The Glories of Giriraja Govardhana

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However, he could not contend with the persistence of Krishna and finally gave in. He explained that they were arranging for a big yajna (sacrifice) in the honor of Lord Indra, the king of the demigods. Since they belonged to the farming community (Vaisya), they were very dependant on timely  rainfall for their crops and food grains. Lord Indra being the controlling deity of rainfall was therefore being propitiated by the yajna to ensure timely and sufficient rainfall.

Krishna dissuades His father
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Krishna however began to dissuade His father from this sacrifice. Overtly, He took the position of a karma-mimamsa, a class of atheist philosophers that propose that since God is bound to reward or punish one in accordance with one's karma, a person should simply focus on performing his activity and enjoy the results. This argument was countered by Nanda Maharaja that  while activity is essential, the mercy is also needed. Krishna however nullified these arguments saying that Indra sends rains even to the oceans, since he himself is duty bound to do so. Since demigods will be satisfied by the proper execution of duties, there is no need to worship them separately.

Krishna instead proposed that they should worship the local Brahmans and Govardhana hill. Since the Brahmans were the spiritual leaders of the community and Govardhana hill was providing them with so many amenities like grass, water and shelter for the cows, which are the primary assets of the village community. Even though Krishna was debating from an atheistic view point, He had a higher purpose in mind. His descent to the world was to discourage the worship of demigods for material gains, and to establish the true position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He was aware that Lord Indra was very much proud of his position as the king of the demigods. Since Lord Indra is actually a great devotee, Krishna was also showing him His mercy by removing the illusion of false pride from him.

Nanda Maharaja agrees with Krishna
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Even though Nanda Maharaja was very affectionate to Krishna, he was reluctant to give up the traditional ceremony they had been performing for years. So he offered a compromise, that the Govardhana puja would be done after the Indra yajna was completed. However this did not satisfy Krishna. He does not like wishy-washy compromises but clear and uninterrupted commitment. Finally out of affection for Krishna, the villagers lead by Nanda Maharaja relented and began to worship the Govardhana in accordance to the instructions of Krishna.

Thus was established the tradition of the worship of Govardhana, which is followed to this day in a festival called Annakuta. They began the worship by first circumambulating Govardhana hill, a tradition that is followed even now. After Nanda Maharaja and the Brahmins concluded the ceremony, they were awed to see Govardhana personified, personally accepting the foodstuffs offered in the ceremony. They were joyfully surprised to see that Govardhana personified look exactly like Krishna, and from this we can understand that Govardhana is actually non-different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. To this day, qualified devotees take small rocks (shilas) from the Govardhana hill to worship as the deity form of the Lord.

Lord Indra angered
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Lord Indra was however most displeased with this. Even though he was aware of the position of Krishna, anger and pride caused him to become illusioned, a symptom that is common in present day materialists. Furious, he summoned the Samvartaka clouds, specially powerful clouds used at the time of cosmic destruction, and ordered them to pour rain over Vrindavana.  So powerful were these rain clouds that soon entire Vrinadavana was  deluged under rain fall as thick as columns and as sharp as arrows,  causing much pain to the people in Vrindavana. The inhabitants of Vrindavan were all pure devotees of Sri Krishna, and in distress turned to  Him for shelter.

Govardhana hill lifted by Krishna
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The omniscient Lord, very much aware of the machinations of Lord Indra, simply picked up the Govardhana hill and asked all the inhabitants of Vrindavana to take shelter under the hill with their families and animals. In this way, Krishna held the mountain up for seven days on the little finger of His left hand. By His mystic potency, no one felt any hunger, thirst or discomfort for the entire time they spent under the hill. Finally when Indra realized that he was actually up against the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he immediately ordered the clouds to stop. The inhabitants of Vrindavana happily went back, singing the glories of Krishna, and Krishna replaced the Govardhana hill to its original position.

Lord Indra forgiven
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Now Lord Indra was terrified at his offenses. Knowing that Krishna is specially merciful to the cows, he enlisted the help of Surabhi, the personification of the cows in the spiritual world. He stealthily approached Krishna in a secluded place and fell prostrate at His feet. In  beautiful prayers, Lord Indra begged for forgiveness and the mercy of Krishna. Since Krishna is always favorably disposed to His sincere devotees, He forgave Indra and cautioned him against false pride. He also pleasingly received the worship from Surabhi and many other denizens of the heavenly planets.

The descent of Govardhana
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In the Padma Purana it is mentioned that when the Lord descends to performs His pastimes, He does so accompanied by His associates and intimate paraphernalia. Part of the paraphernalia is the actual land where the pastimes are performed. Thus the entire tract of land known as Braja Mandala is said to have descended from the spiritual world into the material. When Krishna wound up His pastimes, He left behind this holy dhama for His devotees to enjoy and draw inspiration from.

Along with the Braja Mandala also descended Govardhana hill on which Krishna performed so many of His childhood pastimes. Since the Lord personally picked it with His hands, it is considered non-different from Him. So enjoyable is this pastime of Krishna to His devotees, that He is also called Giridhari, meaning one who holds the mountain. When Krishna descended later as Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in the mood of His own devotee, He refused to set foot on Govardhana, recognizing it to be non-different from the Lord.

Vanishing Govardhana
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In the Garga Samhita, it is said that Govardhana Hill was once cursed by Pulastya Muni, a powerful mystic and one of the sons of Lord Brahma. The curse was that every day Govardhana would reduce by the size of one seed of mustard. In accordance with the curse, Govardhana, which was initially two yojnas (sixteen miles) tall, has since been reducing in size. The scriptures say that as long as Govardhana hill and river Yamuna are present, there will be religiosity and God consciousness. On the day they disappear, which is predicted to happen some ten thousand years from now, Kali yuga will start in earnest and any semblance of religion will completely disappear.

So while we can, let us relish the pastime of Govardhana, and if and when we get the opportunity, take darshana and perform the most auspicious parikrama (circumambulate) Govardhana.