Jagannath was the deity of
Viswavasu,the Savara Chief.But that is not the beginning.Viswavasu was the Jara
Savara of the Dwapara age.This Jara Savara was also Angada in the Treteya
age,the son of the Banara King Bali,a devotee of Sri Rama and an outstanding
military chief in the Lanka was of the Ramayana.When Sri Rama wanted to reward
his military chiefs and follower, with boons,Angada said,"My Lord,if You must
grant me a boon,May I take revenge of my father's murder and yet remain your
devotee?".This same Angada,in the form of Jara Savara,was waiting as
ordained,on the sea shore of Dwaraka. After the destruction of Jadu
Dynasty,when Sri Krishna was lying down on a bed of creepers the unfailing
arrow of Jara Savara hit His blood-red feet which looked like the ears of a
deer,and this marked the passing away of the great avatar of Vishnu from earth.
His moral body did not burn.A piece
of bone tied to the branch of a tree was thrown into the sea which,after
thousands of years,reached the eastern shores.Viswavasu carried this and
worshipped it as Nilamadhava. The Aryans attempted to own this Savara God,and
the symbol of this Aryan attept is King Indradyumna.Who is this Indradyumna?He
does not appear in history.The Skanda Purana says that he was the king of
Malava.Archeologists have discovered an old fort near Monghyr in Bihar,which is
called Indradyumna Fort.It is said that King Indradyumna ruled from
there.Whoever he was,he sent Vidyapati to search for Nilamadhava.Vidyapati got
Viswavasu,but did not get Nilamadhava.He fell in love with Viswavasu's daughter
and with her help found Nilamadhava.
Indradyumna attacked the Savara
settlement with his army.Viswavasu was defeated. But the Lord of the great
devotee disappeared. Indradyumna, overwhelmed with grief, lay prostrate for twenty
one days.Then he was told in a dream,"Go and fetch the Daru(log of wood) which
is lying on the shores of Puri.Carve it into an idol and worship it.".
This was not the end of Indradyumna's
or deals.There was another dream which said that it would not be possible to
lift the Daru without the help of Viswavasu.
Jagannath was then the God of the
Savaras and even now,the Daitas who are among His Sevakas are the descendents
of the Savara tribe.The deities are in charge of the daitas from the day of
Snana Purnima to the Ratha Yatra day.None else has the right to serve the
deities during his period. Though the Aryans owned the God of the Savaras,the
right of the Savaras to serve Him was retained.The Lord turned into
patitapabana,the God of Viswavasu,the tribal,and the god of Dasia Bauri(Dasia
the man of low caste).
