(7/8) Govardhan-Dhari Gopal

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Radhapur (Howrah district),
17 November 2020, noon, part 7
Translated from Bengali

I told you – everyone are beggars for food. You can see everyone coming now slowly. People are beggars for food (bhojan), not for spiritual life (bhajan). How many people are beggars for spiritual life? O mind, what beggar are you? Do you beg for food (bhojan) or spiritual life (bhajan)? It is time for food (bhojan) now, so everyone is starting to come slowly. When there was a festival, one man asked Srila Prabhupad, 'When are they going to give food to the poor here?' Srila Prabhupad replied, 'Dear, what beggar are you? Are you begging for bhojan or bhajan?'

Madhavendra Puri walked from Bengal or Odisha all the way to Govardhan. He was determined, 'I will go alone, I will not take many people with me. Unless I go alone, I will not get the darshan of the Lord.' So, he came to the bank of Sri Govinda Kunda and was sitting there, chanting the Holy Name. He was ayachita-vrtti. It means that he did not want anything – if he got some alms, he would eat it, and if not, he would fast. One day, when he was sitting and chanting the Holy Name at Govinda Kunda, a twelve-year-old boy came to him and said, 'O Sadhu Baba, you have not eaten anything the whole day. I have brought some milk for you. Take it and drink it.'

'How did You know I have not eaten anything? Who are You, boy?' Madhavendra Puri was surprised.

'I am a cowherd, I graze the cows in this area. Nobody in My village starves – we give food both if you ask for it and if you do not ask for it. Some ladies came here earlier to fetch some water, and they informed Me that there was a sadhu sitting here from the morning and that he had not eaten anything the whole day. That is why I have come to you.'

'Where do You live?' asked Madhavendra Puri.

'We can talk later. Drink this milk now, and I will come later to get the pot back,' the boy answered and left.

When Madhavendra Puri took a sip of that milk, he was astonished. He thought, 'I have drunk milk many times in Bengal and Odisha, but I have never tasted such milk before, it is nectar! Who is that boy? When He comes back to get the pot, I should ask Him...'

Then, Madhavendra Puri began to wait for the boy to come back. It was already late night, perhaps, three–four o'clock in the morning. Madhavendra Puri felt very tired, so he sat beneath a tree and closed his eyes to take some rest (he did not have any bed or room). When he fell asleep, Gopal came to him in a dream. Gopal told him, 'You asked Me who I was and where I lived. I was installed by Krishna's great-grandson Vajranabha. I am Govardhan-dhari Gopal. When Muslim people broke My temple, the pujari took Me to a jungle for fear of yavanas and left Me there.' Gopal told Madhavendra Puri where exactly He was, and when Madhavendra Puri woke up, he gathered villagers and told them, 'The Deity of your village, Govardhan-dhari Gopal, is hidden in the jungle over there.' Somebody laughed, 'What is this sadhu saying?' but the elderly villagers supported him, 'Yes, what he is saying is right.' So, the villagers took their choppers and axes and started clearing the way to the place in the jungle that Gopal had shown to Madhavendra Puri in his dream. When they found Gopal, they placed Him on a rock and put another rock behind His back. Then, Madhavendra Puri told all the ladies to bring water from Govinda Kunda. When they brought water in pots, they gave Gopal a good bath (abhisekh). After that, they arranged a very big annakut mahotsav. This is how Madhavendra Puri did an annakut mahotsav of Govardhan-dhari Gopal, and this is how this Deity of Gopal was again installed.

This is how Govardhan is worshipped. Krishna said, 'I am Govardhan! If you worship Govardhan, you are worshipping Me.'

We also have a temple at Govardhan. When Gurudev had just purchased the land there, he told me to cultivate the land, and when I was ploughing the field to plant wheat, the tractor struck a very big stone in the soil. I could not recognise it, but Gurudev told me to bring a priest (panda), and the panda confirmed that it was Govardhan. That Govardhan-sila is worshipped at the temple to this day. Gurudev has made a big temple there.

We go to Govardhan at the time of Govardhan-puja every year, but this year we could not go. Before going to Vrindavan, we always go to Govardhan. When people come to Govardhan, they do the entire parikrama in four hours, but we go with kirtan, we speak Hari-katha, so we do this parikrama in two days. On both days, we start out in the morning and come back in the afternoon. Each parikrama is about fourteen miles, so we walk twenty-eight miles (45 km) in total. Srila Sanatan Goswami did Govardhan parikrama many times every day.

Many people do this parikrama by paying dandavats. They do not walk – instead, they offer a prostrate obeisance, place a small stone in front of them, get up, come to where the stone is and again offer a prostrate obeisance, moving the stone ahead. This is how they circumambulate the two fourteen-mile paths around Govardhan. And the road is very nice, unpaved.

Govardhan's shape is like that of a peacock, and the place where our temple stands is known as mukhara-bindu, the mouth, it is near Manasa (Manasi) Ganga. Once, Nanda Maharaj wanted to travel to bathe in the Ganges. To fulfil his desire, Krishna created the Ganges in Vrindavan. Everybody now goes there to bathe or to place some water on their heads.

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Length: 63 min
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