(6/8) Worship of Govardhan

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Radhapur (Howrah district),
17 November 2020, noon, part 6
Translated from Bengali

So, you have just heard about how Giriraj appeared.

In Vrindavan, everybody used to worship Lord Indra because Indra gives rain and wind. Nanda Maharaj had many cows, and if there was no rain and wind, how will the grass grow? And if there was no grass, what would the cows eat? So, Nanda Maharaj would worship Indra, and all the Vraja gopas and gopis followed his example.

One time, it was the day of Indra-puja. Everyone gathered enormous offerings – flowers, fruit and all kinds of preparations (laddus, kachoris, singara, malpua, luchi and so on). Mother Yasoda also cooked all kinds of things. Seeing so many nice preparations, Gopal Krishna tried to snatch some naru (sweet ball), but Mother Yasoda caught Him, 'Hey! Do You not know that it is a puja day today?'

'No, I do not. Whose puja is it, Ma?' asked Krishna.

'Indra's. Do You not know about it? He is offered puja today.'

'But Indra's mother did not make this naru. My mother made it, then why must Indra eat it? I will eat it!' said Krishna.

'Are You having fun? Getting too clever, aren't You? Go from here.'

Mother Yasoda chased Krishna away, and Krishna began to cry. He went to His father.

'Father,' said Krishna, 'why is Mother doing this Indra puja? She did not let Me eat anything!'

'Yes, we worship Lord Indra so that we can have rains and green grass,' replied Nanda Maharaj.

'What is the point in this Indra-puja?" asked Krishna then. 'You had better worship Govardhan! If you worship Govardhan, you will see that all problems will be resolved and you will have everything.'

'Oh, really? We must worship Govardhan?'

'Yes! Worship Govardhan!' Krishna insisted.

In the end, Nanda Maharaj agreed to worship Govardhan, but when Indra got to know about it, he became very angry, 'They have stopped my puja?!' Then, Indra sent so much rain to Vrindavan. It poured continuously during seven–ten days, and the whole Vrindavan became flooded. All the Vraja-basis ran to Krishna, 'We have listened to You and did Govardhan puja, and now Indra has sent so much rain that our houses have become flooded. Where will we stay now?'

'Do not worry!' Krishna reassured everyone. He knew that Indra was showing his ego, so He decided to teach him a lesson. He picked up Govardhan with the little finger of His left hand, lifting it like an umbrella and letting everyone come underneath it. And to prevent water from coming under Govardhan, Krishna called Anantadev (a serpent incarnation of Lord Vishnu) who coiled around Govardhan. All the Vraja-basis thought, 'Oh God! This small boy is holding a mountain! It can fall on His head!' They picked up bamboo sticks and propped Govardhan with sticks to help Krishna. This is vatsalya-rasa (parents love for the Lord). The Lord can do everything.

This is how Govardhan, the Lord Himself, sheltered everyone.

When Indra realised that Vraja-basis were unharmed, he understood that Krishna was the Supreme Lord. At first, he was too scared to come to Krishna ('What if He says something to me?'). But who does Krishna love? Cows. Krishna is present wherever there are cows. So, Indra went to a surabhi cow. It is not necessary to milk surabhi cows – they give milk whenever you ask them for it. So, Lord Indra took surabhi's milk and wanted to make an abhisekh for Lord Krishna, but Krishna said, 'You do not need to make My abhisekh. Bathe Govardhan instead!'

Krishna said also, 'I am Govardhan!' So, when everyone worshipped Govardhan, bringing so many offerings, Krishna ate everything. When He finished all offerings, He asked, 'Is there nothing more? Bring more! Bring more!' The gopis and gopas rushed home, 'Yes, yes! We are bringing just now. We are going home and will bring more!' Krishna said, 'You do not need to bring it from home! I can take everything from your homes.' Then, Govardhan (Lord Krishna) extended His arms and took everything from the homes of all Vraja gopis and gopas. This is how Nanda Maharaj made annakut mahotsav of Giriraj Govardhan in Dvapar-yuga. Later, in Kali-yuga, Madhavendra Puri also made this festival for Govardhan-dhari Gopal.

Mahaprabhu said:

vrndavane giya na thakiya chira kala
govardhane uthiya na dekhiya gopala

'When you go to Vrindavan, do not stay there for a long time and do not climb the Govardhan Hill to see Gopal.'

Never climb on top of Govardhan. Because Mahaprabhu would tell everyone not climb Govardhan and did not climb Govardhan Himself, Gopal came down to give His darshan to Mahaprabhu. That is why Gopal is staying now in the Katuli(?) village, on the bank of Govinda Kunda. He came down from Govardhan.

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Satiating Hunger for Hari-Katha
2) Service Arrangement
3) Humble Service Mood
4) Attaining Unattainable
5) Advent of Govardhan
6) Worship of Govardhan
7) Govardhan-Dhari Gopal
8) Search and Surrender