Rath Yatra - the Grand Festival of Chariots celebrates the return of Lord Krishna (Jagannath) along with His brother and sister (Balarama and Subhadra) to Vrindavan, the sacred place of the pastimes of His youth.
The Significance of the Rath Yatra Festival can be understood as follows:
The Katha Upanishad (1.3.3-4) compares the human body to Ratha.
"Atmanam rathinam viddhi shareeram rathameva tu,
Buddhim tu sarathim viddhi manaha pragrahameva tu.
Indriyani hayanyahur vishayansteshu gocharan"
This means that:
The 'atman' is 'Rathi' - owner of the `chariot' - the body,
The intellect is the Sarathi - driver,
The mind is the rein,
The senses are the horses, and
The Panch Vishayas - material objects of the five senses - are the fields of pasture for the horses.
The person whose Sarathi - intellect - is wise, whose mind fully controls the senses, can traverse Samsara to reach the desired goal - the Lord's abode.
In Ramayana, Lord Ramachandra describes His chariot to Vibhishan, with which He is always victorious:
Courage and tenacity are wheels of the Ratha
Immutable truth and character are its flags,
Strength, discrimination, self-control and charity are the horses pulling the Ratha
Forgiveness, mercy and equanimity are the reins, and
Devotion to the Lord is its Sarathi.
With such a chariot one can surely traverse Samsara(Material Existence).
During Mahabharata War Lord Krishna became the Chariot Driver (Sarathi) of His devotee, Arjuna, leading him and the Pandavas to victory.
In the Bhagavad Gita (18.78) that, where there is Krishna and Arjuna, there's wealth, victory, power and immutable morality. This was borne out during the battle when the mighty warrior Bhishma vowed to kill Arjuna on the tenth day. Lord Krishna anxiously searched for Arjuna and found him asleep. Bewildered, Lord Krishna asked him how he could sleep with such a pledge looming over his life. To his astonishment Arjuna answered, "Because You are awake!"
The ultimate essence of the Ratha (chariot) stories is that the Jiva should unwarrantedly surrender to the supreme Sarathi - God or the God-realised Soul, if he wishes to successfully traverse the Yatra of life from Samsara.(Material Existence).
Personal Realisations:
Our life is like a yatra – a pilgrimage, a spiritual journey towards the Divine. Our body symbolises the rath or chariot, through which we embark on the journey towards serving and attaining eternal love of the Lordships. Though we live in this material body or ‘rath’, the bonafide shastras and acharyas advise us to surrender its control to the all-merciful Lord Purushottama. Thus, by sincerely following their instructions, we earn their blessings and eventually we are able to blissfully maneuver the Rath of our Lives and reach the jubiliant touchstone spiritual abode of the Supreme Lord.
Article by:
Meghna Choudhury
(H.G. Mathura Vasi Devi Dasi)
Life Coach | Spiritual Counselor | Author
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Very nice way of explaining Rath yatra...keep writing such beautiful informative articles and bliss us
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