The Puranas explain why the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna appears in Puri Dham as Dharu-brahma. King Indradyumna once found three logs of wood in the ocean. Lord Krishna personally came to Indradyumna disguised as Viswakarma in order to carve the deities from the logs. He instructed the king to leave Him alone for twenty-one days inside the room. Viswakarma warned that if anyone opened the door before twenty-one days, the deities carving would remain incomplete.

Fifteen days passed and no sounds of carving could be heard from the room. Queen Gundicha suspected that the old carpenter was dead inside due to want of food. She asked the king to open the door and investigate. The king objected to this proposal, wanting to follow the instruction of the carpenter, but being forced by the queen he opened the door. He was shocked to discover that the carpenter had disappeared. To the king’s sadness, the deities construction was unfinished.

Then one unseen sound vibration was heard. “Do not worry,” the voice said. “Because you opened the door before twenty-one days and did not keep your promise, the deities will remain in this form. You can start worshiping these deities. Bring Lord Brahma from Brahma-loka to install Them.”

From this description it seems that these deities are unfinished or incomplete forms of the Lord. People give many different purports to explain this form of the Lord. Some say that Parabrahma is formless, and that this “incomplete” form of Jagannath proves it. Others say this is the form of the Buddha. Still others claim this form to be Bhairava. To some this form looks very ghastly. Yet many people glorify His lovely features, especially His smiling face. All of these claims are true because He is everything.

There is a very secret and esoteric reason to confirm why Their forms are like this. In fact, Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra are not deformed or incomplete forms. Rather, They are eternal forms—super complete forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This form did not manifest just because the queen forced King Indradyumna to open the door prematurely. Actually, the Lord had previously manifested this most beautiful form to His devotees. Choka-dola Lord Jagannath mercifully gives His darshan to everyone in order to deliver the whole universe. The Vaishnavas understand and appreciate this loving reciprocation between the Lord and His devotees, and they relish the following pastime describing the real reason the Lord appears as Jagannath.

After leaving Mathura, Lord Krishna resided in Dwaraka along with His 16,108 wives. All of them were very beautiful and served the Lord with extreme love and care. Though the queens engaged in intense service to satisfy their divine husband, still Lord Krishna always meditated on Sri Vrindavan. He constantly remembered the residents of Vraj, especially the gopas and gopis, and He longingly recalled the pastimes he shared with them. Feeling separation from Vrindavan, sometimes Lord Krishna would seem indifferent to everything. This disturbed His wives immensely. The queens of Dwaraka thought, “What is happening? Even if we serve the Lord so nicely, why does He always talk about and remember Vrindavan?” The Lord frequently cried out in His sleep, “Radhe, Radhe! Gopi, Gopi!”

The queens became curious to know about the Lord’s pastimes in Vrindavan. What happened there so that Lord could not forget? “But who can tell us the childhood pastimes of our beloved husband when he was a child living in Vrindavan?” They came to know that Mother Rohini had witnessed the Vrindavan pastimes of the Lord, and that to their great fortune, she was staying in Dwaraka. One day, all of the queens anxiously approached Rohini mata and requested her to kindly tell them about the Lord’s youth in Vrindavan.

Mother Rohini understood that the queens were eager to hear about the Lord’s Vraja lila. She said, “Indeed, the Vrindavan pastimes of Krishna are very special—so special that Krishna also gets attracted by hearing their glories. I can describe those wonderful activities to you, but on one condition: Krishna and Balaram should not hear when I describe these pastimes. If they hear, it will be a big problem.”

One day, when Krishna and Balaram had gone to attend a meeting in Sudharma meeting hall, all of the queens eagerly took the opportunity of Their absence. They all gathered in one big hall and requested Rohini Mata to narrate Krishna’s childhood pastimes. To make sure that the brothers could not listen, Mother Rohini instructed Subhadra to serve as the door keeper. Subhadra would signal to Mother Rohini if Krishna and Balaram arrived on the scene.

Now everything was ready. All of the queens gathered in great excitement. Subhadra stood at the gate and stretched her hands so that no one could enter inside, specifically Krishna and Balaram. Mother Rohini joyfully told the childhood pastimes of Krishna in Vrindavan. Rohini’s descriptions were so pleasing and ecstatic. The queens heard with rapt attention. They were so absorbed in drinking the amṛta coming from the lips of Mother Rohini that all of them lost their external senses.

Subhadra, although officially engaged in guarding the gate, could not miss the opportunity to hear Lord Krishna’s pastimes. Like the Dwarka queens, she lost her external senses. Although Krishna and Balaram were busy attending a meeting, They could understand that Mother Rohini was describing Their Vrindavan lilas. In overwhelming greed to hear the kotha, the brothers suddenly left the assembly hall and ran to the place where Rohini Devi and the queens were gathered.

When they reached the door, They found Subhadra standing at the gate on security duty. Krishna and Balaram stood on both sides of Subhadra and instantly became absorbed in Mother Rohini’s descriptions. Since Subhadra was fully engrossed in hearing and had lost her external senses, she did not perceive the presence of the Lords. As the three became enraptured by hearing the pastimes, great transformations started to appear in Their bodies. “Oh, such nice pastimes! The Vrindavan pastimes tell of the love and affection of the Vraj basis!” Lost in a state of wonder, Their eyes became big and dilated, and Their hands and legs disappeared inside Their bodies. Their hands and legs shrunken so, Krishna, Balaram and Subhadra looked just like tortoises.

At this time, Narada Muni came to that spot. From a far distance he could see the three forms of Krishna, Balaram and Subhadra. As he approached Them, Krishna, along with His brother and sister came to Their external senses. Their bodies manifested Their normal forms. They wound up that maha-bhava which had manifested Their special forms. Narada Muni danced with his arms raised in great bliss. “I have seen it! I have seen it! You are trying to hide from me. My dear Lord, I have seen so many of Your amazing, transcendental forms. But I have never seen this beautiful form! I humbly pray that You manifest this most auspicious form somewhere so that everyone can take darshan of your most special maha-bhava prakash rupa.”

To fulfill the desire of His devotee, Narada Muni, Lord Krishna manifested this form and eternally resides in Sri Kshetra, Purusottama Dham.

Please visit: https://www.mayapur.com/festivals/Ratha-Yatra for Ratha Yatra Seva to Lord Jagannatha!