“Kṛṣṇa means Jagannātha. Jagat. Jagat means this world, and nātha means master, or proprietor. So Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram: (BG 5.29) ‘I am the proprietor of all the planets.’ Therefore He is Jagannātha. Jagannātha means the proprietor of all the world, all the planets.” (Srila Prabhupada Lecture, San Francisco, July 4, 1970)
“Regarding Lord Jagannath, He is the unfinished carved form of Krishna. One king named Indradyumna wanted to establish a Jagannatha temple some thousands of years ago, but while the Deities were being carved by the heavenly carpenter, Visva Karma, the king was in too much haste, and he established the half-finished Deities in the temple. Jagannath means the Lord of the universe. That is Krishna. Krishna as the only one Lord of everything is confirmed in the Brahma Samhita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad Gita, Chaitanya Charitamrta, and all Vedic literature.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, July 28, 1969)
“There is no difference between Lord Jagannātha and Kṛṣṇa, but here Lord Jagannātha is fixed as the Absolute Person appearing in wood. Therefore He does not move.”
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta Antya 5.148)
“The Deity worshiped in the Temples are Jagannatha Swami with Balarama and Subhadra, and Radha Krishna. When we first start a Temple, we start with Jagannath Swami. My Guru Maharaj recommended Temples of Jagannath in these countries, so I was inspired to establish first of all Jagannath Swami because He is kind even to the mlecchas. Then, when there is opportunity, I establish Radha Krishna Murti. So generally in all our Temples, Jagannath Swami and Lord Chaitanya Sankirtan pictures are invariably there, and gradually we are installing Radha Krishna Murties in each and every center.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, February 5, 1970)
“By the grace of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, we had the chance of being born in a Vaiṣṇava family, and in our childhood we imitated the worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa by imitating our father. Our father encouraged us in all respects to observe all functions such as the Ratha-yātrā and Dola-yātrā ceremonies, and he used to spend money liberally for distributing prasāda to us children and our friends. Our spiritual master, who also took his birth in a Vaiṣṇava family, got all inspirations from his great Vaiṣṇava father, Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda. That is the way of all lucky Vaiṣṇava families.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.3.15, Purport)
“I am very much obliged to you all that you are taking care of Jagannatha so nicely. The more you make the Deity of Jagannatha attractively dressed, the more you shall become spiritually attractive.
If Jagannatha desires, then I may also join you, but the idea of making San Francisco as New Jagannatha Puri is my transcendental dream, and if you fulfill this dream, I shall be so much obliged to you all.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, June 1, 1968)
“The decoration should be so attractive that people when seeing Jagannatha will forget all attractiveness of Maya. Then it will be successful, and actually, this is the process of decorating Jagannatha. Our eyes are attracted by the beauty of Maya, but if our eyes are attracted by the beauty of Krishna, the Jagannatha, then there is no more chance of our being attracted by Maya. In other words, when seeing Jagannatha nicely decorated, we become freed from the clutches of Maya.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, June 7, 1968)
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, June 7, 1968)
“The proper method of dressing Jagannatha is as a Ksatriya king and there is no limit to the opulence you can give Him.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, February 19, 1973)
“From my very childhood I was also worshiping Lord Jagannatha. When I was six years old my father gave me a ratha and I was performing the Ratha yatra in my neighborhood. And now in the western world you are worshiping Lord Jagannatha so gorgeously and it pleases me very, very much.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, June 10, 1974)
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, June 10, 1974)
Real opulence is supplied by natural gifts such as gold, silver, pearls, valuable stones, fresh flowers, trees and silken cloth. Thus the Vedic civilization recommends opulence and decoration with these natural gifts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such opulence immediately changes the condition of the mind, and the entire atmosphere becomes spiritualized. King Pṛthu’s capital was decorated with such highly opulent decorations. Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/4/21/1
Nov 2 1973 class on NOD….The next is: “Pure devotional service is the only means to attract Kṛṣṇa.” You cannot attract Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, with full opulences. So you cannot attract Kṛṣṇa by your richness, by your reputation, by your education, by your beauty or by your strength or renunciation. No. You cannot attract Kṛṣṇa by all these things, because He’s already full. You cannot attract by anything, any opulence, Kṛṣṇa, because He’s ātmārāma. But if you offer something to Kṛṣṇa, it is for your benefit. The example is given: just like the original person is decorated, in the mirror the reflection of the person is also decorated. Similarly, if you decorate the Deity gorgeously, you will feel happy. Kṛṣṇa has many devotees, or many things for being decorated. But if you, in the temple, if you offer Kṛṣṇa all nice things, all nice flowers, all nice dress, all nice food, everything, everything, all nice, then you will feel happy. That is your interest. Therefore pure devotional service is the only means to attract Kṛṣṇa.