1978 Calcutta True Rath Story - Episode 14

Episode 14:  Maya's Attack! Feeling Helpless & Thoroughly Defeated!

“Outside the garden, when it was time to pull Jagannatha's car, all the workers called gaudas tried to pull it, but it would not move forward. 47 When the gaudas saw that they could not budge the car, they abandoned the attempt. Then the King arrived in great anxiety, and he was accompanied by his officers and friends.48 The King then arranged for big wrestlers to try to pull the car, and even the King himself joined in, but the cart could not be moved.49 Becoming even more anxious to move the car, the King had very strong elephants brought forth and harnessed to it.50 The strong elephants pulled with all their strength, but still the cart remained at a standstill, not budging an inch.51” -Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya Lila Chapter 14 “Performance of the Vrindaban Passtimes”, Text28-29

Then just as fast as the three ton huge 7ft wheeled Rath leaped forward... it all came to such a sudden and completely unexplained halt that it nearly threw the devotees on the front side of the cart over the bow right into the street! What the...? What happened? It was as if Lord Jagannatha Himself had now mystically become the most unmovable force in the Universe. The kirtan roared on, but the cart was had come to an abrupt stop and was now completely still!.  

I could not make any sense out of it. The crowds continued to frantically pull on the ropes now even with greater determination to pull the cart forward then ever before. Yup. These Bengallies were pulling on the ropes with all their efforts muscles bulging and eyes popping in an attempt to get the cart rolling again... but it would not move. The wheels would not roll forward even a few inches. It was 100% completely dead still. My heart was racing and my mind was searching for an answer. What happened? What went wrong? I needed to know what magical force was now keeping the cart from moving? Oh my golly! This Krishna Consciousness movement was so much more then I could have ever imagined it would be. What was going on now?

 I immediately started to frantically look for what had happened. Whatever it was I felt it was some type of strange blessing. A reprieve on the terrible disaster that I felt was certainly looming at the turn at the end of the street. So I took advantage of whatever it was that was keeping the cart from moving to try and get things back under control. I shouted out to the all the devotees still frantically pulling on the ropes with more determination than ever to STOP, Bandh Karo! Halt! Ruk Jao! At that moment I didn't want the cart to go anywhere until I knew what had caused it to stop so unexpectedly and effectively. 

Everything looked okay but we were not moving despite what was obviously a huge amount of torque coming from the best of Bengals vibrant youth. I wanted to see if any damage had been done and figure out what had happened. However my shouts were feeble and meaningless to the ocean of Bengali testosterone that continued to try and pull the cart forward with all their might to overcome whatever had apparently locked the wheels. My eyes were shooting everywhere in fear that maybe somebody fell under a wheel, but that would not stop the cart dead so effectively. It might kill that person, but the cart would continue to roll.

Nothing appeared to be under the wheels nor had we smashed into a car or any other large object in the street. I continued to shout vainly in a futile attempt to get everyone to stop pulling while I kept searching for what had happened. As I did I literally watched the prime of Bengali testosterone torque the thick iron front axle completely out of shape right in front of my eyes. They had pulled so much that they twisted the connecting piece of steel which had been welded to extend the axle out to 12 feet. The end result was the two front wheels were now pinched in towards each other so much so that they could not possibly roll forward nicely in tandem. We now had the equivalent to a mega sized grocery cart with front wheels that are so mangled it is so impossible to roll that customers leave it aside and just get a different cart to shop with.

In less than 40 feet the whole front end of the Rath cart had been mangled so badly there was no way the parade could go on. I finally diagnosed that because the cart had not been directed towards the center of the street it drifted to into the very large curb on the right side of the street. It came into that obstacle at such an oblique angle that it was impossible for even the 7 ft wheel to roll over it. In stead at that point the right front wheel got so tightly wedged into a pinch that it forced the whole cart to come to a complete unexpected stop. Because the left wheel was still free to roll the crowd was literally able to twist the massive axle the same way a janitor wrings out a mop.

This was one of the few rare times in my life that I absolutely did not know what to do. Everyone was still yelling, the police were shouting to keep the parade moving along while the devotees were all firing questions at me to find out what was wrong. Meanwhile the Calcutta locals were having their own volley of comments while the Kirtan played on not realizing the full scope of what had happened. Jai Jagannatha Swami! My world had completely caved in and it was one of those rare times in my life that I absolutely had no idea what to do next. What I did know was there was no way this Ratha-yatra cart was going to go anywhere because the front axle had been damaged way beyond any quick fix or simple repair.

I was not feeling any Jai, bliss, or self-satisfaction in any way. As far as I was concerned atma-rama was a country in Africa where people starved and life sucked. I felt like my head was starting to melt down again and the whole word was getting blacker, although this time it was not Malaria induced but emotional induced. I had labored for three months in 90 degree heat to bring Ratha-yatra to the people of Calcutta and in less than ten minutes it was all over. Now I was the first to know it and I had to tell everyone else this terrible news. The cart was done and there could not be a parade using the big Rath cart because it now had a front axle that looked like it was in a train wreck leaving the front wheels cross-eyed.

For more details E-mail at : mdjagdasa@gmail.com
  
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