief picks up the stone, the weather clears, and miraculous events occur, such as dolphins leaping and coconuts rolling to their feet. A man with ice cream also appears, reinforcing the stone's divine nature. The villagers decide to worship the stone secretly, fearing the king would want it for himself.

10:04

👑 The King's Dream and the Vanishing Stone

The king learns about the divine stone and sends a spy to locate it. The spy uses mustard seeds to mark the path to the stone. When the king tries to take the stone, it vanishes. Krishna appears to the king in a dream, explaining the stone's significance and directing him to the log it was bound to. The king builds a temple around the log, leading to the creation of the Jagannath Temple in Puri. A mysterious carpenter appears to carve the log into idols but vanishes before completing his work, leaving the idols unfinished.

15:04

🛕 The Rath Yatra Festival

The Rath Yatra festival in Puri involves a grand chariot procession of the deities, including Krishna, Balarama, Subhadra, and the Sudarshana Chakra. Despite logistical challenges due to the pandemic, the festival's history and significance are highlighted. The idols' unique appearances and the festival's traditions, such as the king sweeping the chariot's path with a golden broom, are detailed. The episode concludes with a preview of next week's character, a cousin of Krishna from the Mahabharata, and a call for listener feedback.

Keywords

💡Narad Muni

Narad Muni is a mythological character in Hindu mythology known for his eternal life and omniscience. In the script, he is the host of the podcast 'Stories from India,' embodying the role of a storyteller and musician, which is central to the theme of sharing myths and legends.

💡Rat Yatra

Rat Yatra, also known as the Chariot Festival, is an annual event in Puri, Odisha, and Gujarat, India. It is mentioned in the script as the largest Chariot procession in the world, illustrating the cultural significance and the scale of the event in the context of Indian traditions.

💡Krishna

Krishna is a major deity in Hinduism, known for his life accomplishments and divine nature. In the script, Krishna's death and the instructions given by him for his heart's disposal are pivotal to the story, highlighting the divine elements and the reverence for Krishna.

💡Balam

Balam, or Balarama, is Krishna's elder brother mentioned in the script. He is significant as he follows Krishna's instructions to bind the divine heart to a log, demonstrating the theme of devotion and adherence to divine will.

💡Mustard Seeds

Mustard seeds are used in the script as a clever tool by a spy to mark a trail to the divine stone. This element illustrates the ingenuity and the lengths people will go to in pursuit of the divine, even if it involves deception.

💡Jagannath Temple

The Jagannath Temple in Puri is the central location for the worship of the divine log and the idols carved from it. The script describes the temple's construction and its significance, tying it to the theme of divine presence and worship in Hindu tradition.

💡Carpenter

The carpenter in the script is an old man who volunteers to carve the divine log into idols. His character represents the theme of craftsmanship and divine intervention, as he mysteriously disappears after the king's intrusion, leaving the idols unfinished.

💡Idols

Idols in the script refer to the representations of Krishna, Balarama, and Subhadra, carved from the divine log. They are significant as they become the objects of worship in the Jagannath Temple, symbolizing the tangible connection between the divine and the devotees.

💡Sasan Chakra

The Sasan Chakra is Krishna's special weapon mentioned in the script, which is also represented as an idol. It signifies the divine power and the unique aspects of Krishna's character, adding depth to the narrative of the divine idols.

💡Jaggernaut

The term 'Jaggernaut' originates from the Rat Yatra and is associated with the immense size and power of the procession. In the script, it is used to describe the cultural impact and the overwhelming nature of the event, tying it to the broader theme of Indian mythology and tradition.

Highlights

Introduction to 'Stories from India' podcast, hosted by Narad Moneii, a mythological character with eternal life and knowledge of past, present, and future.

Correction of a previous episode's mistake regarding the location of Mount Kyash, clarifying it is in the Kash range beyond the Himalayas.

Exploration of the story behind the Rath Yatra, a significant event that took place on a Tuesday, emphasizing the importance of curiosity and the consequences of interfering with an artist's work.

The tale of Lord Krishna's death and the specific instructions he left for his elder brother Balram, including the unique method of his heart's disposal.

The miraculous journey of Krishna's heart, bound to a log, across the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal, highlighting the divine nature of the heart.

The transformation of Krishna's heart into a brilliant blue stone after millennia, symbolizing its divine and preserved state.

The discovery of the blue stone by a group of tourists having a terrible day, leading to a sudden and miraculous change in their fortunes.

The villagers' decision to worship the divine stone and their efforts to keep its location secret from potential thieves and the king.

The king's discovery of the stone through a spy who marries the village chief's daughter and uses mustard seeds to mark the stone's location.

The king's failed attempt to seize the stone, which vanishes in a puff of smoke, leaving him disappointed and without the divine artifact.

The king's dream, orchestrated by Krishna, revealing the true nature of the stone and instructing him to visit the beach where the log was found.

The construction of the Jagannath Temple in Puri around the log, as a means for the king to honor the divine presence even without the stone.

The arrival of an old carpenter who volunteers to carve the log into idols of Krishna, Balram, and Subhadra, requesting solitude for 21 days.

The king's curiosity leading to the disruption of the carpenter's work, resulting in the disappearance of the carpenter and the unfinished idols.

The significance of the Rath Yatra festival, its annual occurrence, and its status as the world's largest chariot procession, with the exception of the current year due to COVID-19.

The tradition of the king sweeping the path of the chariot with a golden broom, symbolizing the divine status of the idols over the king.

The unique feature of the Rath Yatra where the idols leave the temple temporarily, and the significance of the four idols, including Krishna's special weapon, the Sudarshana Chakra.

The origin of the English word 'juggernaut' from the Rath Yatra, and its connection to the Jagannath Temple.

The podcast's closing remarks, including a preview of the next episode's character and an invitation for listener engagement and support.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

hello and welcome to stories from India

a podcast where we talk about myths

Legends and folk tales from

India I'm your host narad monei and I'm

a mythological character

myself I have the gift of eternal life

and knowledge of the past the present

and the

future by profession I'm a traveling

musician and a Storyteller so the way

I'm doing my job is by

podcast though I have perfect knowledge

I sometimes have an imperfect recall

mechanism on the N the mini episode I

incorrectly said that mount kyash is in

the Himalayas

actually it's in a mountain range called

the Kash range that lies beyond the

Himalayas in this episode we'll explore

the story behind the rat

yatra which would have taken place this

Tuesday we'll learn why you should keep

your curiosity in check especially if

you've got an excellent artist working

for

you we'll also learn that it's possible

for a drifting log of wood to float all

the way from the Arabian Sea to the Bay

of

Bengal so let's Dive In Our Story begins

on a dark day very far from

Puri in

dwara in the state of

Gujarat Lord Krishna had passed

away he had accomplished a lot in his

life as we'll discover when we get to

the Mahabharat episodes

krishna's death though sad was one he

had himself

predicted he had left some very specific

instructions for balam his elder

brother and those

instructions included

surgery when Krishna was cremated balam

kept the

heart following his brother's wishes he

bound Krishna heart to a log of wood and

set it a drift in the Arabian

Sea it took a few tries to get this

right as you can

imagine instead of studying the

intricate details of ocean currents to

understand how a log could end up in the

sea on the other side of India let us

simply skip forward a few

Millennia the heart was still bound to

the

log balam had done a very effective job

but what state was it in did thousands

of years of saltwater exposure wear it

away did the Sharks and other fish try

to nibble at

it were there Barnacles on

it or was it perfectly preserved like

the Beating Heart of Davey Jones in the

Pirates of the Caribbean

movies the answer is none of the above

we are talking about a Divine heart here

not an ordinary

one The Heart had become a brilliant

blue colored

Stone after effectively following many

different ocean currents and sailing the

world the log and the Heart finally

landed on a beach in odisha near

Puri it was not a crowded beach in fact

there was no one else there

but soon a group of people

arrived they were tourists from a nearby

Village and they'd been having the most

awful

day they had left their Village excited

for a day of

fun they wanted to go sightseeing in

town eat some dinner watch a stage

show but this was not to

be they had expected sunny weather

and had picked an open top Bullock

card but the moment they began their

Journey there was a sudden

thunderstorm and it left them soaking

wet what's more a wheel came off the

cart and they had to work to get the

spare wheel fitted on in the Heavy

Rain the spare wheel was the wrong

size and that resulted in a very wobbly

ride they had forgotten to bring their

packed lunch so they hadn't even had a

bite to

eat a little girl in the group suggested

that they take a detour to their Beach

nearby they couldn't Shelter From the

rain but maybe there were coconut trees

at least they might be able to eat and

drink the village Chief who was in the

group liked the idea

and there were coconut

trees but the rain had made it all

slippery and they couldn't reach any of

the

Coconuts could the day get any

worse as it turned out no it was only

going to get

better someone in the group noticed a

huge log of wood on the beach and a

strange blue stone attached to it

they went closer and the chief picked up

the

stone yeah just like that all those

thousands of years the stone and the log

were bound tightly and yet the chief was

able to effortlessly pick the stone off

of the

log the moment he did there was a

miraculous

change the rain stopped and the sun was

out there was a beautiful rainbow birds

were singing Dolphins were jumping out

of the water as if celebrating

something the coconut trees bent and

swayed and a few of the ripest Coconuts

broke off and gently rolled to a stop

near the tourist

feet a man appeared out of nowhere

pulling an ice

cooler and explained that the cooler had

broken and rather than waste all the ice

cream inside

would they kindly help him by eating all

of it he didn't want it to go to

waste well that settled it this Stone

was divine and from this day their

Village would worship

it they would also keep it in a secret

location anyone who knew the power of

the stone was certainly going to try to

take it

away then their king would want it for

himself but despite their best

precautions the king did hear about it

through the C driver's

Network the king immediately sent down a

spy to find out where the stone

was this may remind you of episode 27

the rise of

shukra kacha was sent as a spy to learn

the secret of the the Sanji Mantra from

shukracharya much like kacha the Spy

romanced The Village Chief's

daughter but unlike Kut he married the

daughter the Spy persuaded his new

father-in-law to let him pay respects to

the stone that everyone in the village

except for himself knew

about the chief was hesitant because his

son-in-law was an outside

true he had had a background check and

those official looking government

documents looked

real but that didn't mean a thing if the

boy was a government

spy he finally agreed to take his

son-in-law to the

stone but on condition that he come

along

blindfolded

blindfolding is not a spy proof

solution in fact the first thing they

taught in the king's spy school was how

to work around

this even the little boy in the Hansel

and grle fairy tale knew how to deal

with

this the Spy grabbed a handful of

mustard seeds and on a journey to the

stone scattered them along the

Route mustard seeds are very tiny and

hardly

noticeable the chief did not suspect

anything

they paid respects to the stone and went

back

home all was well until about a month

later because that is the time it takes

for mustard seeds to sprout grow and

flour the Spy had no hesitation in

betraying his wife and her

father he let the king and the King's

Army along the trail of the bright new

yellow mustard flowers

luckily for him the path to the stone

did not pass through a mustard

field the King was amazed by the

Brilliance of the

stone however when he reached out his

hand to grab it there was a sudden puff

of smoke and the idol vanished and was

not seen

again the king had his soldiers secure a

perimeter and search the area

but there was no sign of the

stone and no person behind any curtain

who had pulled off such a

trick the King was

disappointed he had no choice but to go

back that night he had a

dream not his own dream but one that was

engineered by

Krishna Krishna explained to to him in

the dream what the stone

was he also asked the king to go to a

specific place on the

beach the same one where the stone had

been

found the next day armed with San lotion

and a beach umbrella the king went to

the

beach as he looked at the huge log of

wood he understood why Krishna had asked

him to visit this

place this was the very log that the

heart had sailed on all the way from

dwara if the king wasn't going to have

the stone he would have the

log he built a big Temple around the

log and this is known to us today as the

jagat temple in

Puri but a temple to worship just a log

of wood left the first few visitors a

little bit puzzled

they weren't sure whom they were praying

to the King was deep in thought trying

to decide the next steps here when a

carpenter showed up at his

doorstep the carpenter was a very old

looking

fellow he volunteered to carve the log

into

Idols he came with the best of

references and his website had great

testimonials the king picked him on the

spot the carpenter just had one minor

request a mere nothing you may

say all he wanted was to be left alone

with the log for 21

days the king agreed without thinking

too much about

it the carpenter worked in a locked

studio and the King had no way of

monitoring

progress strangely

the carpenter was also not receiving any

food or water in a

studio on the 15th day the king could

not hold back his curiosity any

longer he could barge in and say that he

was just worried about The Carpenter's

Health at his age not eating or drinking

for two weeks how was he

managing the king did

that but the moment he did the carpenter

vanished Into Thin

Air much like the stone had

done there were actually Four Idols in

progress that's why the idols even today

look

unfinished they have no arms or legs the

shape isn't symmetric

either there was enough progress on the

wooden Idols though to tell them that

they were meant to be be Krishna balam

and

subadra the idols that you would see

today at the jagat temple are replicas

of the original Idols that the carpenter

left

unfinished that's all for now some notes

on the show ocean currents show that

it's not easy for something to drift

from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of

Bengal it can take centuries of drift

across a very complicated path for this

to

happen this rat yatra or Chariot

procession happens annually in Puri in

the state of

odisha as well as in

Gujarat it said to be the largest

Chariot procession in the

world except for this

year because it's going to be

skipped the number of people who gather

for this yatra is enor

enormous and if you see some of the

pictures that I've linked on the site

you'll understand why it can be such a

logistical challenge to do this in the

age of

CO as part of tradition a king sweeps

the path of the Chariot with a golden

broom a largely symbolic move to

illustrate the gap between being a God

and being a mere

King this is also a unique Festival in

that the Idols leave the temple for a

little

while there are four Idols carved out of

the

log three of them are the siblings

Krishna balam and

subhadra but the fourth one is krishna's

special

weapon a slicing wheel called the sashan

chakra the colors of the log Idols are

different as well with the black one

representing Krishna

the white one bam and the yellow one

subhadra the English word

jaggernaut originated from this rat

yatra which begins at the jagat

temple we've previously met subadra as

the character of the week in episode 6

fish

Highwaymen that's all for this week the

character next week is a cousin of

Krishna from the

Mahabharat who was born with three eyes

and four

hands he also had a 100 get out of jail

free cards and yet he used up all of

them if you have comments or suggestions

please leave a comment or a review on

the site sfip podcast.com or tweet at

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I'll see you

[Music]

later