A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed
This is a true story about a man called 'Bandhu Mohanty' who lived in a place called 'Jajpur', in the state of 'Kalinga', way back in the early sixteenth century. Jajpur, which now is a part of 'Orissa', holds great importance to the people of the state because of the religious impressions associated to it. The holy river 'Vaitarani' flows by its side. There are auspicious occasions when a dip in this river is considered as sacred as a dip in 'Ganga'. Jajpur is also the home to 'Devi Biraja'. Oriyas worship her as the most gracious goddess who takes away all their pains and miseries. The divine presence of the Devi makes this place a much celebrated 'Shakti Peeth'. Legend has it that when 'Lord Shiva' carried the remains of 'Devi Sati', her navel fell here. Even to the present day, Jajpur remains a spiritual and cultural focus of the state.
Now let us come back to our main story about Bandhu Mohanty who inspite of being poor, was an honest and religious person. He was a sincere devotee of 'Lord Jagannath' whom he always looked at as his best friend. Though we do not know his real name, we call him 'Bandhu' because of his friendship with Jagannath. In Oriya, Bandhu means a friend. Bandhu was landless and had no property of his own. They were a family of five, Bandhu, his wife, two young daughters and a son. The family was so poor that it lived on the mercy of the villagers, almost on alms. Yet, he had no worries as he had complete faith that his friend Jagannath is aware of his sufferings and will take away his woes and distresses the moment he will ask him to do so.
But the situation worsened even more and life became more painful when the rains failed miserably that year. The months of 'Ashadha' and 'Shravan' passed but there wasn't a single drop of rain. Without rainfall, the vast stretches of land could not be cultivated and hence, no harvest. Having no food to eat, people starved for days together. Those who could not survive the famine, succumbed to death. There was no end to the sufferings of people. There was hunger all around. There were more and more deaths. The scene of desolation and ruin was quite large every where. Bandhu was helpless as his wife and children had nothing to eat. While the family went without food for days, there wasn't much of anything Bandhu could do.
Bandhu's wife started losing all hopes as she watched her little ones starve. One day out of sheer agony she said to him, "You talk so much about your friend at 'Puri' who is not only rich but also kind and compassionate. Is he not supposed to help us in these tough times? How can I bear the sufferings of my children who have not taken anything for so many days? Let us not wait any further, let us go to your friend's place and ask for some help." The friend whom Bandhu referred to was none other than Lord Jagannath, but his wife could not realise who her husband was talking about. So she kept telling him to go to his place for help no matter whosoever he was. But Bandhu was not ready to bother his friend for his own interest and hence reluctant to go to him.
Finally he agreed to what his wife said as he found no other way to make the situation any better. Accordingly, the five of them started for Puri. He lifted his son onto his shoulder and held the hand of a daughter while his wife took the other daughter in her hands. They walked for four days to reach Puri, his friend's place. When they neared the temple of Lord Jagannath, it was already dark. The magnificent temple of the Lord was lighted with numerous bright lights and looked spectacular with its exhaustive magnificence and aura. But the 'Singha Dwaar' or the main entrance of the temple was jam-packed with visitants. While hundreds of people were getting in and coming out at the same time, the 'Pratiharis' of the temple were controlling the traffic. Their sacred canes were touching the heads of people who were passing through the gate. Bandhu and his family were eager to see the Lord but did not dare to cross the Singha Dwaar as they were in rags and shreds. The Pratiharis would not allow them in. So they offered their prayers to the Lord from outside and went on.
In order to take shelter for the night, they reached a place called 'Pejanala'. Every day a large quantity of rice is cooked at the temple for the Lord's 'Mahaprasad' and the gruel which is of no used is drained out and deposited at the Pejanala. Bandhu decided to spend the night there with his family. His wife asked, "You are so proud of your rich friend, then why have we come here instead of going to his place?" Bandhu repiled, “My friend has a lot of visitants to take care of tonight, so it would be better if we meet him tomorrow morning." They had walked a long distance to reach Puri and were very hungry. Bandhu brought some rice gruel from the Pejanala which his wife fed to the children. After feeding the children, he and his wife also took some of it and went to sleep. It was past mid-night, an awful muteness had diffused into the surroundings and it was dark all over. All of a sudden, someone appeared where Bandhu and his family were sleeping and called out his name loudly. Bandhu awoke but was not sure if someone was actually calling him for there was not anyone who knew him there. Again there was a call, "Oh, the friend from Jajpur, can you hear me? Come here, please come here". Now he was sure that he was being called. So he stood up to see who it was. He saw a brahman, whose color was very black, waiting there, holding something in his hands. The brahman said, "Bandhu, your friend has sent some Mahaprasad for you and your family. All of you take it to your satisfaction. He has told not to worry, tomorrow morning he will make some arrangement for you." Stating so he passed over the big 'thali' in his hands to Bandhu. Bandhu's surprise and happiness knew no limits the moment he saw the thali of Mahaprasad. The thali contained fifty-six different items like fine rice, several curries, condiments, sweet dishes and what not. Tear drops came out of his eyes while he took the thali from the brahman. He woke-up his wife and children and together they took the Mahaprasad to their heart's content. Then Bandhu washed the thali and went to give it back to the bramhan. But he was no where to be found. He had disappeared in the meantime. Intending to return it next morning, he covered it with a piece of rag and kept it close his head. He thanked his dear friend for his kindness and happily went to sleep.
Next morning the temple was opened and the Sevayats started performing various rituals as usual. The 'Ratna Bhandar' was also opened. The Ratna Bhandar stores precious stones, gold ornaments and gold utensils which are thousands of years old and worth billions, all belonging to the Lord. Several utensils were brought out from there for the early morning 'Nitis' or rituals of the Lord. But to everyone's suprise, the big gold thali in which 'Bhog' or food is offered to the Lord, was not there, it was missing. The Sevayats were very upset about this incident as the thali was kept inside the Ratna Bhandar last night in their presence and the doorway was locked securely. Immediately the news spread all over Puri that the gold thali had been stolen from the Ratha Bhandar. Everyone who heard this news was shocked as such an unusual incident never happened in the history of the temple. All the Sevayats were thoroughly checked but no hint about the lost thali could be found. The soldiers of 'Gajapati Maharaja' were immediately directed all over Puri to look for the thali. One soldier while going by the side of Pejanala found Bandhu and his family lying there at one corner. When he came close, to his great surprise he saw the gold thali kept there covered with a piece of rag. Bandhu tried to explain what happened last night and how he got the thali. He tried to convince the soldier of his innocence but the soldier did not consider any of his explanations. He was certain that this is the person who by some means managed to steal the thali from the Ratna Bhandar. Bandhu was arrested and dragged all the way to the temple. People abused him and threw stones at him. Being thoroughly mistreated by everyone, he was marked a thief and was sent to the 'Kara Gruha' or the royal prison. There was no end to Bandhu's miseries. While he was helpless in the Kara Gruha, his wife and children were left alone to suffer. Yet he did not lose hope in the benignity of his dear friend. He had immense faith in Jagannath. He prayed to him with his heart's depth to give him strength to resist the difficult situation. Knowing that he had little control over the situation, he left everything to Jagannath and waited for him to bail him out for he knew that his friend will never let any injustice befall him.
While Bandhu was calm and stable in the Kara Gruha, his friend Jagannath felt disturbed on the 'Ratna Singhasan'. How could an act of his graciousness be misinterpreted by his Sevayats? How could a true friend and devotee be distressed for no fault? It was he who took Mahaprasad to Bandhu in the gold thali. How could the temple authorities commit an innocent man to the prison? One night Gajapati Maharaja Prataprudra Dev who was staying in his royal palace at 'Khurda', had a dream that Lord Jagannath has flown over to his palace boarding the mighty 'Garuda'. Appearing before him in his dream, the Lord narrated the whole story. He said, "You are my servant while he is my friend, your men have done injustice to my friend. My friend should immediately be released and made a Sevayat in my temple for I want him to stay close to me. Arrangements should also be made at Puri for his stay with dignity and honor. You should also beg his forgiveness for the injustice your men have done to him. This is my order to you". The moment the Gajapati heard all this in his dream, he rushed to Puri to carry out the orders of his master. He immediately released Bandhu, bowed before him and begged his forgiveness for all the injustice done to him. The Gajapati assigned him the position of 'Kharasodha' or the custodian of accounts of the temple and arranged a house at the south gate of the temple for his stay with dignity and honor as ordered by the Lord. This position was not assigned to him only but to his generations to come, even to this day. Bandhu and his family members were bathed in scented water, given the finest apparels to wear and were taken to Ratna Singhasan for the ‘Darshan’ of Lord Jagannath.
On meeting his dear friend for the first time in life, Bandhu introduced him to his wife and said, meet my friend about whom I talked so much, who is not only rich but also kind and compassionate. His wife could not not believe her eyes, for she was spellbound. This story goes ahead to establish the fact that 'Bhakta' and 'Bhagwan' are inseparable. A true Bhakta will find his Bhagwan in whatsoever form he imagines him. The selfless devotion of Bandhu Mohanty for Jagannath had its impressions on the Lord himself. He descended from his Ratna Singhasan to help his friend. The Lord never desolates his true devotee. He is a friend in need, he is a friend indeed.
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