Shri Jagannath Chetana and World Peace
Present day, the entire world is passing through a tense and chaotic stage, even worse than what was experienced during the two world wars. The present one is also a war; war between good and evil, sacrifice and greed, virtues and vices, tolerance and rigidity, religious co-existence and fundamentalism, traditional time tested values and quick gains and so on. The world is witnessing mind boggling scientific and industrial developments on one hand and on the other, there is a total chaos, confusion, terrorism, bloodshed and massacre in the name of caste, creed and boundaries of the nation. The industrialized society should have helped in preserving the human values and peaceful co-existence apart from providing the materialistic gains and achieve sustainable development, but it is not happening. Hence, this has resulted in disintegration of traditional society into nuclear household. In such a transitional phase, everybody is in quest of peace to get rid from this chaotic and unhealthy environment surrounding us.
Peace is a state of geo-political and social equilibrium, where by perfect understanding with full faith in each other, a sense of brotherhood, co-existence and mutual care prevails in the minds of all the people beyond the barriers of caste, creed, colour and religion. One may possibly think that the concept of peace and harmony is something which is very hypothetical or idealistic in nature.
Against such a social back drop, it is to be considered, how the world community can achieve peace? Here we can conceive and analyze that Sri Jagannath Chetana (Consciousness) which is regarded as the assimilation of all religion, philosophies, beliefs etc. can be considered to promote peace in world over, through its divergent thoughts, sending the messages of universal brotherhood, religious tolerance, equality, co-existence since the days of its inception.
Sri Jagannath Chetana to my mind is the most fascinating contribution to world peace and one of the most significant manifestations of human culture. Sri Jagannath Consciousness is so all pervading that it seems to have the capacity to provide nurture to all levels of human existence. Its history of assimilation and adjustment with different philosophies like tribalism, monism, dualism and polytheism give it a unique character incomparable to any system of thought and philosophy. The unity and assimilation of different traits in it should not be considered as a kind of alliance for convenience. This is a different phenomenon based on a particular type of socio-religious grown gradually.
The multifaceted culture of Lord Jagannath with its intricate ritual system vis-a-vis its work force and various aspects of tradition have attracted people from home and abroad to this place. The most fascinating festival of Lord Jagannath, Rath Yatra has now become a global festival being organized in more than ninety (90) countries which attracts multitude of visitors transcending all barriers of caste, creed and colour.
Another important factor, which can give a cue to the brotherliness and co-existence in Sri Jagannath Chetana, is partaking of Mahaprasad or the holy food of Lord Jagannath. It has a distinct contribution for social cohesion regardless of caste stigma. Through Mahaprasad, relationship is established with different groups and individuals.
Darshan of Lord Jagannath is the most pleasure-seeking activity for every individual. Sankaracharya has described Sri Jagannath as “Sahajananda Rupadhruk” meaning which gives easy pleasure to everyone. The Holy Trinity (Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra) preaches human fraternity. Lord Jagannath Himself, known as Purusottam, emanates a message to the world community to be a good man. Such message of Lord Jagannath should be widely propagated to establish brotherliness in present day torment-ridden and fabricated world community. He is the only panacea to establish world peace.
Pledge
In the name of Holy Trinity, let us pray for the well-being of the entire humanity and pledge to re-dedicate ourselves to work together whole heartedly for the noble cause of “World Peace & Harmony” and to promote “World Peace Culture” through wide propagation of “Sri Jagannath Consciousness” among the people of world over.
Manikarnika Sahi, Puri