Govardhana-puja Morning

Giriraj Swami: [Unintelligible 00:00:00] All glories to the assembled devotees! All glories to the assembled devotees! All glories to be assembled devotees! All glories, all glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga. Hare Krishna.

Devotee: His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

Giriraj Swami: We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven, “Scheduled Incarnations,” Text Thirty-two.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 32

gopair makhe pratihate vraja-viplavāya

deve ‘bhivarṣati paśūn kṛpayā rirakṣuḥ

dhartocchilīndhram iva sapta-dināni sapta-

varṣo mahīdhram anaghaika-kare salīlam

TRANSLATION

When the cowherd men of Vṛndāvana, under instruction of Kṛṣṇa, stopped offering sacrifice to the heavenly King, Indra, the whole tract of land known as Vraja was threatened with being washed away by constant heavy rains for seven days. Lord Kṛṣṇa, out of His causeless mercy upon the inhabitants of Vraja, held up the hill known as Govardhana with one hand only, although He was only seven years old. He did this to protect the animals from the onslaught of water.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Children play with an umbrella generally known as a frog’s umbrella, and Lord Kṛṣṇa, when He was only seven years old, could snatch the great hill known as the Govardhana Parvata at Vṛndāvana and hold it for seven days continuously with one hand, just to protect the animals and the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana from the wrath of Indra, the heavenly King, who had been denied sacrificial offerings by the inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi.

Factually there is no need of offering sacrifices to the demigods for their services if one is engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord. Sacrifices recommended in the Vedic literature for satisfaction of the demigods are a sort of inducement to the sacrificers to realize the existence of higher authorities. The demigods are engaged by the Lord as controlling deities of material affairs, and according to the Bhagavad-gītā, when a demigod is worshiped the process is accepted as the indirect method for worshiping the Supreme Lord. But when the Supreme Lord is worshiped directly there is no need of worshiping the demigods or offering them sacrifices as recommended in particular circumstances. Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore advised the inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi not to offer any sacrifices to the heavenly King Indra. But Indra, not knowing Lord Kṛṣṇa in Vrajabhūmi, was angry at the inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi and tried to avenge the offense. But, competent as the Lord was, He saved the inhabitants and animals of Vrajabhūmi by His personal energy and proved definitely that anyone directly engaged as a devotee of the Supreme Lord need not satisfy any other demigods, however great, even to the level of Brahmā or Śiva. Thus this incident definitely proved without a doubt that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Personality of Godhead and that He was so in all circumstances, as a child on the lap of His mother, as a boy 7 years old, and as an old man of 125 years of age. In either case He was never on the level of the ordinary man, and even in His advanced age He appeared a young boy 16 years old. These are the particular features of the transcendental body of the Lord.

COMMENT

Hare Krishna. So, there are many instructions for us in the pastime of Govardhana-puja. In the full description of the govardhana-līlā in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, when Krishna, as a child of seven years, saw His father Nanda Maharaja and the other elders of Vrindavan gathering the paraphernalia for the worship of King Indra, He asked His father, “What is this performance? Is it customary, or is there some benefit from it?” Now, the question is very significant. And each and every one of us should ask ourselves the same question. When we do something, some ritualistic performance or whatever, is it just a custom that we are following, or is there some actual benefit? And the implication is if there is no real benefit, then why do it?

So, many of us, in the Hindu tradition and otherwise, have seen and perhaps learned the worship of different demigods from our family members, relatives, and friends. But is this worship beneficial? Is this worship recommended? In the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says that those who worship the demigods are actually meant to be worshipping Him, and that the worship of the demigods is avidhi-pūrvaka. Avidhi means, really against the rules and regulations, or in more polite language, they are worshiping Krishna indirectly but in an improper way. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna recommends sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, to give up all varieties of religiousness and just surrender to Him, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ. Now, someone might think, Well, if I give up my dharma, kula-dharma, or whatever dharma, and just surrender to Krishna, I will incur some sin, and I will have to suffer. But Krishna says, “I will free you from all sinful reactions, do not worry.”

Recently, one devotee told me that her mother, by the daughter’s good influence, had begun to chant the holy name of Krishna and worship Krishna and give up the worship of other demigods. And then, the mother, who was an elderly lady, happened to have a fall and break her hip, and she stopped chanting and worshipping Krishna. And I knew immediately what she was thinking. She was thinking, I am worshiping Krishna, I am chanting the holy name of Krishna, and this is what I get, I get a broken hip. And in the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says if you surrender to Him, He frees you from all sinful reactions. All of our suffering in the material world is due to sinful reactions. So, she was thinking, I thought that by worshiping Krishna I would become free from sinful reactions, I would become free from material distress, but it seems that what I read isn’t happening. And then she thought, Maybe because I stopped worshiping the other Gods and Goddesses, they took offense and they punished me for neglecting them. So, we have these types of doubts, we do have these types of doubts. And it may be that when everything is going nicely, “Okay, I like this bhakti because everything is going nicely.” But as soon as there is some reversal in life, we think, What kind of a God is Krishna? I surrendered to Him, I serve Him, I chant His name, and now, what is happening?

So, this is a very common reaction for a conditioned soul or, say, a neophyte on the material platform. But Srila Prabhupada explains that in the beginning, especially in the beginning, maya, who is also a servant of Krishna, tests the devotee, “Is this devotee actually coming to Krishna to serve Him, or is he coming to Krishna to disturb Him, to bother Him with his material demands?” So, maya will test the devotee by giving the devotee some sort of suffering. And if the devotee is sincere in his or her desire to serve Krishna in spite of the material reversals, the devotee will continue to chant the holy name and serve Krishna. But if the devotee is not so sincere, if the devotee is actually coming to Krishna not to serve Krishna but to get some benefit from Krishna, and then if the neophyte does not get what he or she wants from Krishna, then he or she can turn against Krishna. “I came to You for happiness and I have gotten distress. I don’t like You; I am going somewhere else.”

The other example is that of the Pandavas. The Pandavas certainly surrendered to Krishna. They were fully absorbed in love for Krishna but they suffered so many, from the material point of view, calamities. And you probably know the history, it is described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to some extent, in Mahābhārata to an even greater extent. They were deprived of their kingdom, they were sent into exile, their wife was insulted, there were so many attempts to kill them, they were given a house of lac to live in and the house was set fire to in an attempt to kill them. They suffered so many miseries, but their love for Krishna never wavered. And once, Narada, he had that relationship with Krishna, he little chided Krishna, “Kunti and the Pandavas have fully surrendered to You and are fully dependent on You, and You have put them through so many trials and tribulations. Is that a very good thing for You to do to Your devotee?” But then, Narada says, “But I don’t know what kind of hypnotism You have because even though the Pandavas have gone through so many miseries, their love for You has not wavered. Their love for You has remained the same, or actually, their love for You has increased. So, I don’t know what kind of magic You work on Your devotee that even though You have put them in so many miserable conditions, they still love You even more.”

So, here in the govardhana-līlā, the inhabitants of Vrindavan, out of affection for Krishna, accepted His instruction to use the paraphernalia that they had gathered for the worship of Indra, and instead to use it for the worship of Govardhana Hill. And thus, He led the vrajavāsīs into Govardhana-puja, in the worship of Govardhana Hill, which is described very beautifully in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And Indra, out of a false sense of pride, became angry. Actually, all of the demigods are servants of Krishna, ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa āra saba bhṛtya, only Krishna is the Supreme Master or controller, and all others are His servants. And that includes the demigods, even Indra, even Brahma, even Shiva. So, we are all eternal servants of Krishna by constitution, jīvera svarūpa haya kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa, and to act out of our constitutional position as Krishna’s eternal servants is our illusory life, or conditioned life of bondage. So even Indra, although he is a powerful demigod, because of his false prestige and material opulence, he became bewildered, and he felt offended and insulted that the vrajavāsīs had stopped his worship, and he wanted to take revenge on them by sending torrential rains.

Now, it is described that initially, Krishna thought, Let me just kill Indra, this is such a botheration. But then, His compassionate nature took over, He thought, No, I will purify him, I will crush his false pride and bring him to his original position as My deputed servant. And so, He lifted the Govardhana Hill for seven days, although He was only seven years old, and He held it up with the little finger of His left hand to prove to Indra that Indra is such a formidable threat that Krishna could deal with it with the tip of the little finger of His left hand. That is how difficult it was for Him to deal with Indra. And during those seven days, the vrajavāsīs got to be with Krishna continuously, which they could never do during ordinary days. During ordinary days, the vrajavāsīs are always separated from Krishna for some time. In the evening, Krishna comes home from the pasturing ground and He is with His mother and father at home. So, they are very happy, they have their son Krishna with them. But in the morning, when He goes out to pasture, they are deprived of His association, and they feel separation. The cowherd boys, they are very happy during the day because they get to be with Krishna and Balarama when they tend the transcendental herds, but then at night, they are in separation. And the gopīs, young gopīs, they secretly meet Krishna at intervals, mainly at night. Krishna, He goes to bed, but then, without letting anyone know, He sneaks out at night and meets the young gopīs and they have their playful pastimes, and then again, before it is time to wake up, He sneaks back into bed and appears to be sleeping just like Mother Yasoda left Him.

So, there is always this dynamic of meeting and separation, meeting and separation. But during the govardhana-līlā, the vrajavāsīs got to be with Krishna continuously for seven days, which was a tremendous joy for them and a tremendous mercy upon them. So, sometimes things that appear to be reversals can actually be beneficial. We don’t actually know what the Lord has in mind, and how we can benefit. And therefore, pure devotees accept the plan of the Lord whatever it is. They don’t try to judge the Lord or criticize the Lord’s plan. And this is a principle that everyone can appreciate, that we don’t really know what is best for us, and therefore, pure devotees depend on the Lord.

Even in one Chinese story this principle is illustrated. There was once a wise Chinese farmer, and he had two horses, and one of the horses ran away. So, all the neighbors came and lamented, “How terrible. You have two horses and one of them has run away, how terrible.” And the wise Chinese farmer said, “Maybe yes, maybe no.” Then, the son went out to find the missing horse, and he came back with the missing horse and another horse. So then, the neighbors came and said, “You are so fortunate. You had two horses, now you have three.” And the wise Chinese farmer said, “Maybe yes, maybe no.” So then, the farmer’s son was breaking in the new horse, and the new horse threw him, and he broke his leg. All the neighbors came and said, “How terrible, your son has broken his leg.” And the wise Chinese farmer said, “Maybe yes, maybe no.” So then, some of the King soldiers came to recruit men for the king’s army, and they came to get the son, but when they saw that the son’s leg was broken, they didn’t take him. So then, all the neighbors came and said, “How wonderful. The king was going to take him into military service but now he has left him.” And the wise Chinese farmer said, “Maybe yes, maybe no.” [laughter] In this way, this story goes on.

So, we really don’t know what is for the good and what is for the bad ultimately, we have to see the Lord’s plan unfold. But in a higher sense, whatever happens in the material world doesn’t even really matter because it is all material, it is all temporary. And therefore, the author of Caitanya-caritāmṛta says that considerations of good and bad in the material world are all mano-dharma, mental concoctions. The only thing that is good is Krishna consciousness, and everything else is bad. So, if something bad happens and we face it with Krishna consciousness or it becomes an impetus to our Krishna consciousness, then we can say it is good. But otherwise, it has no significance. And Queen Kunti took all these calamities that came upon her as blessings because in the midst of those calamities, she was able to see Krishna. And she said by seeing Krishna, she would no longer have to see the repetition of birth and death. And after the battle of Kurukshetra was over, after the Kauravas were defeated and the Pandavas, Yudhisthira Maharaja and the other Pandavas were instated as the rulers of Hastinapura, and Krishna was preparing to leave Hastinapura to go to Dvaraka, Queen Kunti prayed to Krishna, “May those calamities come again and again. Let the calamities come, because in the midst of the calamities, You were with us. And now that we are comfortably situated, You are leaving us. So, I would rather have the calamities and You.”

And sometimes it happens, when we are in difficulty, we remember Krishna more, which is beneficial for us. And then, when we are comfortably situated, well, we don’t need Krishna. Or it can be the other way also, when things are good, “I like Krishna, Krishna is good, things are good.” Pure devotee means he desires only to serve Krishna and please Krishna. And when one is actually a pure devotee, Krishna takes complete charge of the devotee’s life and gives the devotee all protection. And that we see again and again and again in Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavan in the govardhana-līlā, that the vrajavāsīs, they followed Krishna blindly, and when Indra became angry, they took shelter of Krishna, took shelter of Govardhana Hill and enjoyed even more bliss than they did under ordinary circumstances.

So, whatever this situation is, so-called good or so-called bad, we should take it as an opportunity to surrender to Krishna more, to serve Krishna more. If we are in some difficulty, we also take it as Krishna’s mercy, that because of our past misdeeds, we actually deserve worse, but Krishna is minimizing it and providing me with more impetus to become Krishna conscious. And if we are blessed with some opulence, we also take it as Krishna’s mercy, “Krishna is giving me some facility to serve Him.” But as soon as we think we are the controllers, we are the doers, we are the proprietors, we come in difficulty. And then, Krishna, who is merciful, will take the opulence away from us to bring us back to our senses.

So, Krishna is very kind and considerate. He gives us facility to serve him, but if we misuse it, He may take it away from us just to bring us to our right consciousness. So, we can take this opportunity of Govardhana-puja to remember Krishna and how kind He was to the residents of Vrindavan, and how kind He is to anyone and everyone who takes His shelter. And we should do that, we should follow in the footsteps of the residents of Vrindavan and take full shelter of Krishna, know that He will take care of us in all respects. And whether He fulfills our material desires or not is immaterial. But what really matters is that He is our eternal master, we are His eternal servants, and we are properly situated when we act as His eternal servants and accept Him as our eternal master. And all of this can be realized, especially in the age of Kali, by the chanting of the holy names,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Thank you very much.

Sri Giri-Govardhana ki jaya!

Sri Govardhana-puja ki jaya!

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Nitai-Gaura premānande, Haribol!

Well, I was told before the class that I had until seven, but that our esteemed announcer would require three minutes to make some announcements, but I have so much affection for him that I am giving him not three minutes, but nine minutes. [laughter] Please. Hare Krishna.