Change in our attitude towards Karma leads to the divine.

Friday was Rukmini Haran Ekadashi, a very holy day celebrated in a grand way at Lord Jagannath Temple, Puri attracting thousands of devotees. The festival showcases the wedding ceremony of Lord Krishna (Lord Jagannath is considered as the living incarnation of Lord Krishna in this era) and Goddess Rukmani is considered to be the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi. The temple gets decorated in a very grand way, full of natural flowers and decorative and like our marriage ceremony, people are given free food by the Lord, more than fifty thousand people eating there . Mobiles and Cameras are not allowed inside, otherwise, I could have shown you how grand a marriage can be - on this occasion, everything gifted by devotees - after all it's the Lord's marriage.

We never visited the temple on this occasion, to avoid huge crowd, but Mom wanted to go and see this occasion once in her life time. I always have considered my duty towards my parents as my first priority - they are my living God. But this was something beyond duty - I was concerned about her safety, because the inside is always a stampede like situation in such days. There were more than hundred thousand people on that day and the temple got closed for five hours for preparation for the celebration, so that made the situation even worse. Finally I surrendered against her desire and decided to do my duty accepting any challenge that would come, leaving everything to the divine. We have a very strong belief about the Lord Jagannath Temple - unless he calls, one can never go and meet him. Probably this was his call to her - oh Lord, I am taking her, you will have to take care of the rest.

Called one of my friend, who works inside the temple, and after hearing Mom's strong desire, he advised to go late in the night - the rituals were running late by 4 hrs. But how do we manage to go to the temple ? It's far from the parking place, and she can't walk that much as public vehicles won't be available late night. Roaming around the temple itself is a big challenge, as its a huge place. The Lord reminded me about another friend who could help and what happened next was beyond my imagination.

He extended all kind of help - come and park in the protocol parking, an electric vehicle will directly take you near the temple. the driver will wait for you. And from there another person guided us taking inside the temple. The queue inside the temple had more than five thousand people, so we requested the police in another exit path to allow her, considering her age. That was also granted and finally we were in front of the Lord - I was impressed how the Lord made everything possible - all I did was my duty and he really took care of the rest.

The place where the marriage ceremony was being celebrated, was severely crowded with a very small entrance. On the first occasion we waited for more than a hour but still could not dare to go in. However, second time, the Lord seemed to listen to her prayers - Lord Krishna and Goddess Rukmini's appearance in small deities was, in fact once in a life time view, with Goddess Rukmini's face intentionally hidden behind the saree - like a newly wedded bride in our marriage. Mom was overwhelmed to experience this rare event - once in life time.

Coming back another incidence happened in Goddess Laxmi's temple that I will remember forever. For the very first time in life, I lost the car key and I realized only after coming out, as we thought about our return. I felt very desperate as finding the key was almost impossible in such crowd, and I went back to the temple, asking the security person if anyone given him a car key. To my surprise, he pointed me to the place where the key was kept - is this the one ? There cannot be anything more that we could have asked that day - these incidences let us feel the divine presence. I wished him Jay Jagannath and extended my gratitude to the Lord - so you want me to realize your presence - I know as I am seeing your magic since evening!!

It was 1 pm when we came out of the temple after eating Mahaprasad, and there was no means of going back to the parking area other than walking. People were sleeping on the road, some waiting to return, some waiting to see the grand wedding procession that would happen at the end - their devotion towards the Lord is commendable. Mom was very exhausted already, so I called my friend, if he could arrange any help and to my surprise, he was standing nearby - wait I am coming, I was just about to leave. I usually leave before 11 pm, but due to some situations I had to stay.

I was feeling like this also was scripted by the Lord - he arranged the means to send us to the parking area. We enjoyed the long drive back as the road was almost empty - this will be a memorable day of life.

Before wrapping up this post, I must mention how Bhagavad Gita also gives priority to Karma, to perform our duties without getting attached to the results, leading to the way to achieve self-realization and feel the Divine.

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |

मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ||

BG 2.47: You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.

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Remember, if you do good, then Good is going to come back to you - serve with a selfless attitude, it will purify your heart and help you find inner peace and freedom from sufferings.

This post in in response to this week's creative nonfiction prompt

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