Lord Jagannath’s Scars for Balaram Das | A Divine Leela

Among the Panchasakha (the five friends/saints of the Bhakti movement in Odisha), the great soul Matta Balaram Das was one of the foremost. He was the crest-jewel of devotees, a supremely accomplished and great saint from the soil of Odisha, who considered Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath his everything and had completely surrendered himself at His divine lotus feet. He was affectionately known as Balaram Gosain.

The story goes that during one of the night’s watches, he and Lord Shri Jagannath were stealing and eating jackfruit together. Dase (a respectful term for Balaram Das) was caught, beaten, and put in jail. Afterwards, Lord Jagannath appeared in a dream to the Gajapati King and commanded him to release Balaram Das.

Finally, in the Bada Deula (the Great Temple), Balaram Dase, full of affectionate scorn and a sense of hurt (abhimana), began to scold the Mahaprabhu. The Mahaprabhu then appeared before him and said, “Dase, you are my very life. When you are beaten, how could I possibly bear it? Look at my back.”

When Dase lifted the Lord’s pitambari (yellow silk garment), he saw that His divine body was blood-red. From the beating and the blows, the Lord’s back was torn and crimson with blood!

“Forgive me, Lord, forgive me!” Streams of tears flowed from Balaram Das’s eyes as he fell at the Lord’s lotus feet, exclaiming, “How much pain you have endured for this lowly one!”

Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath lifted him up and embraced him.

Your devotee’s life and Yours are one. For the sake of the devotee, You bear the divine marks of the conch and discus. ❤️

Bring home the sacred story of the Lord’s divine sacrifice.