Immortal Dancer

By Dr. Santosh Biswal

This is not a story but my heartfelt experience. In the month of May in its scorching heat I happened to visit Puri city with few of my friends. It was the time of Chandan Yatra and the whole city was drenched in divinity. There is a saying to witness the lord Madanmohan (the representative idol of Lord Jagannath) in his royal boat in this boating festival of Chandan Yatra breaks the chain of rebirth. Being tempted to break this bond and to be one with the lord I went to Narendra Pond to witness the Chapa (The boat ride of the Lord). It was twilight and cool breeze from the lap of Mahodadhi (Bay of Bengal) tearing the crest of May heat was giving a pleasant experience. The sounds of drums, mridangams, conch, ghantas was musically centrifuging the environment with divinity and clearing the path for the union with the supreme. In mildest of all these divinities my eyes got stuck to a beautiful lady. She was not an Indian and was wearing a beautiful Odishi dress and her eyes were stuck with compassion to Lord Madanmohan. She was specially challenged, and her right leg was absent and quite tall in stature. Tears of devotion rolled down her cheeks as she was witnessing the Yatra. My eyes like a magnet got stuck to the serine and sylvan aura she possessed. All of a sudden, she fainted and fell down. Being a doctor by profession I rushed to facilitate medical aid.

The following events after this incidence are the content of my story. The experience to make the soul unite with the supreme is what I learned and how far it is justified to pen it down is up to you. We Odia people take a lot of pride on Lord Jagannath. The entire Odia community gets its identity from the Lord. Without the Lord’s presence the Odia community and its culture would be lost in a dark trench. But a question comes to mind, are we too possessive for the Lord? Is the grace and blessings of Lord meant for only Odia people? Is the nectar of divine consciousness meant only for this community? Our Lord presence is universal or to be specific beyond the limits of universe, this is what I learned after meeting and knowing this divine dancer.

The lady belonged to the country of Afghanistan, her name is Nazia. By profession she was an agriculture scientist and was here at the Odisha Agriculture University for her masters on scholarship. She found it very challenging to adapt herself to a very different environment in its social and cultural practices here. In spite of this she felt like a bird unleashed out form the cage of terrorism and suppression free to fly in the friendly air of Bhubaneswar the capital of Odisha. Gradually she developed a strong bond for this beautiful city and was happy and relaxed merry making with her Odia friends and enjoying local cuisine. At a very small age she lost her mother and her father who was a teacher by profession was dead in a terror attack. She was brought up by her uncle and aunt. The pain of her past that hunted her and the life she lived under the customs of Parda gradually got blanketed by the love she received from this peace. She kept herself busy with work and moved ahead in life.

It was the time of the college annual fest and she thought of learning and performing Odishi dance for the fest. She was very eager in learning the steps and nuances of this classical dance form and it fascinated her. During this time, she happened to visit the holy city of Puri with her college friends. The magnificent waves of Mahodadhi enthralled her. Being a citizen of a land locked nation, she didn’t have the fortune to see the sea. The time of her visit was this time of Chandan Yatra. Being a foreigner, she was not allowed to the temple of the Lord but on request of her friends she went to the Narendra Pond to witness the Chapa (the boat ride of the Lord). There she saw Debadasi Sasimani Devi. Her personality influenced her a lot. She was completely unaware of the prevailing Devadasi tradition of Lord Jaganath and came to know about its intricacies from her friend. The truth about these prevailing traditions was quite surprising to her. How come a lady sacrifice her entire youth for her Lord is what she thought quite disturbing. How come Sasimani being an octogenarian, married to the Lord and not a human at this stage of life compassionately with all love dance for her Lord was a disturbing mater for her. Many questions rose in her mind. The form of devotion that she witnessed here was entirely different from the Abrahamic religion where a formless omnipresent God was the creator she learnt. A formless imageless Lord that she bestowed her faith was completely opposite to what she learnt here. Many questions sparked in her mind, is Lord Jaganath a living God who enjoys dance, music, food like a common human being. She remained quite confused with all these questions in her mind and within these confusions she aspired to learn the sacred dance of the Debadasi Sasimani Devi and perform in her college fest. She wished to meet her and ask her doubts and learn the dance from her. She requested her friend Swati to go to Puri and meet Sasimani Devi.

Her meeting with Sasimani was a new chapter in her life. It was a Sunday being a holiday she with Swati took a ride in the city bus from Bhubaneswar to Puri. With lots of eager and doubts in her mind they reached the residence of Sasimani and knocked at her door. The moment Sasimani opened the door it was a mystical experience for her, as if she knew her since ages. Somehow, she could not control her feelings and tear trickled below her cheeks. With lots of affection Sasimani welcomed Nazma and Swati to her home. She felt as if she was in the lap of her lost mother. This was a new pillar in the edifice of her relationship with Sasimani. With lots of inquisitiveness she opened her mind to Sasimani and asked her questions after questions. Sasimani with lot of ease and beauty kept replying to all her queries. In course of these conversations she kept judging the divine existence of the Lord. Sasimani told the Lord is the only truth and he prevails not only in her believe but also in her breath. The Lord is beyond cast, creed, religion and race. He shall communicate to you in the form you connect with him; this was the divine message from Sasimani. After the meeting before returning to Bhubaneswar Nazia went to the Grand Road and saw Patitapabana (the image of the lord at the entrance of the temple) she had goose bumps at the vision of the Lord and she felt as if a dear friend extended his arms to embrace her.

But this was not her last meeting with Sasimani. Her anxiety and curiosity that spouted into a tree put her in a compulsion to make regular visit to Sasimani. Every Sunday morning going to the master canteen chawak and taking a city bus ride to Puri became a regular affair. Once upon a time the Lord who seemed to be a mystery to her was now her own and Sasimani became her friend, philosopher and guide. The customs of the Lord, his food and music touched her soul. She was fascinated by the devotion of saint Salabega who was also a Muslim. In the divine presence of the Lord in her heart she got immense satisfaction and was able to overcome the cruel and barbaric past of her life. The creator of all this changes in her life was none other than Sasimani. Like a motherly teacher Sasimani taught Nazia the path to devotion and Nazia herself was drenched and lost in the love of the Lord and learnt the Mahari dance, the dance of the Devadasi. Devadasis in Odisha are called Mahari which literally means great lady. The Maharies in odisha were looked upon with great respect as living Goddesses and Sasimani was the last Mahari of this immortal tradition and there was none to continue this tradition of the temple after her. Nazia knew being a Muslim in her this birth she could never be a Mahari.

After the completion of her education, she went back to Afghanistan with lots of love, devotion and compassion in her heart being a completely different person from who she was in her past. She was a Muslim, but she had realised the existence of the divine Lord was beyond the limits of any religion. The relationship of the Lord and Nazia was symbol of divinity, and this was the truth. The love of the Lord sprouts seeds of compassion kindness and sacrifice in one’s heart but unfortunately at Afghanistan she had to keep her love a secrete as the prevailing society would not have certified the divine relationship. As a fragrant flower in a distant forest which can attract by passers by her smell, the devotion of Nazia to her Lord was like a beautiful fragrant flower. Her way of expressing her devotion was limited there. The existence of the Lord prevails in the entire cosmos. The Lord prevails in plants, animals, mountains, rock, in all living and non-living. Directly or indirectly respecting the Lord’s creation and preserving and nurturing it is a way to express one’s devotion. The love of human is a worldly love and may sprout seeds of selfishness but the divine love to God always makes a person compassionate to the creation and kindness flows down in her or his heart to drench the world with Bhakti. Considering this Nazia found out a way to express her devotion, she started a girl’s school in her region and provided education and food to the innocent little girls free of cost and was also teaching them Mahari dance. Her dream institution could not survive the social norms of that place and was broken into pieces when the Taliban blew her school out of grudge. In that blast all the little girls were killed but luckily Nazia escaped but due to the collapse of a wall on her right leg she lost it. The sight of pieces of meat, blood and bones scattered all around shattered Nazia and she was in an emotional turmoil. Was this the price Nazia paid for her Lord and devotion to the Lord? For many days she was in a state of shock. She had many questions in her mind and was boiling with anger and grief. A true devotee has all the rights to express his or her anger to the Lord. After many a days of this terrible barbaric act Nazia wished to visit her teacher and guide Sasimani as she knew she was the only medicine for her grief stricken heart.

With lots of hope and courage she returned back to Puri only to discover Sasimani was no more and she had gone permanently to the abode of her Lord from where it’s not possible to return. If there is so much of pain in the Lord’s love then such type of devotion is definitely questionable for ordinary mortals like us. For Nazia she was fortunate enough to be a vessel to receive the divine grace and love of the Lord that only one in a million has a fortune to get it. She did not break nor was she shattered. She left her everything and permanently settled in the holy Puri town. Even now one can see the beautiful school she has opened for the girls of the town where she enjoys imparting free education and teaches them the immortal Mahari dance form. She is very happy here and feels blessed to be in the lap of her Lord being able to freely express her devotion.

All these feelings are very difficult on my part to be digested. I have lots of questions in my mind. Once upon a time Draupadi had nursed the injured finger of the Lord with a small piece of cloth in return of it she was rescued with tons of fabric. But in this case Nazia lost her leg in service to the Lord and what did she get in return? In reality true devotion is beyond the scope of give and take. Nazia by offering her true devotion to Lord gets what in return shall remain secrete and mystery forever. Who said the tradition of Mahari is no more present? Till date many Maharies like Nazia are offering their highest standard of service and devotion to the Lord and are a stream of compassion. The boundary wall of the temple (Meghanada Pacheri) may restrict them from entry but their devotion like the monsoon rains shall drench humanity with love for times to come. In reality the existence of the Lord is beyond the limits of the cosmos, being omnipresent, the supreme truth the most beautiful.

By Dr. Santosh Biswal