by Dr. Sahadeva Dasa
A man is judged by his car. The richer you are, the bigger is your car, in all likelihood. The cars we drive say a lot about us. There are brands costing a fortune. Some people are famous simply because of the cars they own. In a poor country, you have to own a car and in a rich country, you have to own a supercar, to make a difference. Everything in life is somewhere else, and you get there in a car. When it comes to cars, there’s no such thing as cheap and best. It’s cheap and nasty & expensive and best. People are spending more time in their cars, then in their homes these days. They even say, ‘leave sooner, drive slower, live longer.’
In today’s ‘motor car civilization’, one of the most profound thing to ask would be, ‘who owns the world’s biggest and the most exotic car?’ To get an answer to this question, you would have to hitchhike to the Eastern part of India, to a place called Jagannath Puri. There, Lord Jagannath and his family members ride three separate cars. Each car is exquisitely decorated and is 45 feet high. These have 12 to 16 wheels and hundreds of people ride them as they rumble along the Grand Avenue in Puri.
Covered with bright canopies of red, yellow and black stripes, the huge cars are lined in front of the majestic temple close to its eastern entrance, which is also known as the Simhadwara or the Lion’s Gate.
To drive these majestic cars, a million strong crowd jostles and vies with each other. And remember, none of these drivers receive any salary. Whereas in this world, even the biggest billionaire has to appoint a driver and pay him a salary. Here Lord Jagannath never advertises any vacancy for a driver but lo and behold! One million drivers showup at his doorsteps, ready to offer their free services.
And the most amusing thing is : These are use and throw cars. Again, the biggest billionaire can’t afford to do that. These rich men may own hundreds of supercars but they can never discard a car just after a maiden ride. Lord Jagannath does that.
That is why He is known as the Lord of the Universe.
