Bhubaneswar: In his monthly radio broadcast ‘Mann ki Baat’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that Lord Jagannath gives many deep human messages through his annual sojourn.
Elaborating on the life mantra ‘Charaiveti-Charaiveti-Charaiveti’, which means ‘keep going, keep going’, Modi said not only the devotees but also our Gods embark on a journey while drawing a parallel with the development achieved through ‘cultural mobility and travels’ while accepting new ideas, new changes.
“In just a few days from now on the 1st of July, the famous journey of Lord Jagannath is going to commence. All of us are familiar with the Puri yatra in Odisha. People make efforts to ensure that on this occasion they get the good fortune of going to Puri. In other states too, Jagannath Yatras are taken out with great gaiety and fervour. Bhagwan Jagannath Yatra begins on Dwitiya, the second day of the month of Ashadha. In Ahmedabad, Gujrat too, every year Rath Yatra begins from Ashadh Dwitiya. I was in Gujarat, so I also used to get the privilege of serving in this Yatra every year,” he said.
PM Modi further said that the poor and downtrodden have a special participation in the Lord’s annual sojourn. “God also walks along with every section and person of society. Similarly, in all the journeys that take place in our country, there is no such distinction between poor and rich, high and low. Rising above all discrimination, the journey itself is paramount,” he said.
Every yatra propagates the same belief ‘one is neither big nor small’, he said referring to Yatra of Pandharpur in Maharashtra, Amarnath Yatra and Sabarimala Yatra. “Even today, when people go on these yatras, how many opportunities are created for the poor… from religious rituals to lodging arrangements… that is, these yatras directly give us an opportunity to serve the poor and are equally beneficial to them. That is why the country, too, is now making many efforts to increase the facilities for the devotees in their spiritual journeys. If you too go on such a journey, you will also have a glance of Ek Bharat- Shreshtha Bharat along with spirituality,” he added.
