SB 2.7.32 – Sri Govardhana-puja

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. So we welcome you to this most auspicious and festive occasion of the celebration of Govardhana-puja which was inaugurated by the Supreme Lord Krishna Himself five thousand years ago. We are also happily situated in the auspicious month of Kartik, also known as the month of Damodara. It is said that just as Lord Damodara is dear to the devotees, similarly the month of Damodara is also dear to them. Srila Prabhupada explains that the month of Damodara is like a sale. When a store opens it often has a sale to attract customers. And during the sale one can get something very valuable for a small price. So during the month of Kartik whatever we invest in terms of devotional activities brings benefit, much more than the same effort would bring during any other time. So we should take advantage of every opportunity during this beautiful month to perform devotional service because the value of what we do will be multiplied many times.

So within the month of Kartik are many auspicious days, holy days, recently we celebrated Diwali or Deepavali and then the day after Deepavali is Govardhana-puja but we are celebrating again today for those of you who couldn’t come during the week. And many of you know the story to some degree but I will take the opportunity to read a verse and purport by our founder acharya, Srila Prabhupada, and then speak some more about this amazing pastime. So we read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven: “Scheduled Incarnations.” Text Thirty-two. Please repeat after me.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

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. Srila Prabhupada ki jaya

Children play with an umbrella generally known as a frog’s umbrella,

COMMENT

Which I think is like a mushroom. 

PURPORT (continued)

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, 

COMMENT

Not only one hand but with one finger, his left hand, his pinky finger, the tip of his pinky finger held up the entire Govardhana mountain which is about fourteen miles long. So the history, I will get back to the purport, but the history is that for many years the cowherd community in which Lord Krishna appeared had been offering a sacrifice to king Indra. Now Krishna, according to Vedic literature, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the origin of all other Personalities of Godhead including Lord Vishnu, but in His original form He is a cowherd boy, and this fact was very bewildering to king Indra. Even Lord Brahma later became bewildered by the form of Krishna. Lord Brahma is a devotee but he is used to his Lord in the form of Lord Vishnu. We can use all the protection we can get. So king Indra he became bewildered that this cowherd boy is God? So when Krishna saw His father and the other elderly men of the community preparing to offer this sacrifice to Indra He prevailed upon them not to worship Indra. He said that Indra, because they were thinking Indra provides a rain and it is true he is the demigod who is in charge of rainfall, but Krishna said rain will come anyway. Rain comes and falls on the mountains, rain comes and falls on the oceans, nobody is doing sacrifices there but it comes anyway. We should really worship Govardhana Hill and the cows and the brahmans. 

So he stopped the Indra yajña and in instead inaugurated the Govardhana-puja. And although He was only seven years old the residents of Vrindavan loved Him so much that basically they did whatever He said to please Him and, not only that, whatever He said was for their benefit, ultimate benefit. So they did this parikramā, they circumambulate in Govardhana Hill as we will do shortly. And they offered many varieties of foodstuffs and Krishna, while He was doing the circumambulation in the form of a small cowherd boy, He also manifested Himself in a gigantic form and he declared that Govardhana Hill and he are the same. And so he was he was eating all of the foodstuffs that all the vrajavāsīs had prepared. But even then He was not satisfied. He was crying out anior, anior, bring more bring more. So they went and cooked and brought more and it is described that there were literally mountains of puris and samosas and lakes of sweet rice but even then that gigantic form of Krishna, who is not different from Govardhana Hill was eating everything and He is saying, “Bring more, bring more.” And eventually all the vrajavāsīs had exhausted all of their stock of grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy products at home, there was nothing left. Their pantries were empty. 

So they didn’t know what to do. Then someone had the idea that we should offer him tulasi and they did. And then Krishna, instead of crying out “anior, anior,” “bring more, bring more,” He declared “tipto’si, - now I am satisfied, now I am satisfied.” So everyone was very happy except for one person. You know who, Indra. He was very angry because his sacrifice had been stopped by this child, mere child, and he was also infuriated that the vrajavāsīs were taking Him so seriously. 

So Indra wanted to take revenge and it is very interesting how the universal management works. In fact the management that we see on earth, it follows the same principles as universal management. Now the demigods, they are also mortals, they are like ministers to the king. Krishna is the king and the demigods are like ministers to the king. They have no independent power but because of their loyalty and their competence, they are awarded the posts of ministers or demigods. And so we have ministers and we have governors; cabinet members and governors, and so the governors they rule over a particular area, a state, and the secretaries they are in charge of a particular department. So Indra had both of those. He was the king of the heavenly planet svarga-loka. So that was his domain and he is also the demigod in charge of rainfall. So having the most powerful clouds at his command called sāṁvartaka, at the time of the devastation of the universe Indra calls upon the sāṁvartaka cloud and it inundates the universe, it fills up the universe, half the universe. 

And Krishna, it is described that at first Krishna thought, Maybe I should just kill this rascal and finish him off. But then He thought, No, he is a devotee, he has become proud, he has forgotten his position, so better I humble him and bring him back to his original position. And that can happen to any devotee, not literally any devotee but more or less any one of us, we can become proud and forget our positions. The other day I was recalling an instruction that was passed on to me when I first joined the Boston temple. One devotee told me that Srila Prabhupada had said that we are like figures on a chess board and as soon as we are moved ahead one square on the chess board, immediately we think, I am God. So that is our tendency, our fallen nature, that as soon as we move one step forward, not by our own efforts alone but by higher arrangement, immediately we think we are god we become puffed up and everything else. 

So Indra he was puffed up and so he sent this rainfall, devastating rainfall, and Krishna lifted up the entire Govardhana Hill and as I said, held it on the tip of His little finger of His left hand for seven days. And so the entire Govardhana Hill served as an umbrella to protect the residents of Vrindavan and it is mentioned here specifically, the animals. So Indra did everything he could, his most ferocious clouds and lightning and not just torrents of rain; hail, everything he could and it had no effect, absolutely no effect. So after seven days he came to his senses that, “I have made a mistake, this Krishna is not an ordinary person,” that he actually is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and he decided he must come to Krishna and surrender; offer his obeisance and prayers but he was afraid to come because he didn’t know how angry Krishna would be, and what his reaction would be. 

So Indra brought a heavenly cow called Surabhi of course there are Surabhi cows in the spiritual world, in Goloka. But there is also a heavenly Surabhi cow in the material world, but all cows are dear to Krishna and so Indra came with the Surabhi cow thinking that, even if Krishna is angry, when mother Surabhi intervenes on my behalf Krishna will be pacified and He will be merciful. And so it happened, Indra offered obeisance, he offered prayers to Krishna, he apologized for his offenses, and ultimately Krishna accepted him after having dismantled his false pride.

So Govardhana Hill, there is a very beautiful verse in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eighteenth Chapter, the Venu-gita sung by the gopīs, and this particular verse was actually sung by Srimati Radharani herself. And the verse goes hantāyam adrir abalā hari-dāsa-varyo—now hari of course is Krishna, dasa means servant, and varyo means best. So Srimati Radharani who in a way is the best servant of Lord Krishna but she is glorifying Govardhana Hill, hantāyam adrir, adrir means hill, hari-dāsa-varyo. Why? Pramāda. Pramāda means joyful; Govardhana Hill is always joyful to be engaged in the service of Krishna. We might think Govardhana Hill was being held like an umbrella while Indra was sending forth torrents of rain and hail and winds and battering him with thunderbolts, He must have felt very uncomfortable but pramāda, he was happy. And this is also an example and an instruction for us, that when we receive the opportunity to do some service we should be pramāda we should be jubilant. 

Srila Prabhupada had one disciple named Jayananda Prabhu, very wonderful devotee, and sometimes it happens in the temple or in a devotional project that someone is supposed to do some service and then the person doesn’t show up or the person sends information, “I can’t come, I can’t do it.” And sometimes when we receive such news, “Oh no! Now what? Now I have to do it.” Or, “I have to find someone to do it,” but Jayananda Prabhu, he had that mood of Govardhana Hill, pramāda. “Guess what Prabhus, so and so isn’t coming to do his service so that means more service for us, Haribol!” And he wasn’t just saying it as a matter of speech but he actually meant it, he actually felt it. So out of respect and out of it keen interest, we will read from the purport. 

PURPORT (continued)

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.

COMMENT

So sometimes people, because the real basis of Bhakti, the real adhikar, what makes us eligible for Bhakti is sraddha, faith. So if someone’s faith is weak, he or she will think, Oh, if I serve only Krishna and I don’t serve the demigods, they may be angry and I may be in trouble. Now we see here Indra was angry but the residents of Vrindavan were not in trouble. In fact they were in ecstasy. The time they spent, those seven days, the time they spent under Govardhana Hill was complete bliss for them because under ordinary circumstances they could only be with Krishna during some times of the day. For example, his parents could be with him in the morning when he was at home but then during the day when he would go out to tend the cows they would be in separation. And his cowherd boyfriends could be with him during the day when they were herding the cows together but then in the evening when Krishna went home they were separated from Krishna. And the gopīs, younger gopīs they could meet him at night or sometimes during the day at Radha-kunda but they also had a lot of separation. But for this one week all the vrajavāsīs had continuous association with Krishna non-stop for seven days, so it was better than ever for them. And Krishna was reciprocating with each and every one of them in a very personal way so 

PURPORT (continued)

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.

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada gives the example that if you pay your taxes, if you pay your water bill, you don’t have to go to the water department and flatter the person in charge of the water department or pay them some bribe. You paid your taxes you a0re paying your bills, they will supply water. You don’t have to go and flatter them or bribe them. So in the same way, if we are serving Krishna it is like we are paying our taxes or paying all our bills in one place and we don’t have to go to any demigod to flatter them or bribe them or anything. 

PURPORT (continued)

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. 

COMMENT

It is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā, avidhi-pūrvakam, vidhi means the proper regulation; avidhi means it is not the proper way. 

PURPORT (continued)

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 this is a great festival, jubilant festival, by which we can get the mercy of Lord Krishna who is known as Giridhari, the lifter of Govardhana Hill and also the mercy of Govardhana Hill and all the devotees. So we have a few minutes and I will take the opportunity to invite any of you who have a question or some good comment to contribute yes sir. 

Devotee: [0:30:52.0 Inaudible] 

Giriraj Swami: Well, this is a very good question. He says that Indra was chastised by Krishna in the govardhana-līlā, but then later on when Krishna went to take the pārijāta tree from the heavenly planet Indra again became offended and upset. And so this intelligent gentleman is asking, was not the chastisement during the govardhana-līlā sufficient? Evidently not, and that could be the case of all of us. We get chastised by Krishna or indirectly by the material nature and we become humble, and that is very good, but then when the pressure is released we pop up again.

Bhurijana Prabhu, our esteemed godbrother, has given a very nice series of lectures called “The mind and Lord Krishna’s holy name,” and in the series he discusses the Śikṣāṣṭakam verses. And he raises the question, tṛṇād api sunīcena, lower than the grass. Now the grass is already as low as you can get; everyone steps on the grass so what does that mean? Tṛṇād api sunīcena, how can you be lower than the grass? And Bhurijana Prabhu gives the answer that when you step on the grass it goes down but when you take your foot off it comes back up. So he is saying that by Krishna’s arrangement, by material energy, we may be humbled. We may go down but then we may come up again. Come up again means build up our false egos again. So lower than the grass means if someone steps on us we go down but even after they take their foot up we stay down, means we stay humble. We don’t try to build up our false ego again and in that humble state of mind, kīrtanīya sadā hari, we can constantly chant the holy names of the Lord, which really is the source of true pleasure.

So please repeat after me, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare,Hare Rama, Hare Rama,Rama Rama, Hare Hare.