By Niraj Bidawatka
Day before yesterday the Supreme Court of India asked the Jagannath Temple authorities to consider allowing entry to everyone. After this interim observation, there is hope of a favourable order from the Apex Court when it hears the matter finally next month.
Lord Jagannath’s Temple at Puri, India
Since the temple authorities of Lord Jagannath Temple at Puri did not allow Prabhupada’s American and European disciples to enter the temple, Srila Prabhupada also decided not to enter the temple. His Divine Grace spoke to the authorities that this type of a stricture is against the Vedic principles and urged them to abolish this practice. But the authorities did not relent. Therefore Prabhupada also never entered Lord Jagannath temple.
In our Hare Krishna movement, there are millions of American, European, African, Russian, Chinese and Japanese devotees around the world who are denied entry into the Jagannath Temple at Puri, simply because they possess a white body or a black body or a non-Indian body. This is extremely unfair.
Therefore in order to give darshan to such devotees, Lord Jagannath personally comes out of the Temple on Rath Yatra day. (Darshan is a hindi word which means “to see”)
Haridas Thakur, who was designated by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as Nāmachārya, the teacher of the holy name of Krishna, chanted the holy name of Krishna 300,000 times a day.
But he was also not allowed to enter the Jagannath Temple because he was a Muslim by birth.
Therefore, everyday Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used personally bring Lord Jagannath’s prasada for Haridas Thakur. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Jagannath Himself.
When the authorities do not allow devotees to enter, Lord Jagannath Himself comes out of the temple to meet His devotees.
All glories to Lord Jagannath.
The Hare Krishna Revolution 
Since the lord himself comes out to meet his Bhaktas, what need is there to change an established rule just because mleccha ISKCON members want it to be changed? What kind of surrender to the Lord’s will is this? Surely they don’t claim to be better that Sripad Haridas Thakur who humbly accepted the judgement of the temple authorities???
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Dear Aryan Paladin,
You have rightly called us, ISKCON members, as mlecchas. We, ISKCON members are indeed mlecchas. But you forgot to call us yavanas. We are both mlecchas and yavanas. Mleccha means unclean and yavana means meat-eater. Mlecchas and yavanas are low-class people who eat meat, are unclean and do not follow Vedic culture. So we ISKCON members were indeed born as mlecchas and yavanas but all our members have given up our unclean habits, including eating meat, drinking wine, etc. and have embraced the path of Vaishnavism. Thus they are on the progressive path towards the abode of Lord Krishna.
I think it is better to be born as a mleccha and take up the path of Krishna consciousness rather than be born in a high-class cultured family and degrade oneself by drinking wine, eating meat and enjoying illicit sex.
We take shelter of Lord Jagannath precisely because we are mlecchas and because Lord Jagannath is especially favourable and merciful to such low-class persons.
Srila Prabhupada states as under:
“So Jagannatha is another feature of Krishna, and He is especially favorable to the people who are not strictly advanced to the Brahminical culture of Vedic rituals. Lord Jagannatha is situated in India, at Puri; this place is one of the towns of Orissa province. And the people of Orissa and Bengal, they are sometimes fish-eaters, why sometimes—about 90% population they are fish-eaters. But Jagannatha Swami in Puri, He accepts service from these people although they are sometimes fish-eaters. So in the Kali yuga, the people are supposed to be not so clean, and therefore, service to Jagannatha Swami is preferred. So far service to Laksmi-Narayana, and Radha Krishna, it requires highly elevated position, transcendental to Brahmins. But still, either we serve Jagannatha or Radha Krishna, the effect is the same.” [Letter dated 24th August, 1968 to Nandarani and Dayananda]
I hope you will bestow your good wishes and blessings upon us (ISKCON mlecchas) so that we may make steadfast progress on the path of Krishna consciousness.
Hare Krishna.
Yours truly,
Niraj Bidawatka, Editor
The Hare Krishna Revolution
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Division is not created by God, by humans only. Sanatan Dharm belongs to human race not Hindu. Hindu word is only 1000 year so old, but Sanatan dharm was spoken by Lord Krishna to Surya dev then passed down to Manu. May God bless you with eye to see things as they are.
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