NBS#25
NBS#25
Issue no: 25
Features
Conversation Between
Lord Krishna And Nanda Maharaja
Govardhana-Puja
Sri Govardhana-Vsa-Prrthan-Daaka
nitya bhgavata-sevay
Conversation Between
Lord Krishna And Nanda Maharaja
Srila Sukadeva Goswami
While staying in that very place with His brother
Baladeva, Lord Krishna happened to see the cowherd
men busily arranging for a sacrifice to Indra. Being
the omniscient Supersoul, the Supreme Lord Krishna
already understood the situation, yet He still humbly
inquired from the elders, headed by His father, Nanda
Maharaja.
Lord Krishna said: My dear father, kindly explain to
Me what this great endeavor of yours is all about. What
is it meant to accomplish? If this is a ritual sacrifice,
then for whose satisfaction is it intended and by what
means is it going to be executed? Please tell Me about
it, O father. I have a great desire to know and am
ready to hear in good faith. Certainly, no secrets are
to be kept by saintly personalities, who see all others
as equal to themselves, who have no conception of
"mine" or "another's" and who do not consider who
is a friend, who is an enemy and who is neutral. One
who is neutral may be avoided like an enemy, but a
friend should be considered like one's own self. When
people in this world perform activities, sometimes they
understand what they are doing and sometimes they
don't. Those who know what they are doing achieve
nitya bhgavata-sevay
of karma. Even if there is some supreme controller who
awards all others the results of their activities, He must
also depend upon a performer's engaging in activity.
After all, there is no question of being the bestower
of fruitive results unless fruitive activities have actually
been performed. Living beings in this world are forced
to experience the consequences of their own particular
previous work. Since Lord Indra cannot in any way
change the destiny of human beings, which is born
of their own nature, why should people worship
him? Every individual is under the control of his own
conditioned nature, and thus he must follow that nature.
This entire universe, with all its demigods, demons and
human beings, is based on the conditioned nature of
the living entities.
Because it is karma that causes the conditioned
living entity to accept and then give up different
high-and low-grade material bodies, this karma is his
enemy, friend and neutral witness, his spiritual master
and controlling lord. Therefore one should seriously
worship work itself.
A person should remain in the position
corresponding to his nature and should perform his
own duty. Indeed, that by which we may live nicely
is really our worshipable deity. If one thing is actually
sustaining our life but we take shelter of something else,
how can we achieve any real benefit? We would be
like an unfaithful woman, who can never achieve any
actual benefit by consorting with her paramour. The
brhmaa maintains his life by studying and teaching
the Vedas, the member of the royal order by protecting
the earth, the vaiya by trade, and the dra by serving
the higher, twice-born classes. The occupational duties
of the vaiya are conceived in four divisions: farming,
commerce, cow protection and moneylending. Out of
these, we as a community are always engaged in cow
protection.
The causes of creation, maintenance and
destruction are the three modes of nature-namely
goodness, passion and ignorance. In particular, the
mode of passion creates this universe and through
sexual combination causes it to become full of variety.
Impelled by the material mode of passion, the clouds
pour down their rain everywhere, and by this rain all
creatures gain their sustenance. What has the great
Indra to do with this arrangement? My dear father, our
home is not in the cities or towns or villages. Being
forest dwellers, we always live in the forest and on the
hills. Therefore may a sacrifice for the pleasure of the
cows, the brhmaas and Govardhana Hill begin! With
all the paraphernalia collected for worshiping Indra, let
this sacrifice be performed instead.
Let many different kinds of food be cooked,
top right 3
Govardhana-Puja
His Divine Grace
A .C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Top left 4
Lord Krishna assumed a great transcedental form as
Govardhana
nitya bhgavata-sevay
When everything was complete, Krishna
assumed a great transcendental form and declared
to the inhabitants of Vrindavana that He was Himself
Govardhana Hill in order to convince the devotees that
Govardhana Hill and Krishna Himself are identical.
Then Krishna began to eat all the food offered there. The
identity of Krishna and Govardhana Hill is still honored,
and great devotees take rocks from Govardhana
Hill and worship them exactly as they worship the
Deity of Krishna in the temples. The followers of the
Krishna consciousness movement may therefore
collect small rocks or pebbles from Govardhana Hill
and worship them at home, because this worship is
as good as Deity worship. The form of Krishna who
began to eat the offerings was separately constituted,
and Krishna Himself, along with the other inhabitants
of Vrindavana, offered obeisances to the Deity as well
as Govardhana Hill. In offering obeisances to the
huge form of Krishna and Govardhana Hill, Krishna
declared, Just see how Govardhana Hill has assumed
this huge form and is favoring us by accepting all the
offerings! Krishna also declared at that meeting, One
who neglects the worship of Govardhana-puja, as I
am personally conducting it, will not be happy. There
are many snakes on Govardhana Hill, and persons
neglecting the prescribed duty of Govardhana-puja
will be bitten by these snakes and killed. In order to
assure the good fortune of the cows and themselves,
all people of Vrindavana near Govardhana must
worship the hill, as prescribed by Me.
Thus performing the Govardhana-puja
sacrifice, all the inhabitants of Vrindavana followed
the instructions of Krishna, the son of Vasudeva, and
afterwards they returned to their respective homes.
From the book "KA, The Supreme Personality of Godhead" by
His Divine Grace A .C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
nitya bhgavata-sevay
Two yojanas [sixteen miles], west of Mathura, is the
very rare place named Govardhana. A person who
circumambulates this place named Annakuta-tirtha
does not return to this world. O goddess. I will now tell
you everything about it. After bathing in the Manasaganga, seeing the Deity of Hari-deva on Govardhana
Hill, and circumambulating Annakuta-tirtha, what heart
can remain unhappy?
In the Skanda Pura, Mathur-khaa, it is
said: Govardhana Hill is an incarnation of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. When the Lord lifted the hill, all
the people of Vraja were saved from Indra's rains. Lord
Vishnu stays eternally on Govardhana Hill. Brahma,
Shiva, and Lakshmi also reside there. There is no doubt
about this.
Again from the di-varha Pura: After
seeing the Deity of Hari-deva and circumambulating
Govardhana Hill, one attains the result of having
performed a rjasya and avamedha-yaja. Of this
there is no doubt.
Note: One day Sri Jiva Goswami decided to send
Srinivas and Narottama Das to tour all of the holy
places of Vraja. As he wondered who should guide
them, Raghava Goswami arrived from Govardhana.
Sri Jiva was very glad to see him and, after seating him,
inquired about his well being. Raghava told Sri Jiva, I
have decided to tour Vraja, and for that purpose I will
very soon leave. Sri Jiva was quite happy to hear that
and asked Raghava to take Srinivas and Narottama
along with him. Raghava was pleased with the idea.
The above pastimes was narrated by Sri Raghav
Goswami to Srinivas and Narottama on their tour of
Sri Radha Kunda.
An excerpt from a book 'Mathur-maala Parikram' by Srila
Narahari Chakravarti Thakur
joy. Both should feel joy. When the servant sees that the
master feels joy, the servants joy increases. And when
the master sees that the servant feels joy, the masters joy
increases. So there is competition between the master
and the servant, each trying to give more pleasure to the
other. By giving pleasure to the other, each feels more
pleasure himself.
If a servant does not feel joy but rather
complainsOh, I have been serving my master,
but I had no time to take prasdam. I feel so hungry.
And I had no time to get enough rest. I feel so tired
then he is not the best servant of his master. The best
servant of any master will feel joy in any conditionlike
Govardhana Hill.
Sometimes the question may be raised,
How could the whole of Vraja (Vrindavan) fit under
Govardhana Hill when Govardhana Hill is only part
of Vraja? The previous cryas have answered that
Govardhana Hill felt so much ecstasy in being lifted
by Krishna that he expanded in size. And what was
his service then? He had to shelter the residents of
Vrindavan from fierce winds, from torrential rain and
hail, and from the thunderbolts of Indra. But he never
felt any distressOh, I am being attacked by hail, rain,
thunderbolts, and fierce winds. No. He was jubilant
because of being touched by Krishna's hand and
engaged in service to Krishna and Krishna's devotees.
In any condition he felt jubilant to be engaged in the
service of Krishna and the devotees, especially being
touched by the lotus feet of Balarama and Krishna, or
nitya bhgavata-sevay
Radha and Krishna (rma-ka-caraa-sparaa).
Govardhana Hill is also the best servant of Lord
Hari because he gives his whole body for the service of
Hari and His devotees. They walk all over his body. If
anyoneeven our masterwere to walk on our body,
we might not feel jubilant. But Govardhana Hill, offering
his own body for the service of the Lord, making his
body the platform on which the Lord enjoys pastimes
with His devotees, felt jubilant. And Govardhana
Hill would offer respects (mna tanoti) not only
to Krishna but to the cows and calves and cowherd
boys (saha-go-gaayos tayor). Go means cows and
calves, and gaayos means cowherd boys or all
those connected with the cows, including the gopis.
In other words, Govardhana Hill didnt want to serve
only Krishna, or only Krishna and Balarama. He wanted
to serve Them along with Their devotees, not only the
cowherd boys and girls but even the cows and calves.
He wanted to serve all of them.
We should learn from Govardhana Hill that we
can please the Lord better by serving the Lords devotees
than by trying to serve the Lord directly. In the book
Krishna, Srila Prabhupada comments on this verse. He
says that Govardhana Hill knew the secret of how to
please the Lord by pleasing His most beloved associates.
Govardhana Hill gave his body and everything else not
only for the service of the Lord personally but for the
Lords servants as well. Thats how he gave respect to
them.
How did Govardhana Hill serve the Lord and
His servants? Pniya: by supplying fresh drinking
water, especially from his waterfalls. Krishna and the
cowherd boys and calves would also wash their hands
and feet in Govardhanas water and drink it as well.
Suyavasa: very soft grass. Some of the grasses from
Govardhana were used to perform sacrifices, and other
grasses, especially soft, fragrant grasses, were used to
feed the cows so they would be strong and healthy and
give nice milk. Kandara: caves. Sometimes, when it
was very hot, Krishna and Balarama, or Krishna and the
gopis, would take shelter in Govardhanas caves and
feel cool. And if it was too cold they would take shelter
in the caves to feel warm. Kanda-mlai: by roots.
The cows and the boys would eat roots from the hill,
as well as fruits and vegetables and flowers and many
other items. And when Krishna and Balarama would
walk on Govardhana, he would melt in ecstatic love,
and his stones would become soft like butter, giving
pleasure to the feet of the Lord. And Govardhana would
create natural thrones where Krishna would sit and
enjoy pastimes.
How did Govardhana show his joy? His tall
grasses were his bodily hairs standing up in ecstasy, his
nitya bhgavata-sevay
moisture was his ecstatic perspiration, and the trickling
of drops of water through his stones were his tears
of love. Everything of Govardhana is eternal, full of
knowledge, and full of bliss.
Although Krishna once revealed that He Himself
is Govardhana Hill, here we see the gopis appreciating
Govardhana as the best of Krishna's servants, not as
Krishna. Why? The gopis are in the mood of separation.
They want to meet and serve Krishna. So the gopis
are thinking, One can fulfill ones desires only by the
mercy of great souls. Who are great souls? The servants
of Lord Hari. And Govardhana Hill is the best of them.
So we should go to Govardhana, and by his mercy all
our desires will be fulfilled. We will be able to meet and
serve Krishna.
Because the gopis were under the protection of
their elders and other relatives, they had no chance to
meet Krishna. So they thought, We will tell our elders
that we want to go to Manasi Ganga to bathe and then
take audience of Hari-deva. Sri Hari-deva, Krishna in
the form of Lord Narayana, is the presiding Deity of
Govardhana Hill. So the gopis thought, We will take
permission from our elders to go and bathe and see
Hari-deva. But actually the mercy one can get from
hari-dsa, the Lords servant, is better than the mercy
one can get from Hari-deva, the Lord. So on the pretext
of going to Govardhana Hill to worship Hari-deva, they
went to get the mercy of Govardhana himself, the best
of Haris servants, to be able to meet Krishna.
All scriptures advise that we should serve
great souls and get their mercy. Throughout rmadBhgavatam as well as from other scriptures and
authorities, we know that by serving great souls
pure devoteeswe can get the greatest mercy and the
greatest benefit. And of all of the devotees, Govardhana
Hill is the best. So if we go to Govardhana and get his
mercy, we will get the greatest mercy that anyone can
get, and our desire to meet and serve Radha and Krishna
will be fulfilled.
A lecture given by Srila Girirja Swami in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Printed in Back to Godhead Magazine 28-02-1994
Sri Govardhana-Vsa-Prrthan-Daaka
Ten Appeals for Residence at Govardhana Hill
Srila Raghnatha Das Goswami
nija-pati-bhuja-daac-chatra-bhva prapadya
pratihata-mada-dhoddaa-devendra-garva
atula-pthula-aila-rei-bhpa priya me
nija-nikaa-nivsa dehi govardhana tvam
nitya bhgavata-sevay
from the moon of Sri Radha's mouth, O hill that the
Vedas declare to be the tilaka marking of Vraja, please
grant to me residence near you.
nija-jana-yuta-rdh-ka-maitr-rasktavraja-nara-pau-paki-vrta-saukhyaika-dta
agaita-karuatvn ma ur-ktya tnta
nija-nikaa-nivsa dehi govardhana tvam
O Govardhana, O philanthropist that gives
transcendental happiness to Vraja's people, animals,
and birds, all anointed with the nectar of friendship for
Sri Sri Radha-Krishna, surrounded by Their friends, out
of Your immeasurable mercy, please accept unhappy
me and please grant me residence near you.
nirupadhi-karuena r-acnandanena
tvayi kapai-aho 'pi tvat-priyenrpito 'smi
iti khalu mama yogyyogyat mm aghan
nija-nikaa-nivsa dehi govardhana tvam
sthala-jala-tala-apair bhruha-chyay ca
pratipadam anukla hanta samvardhayan g
tri-jagati nija-gotra srthaka khypayan me
nija-nikaa-nivsa dehi govardhana tvam
O Govardhana, O hill that by nourishing the cows with
its water, grass, and the shade of its trees declares to
the three worlds the appropriateness of its own name,
please grant to me residence near you.
surapati-kta-drgha-drohato goha-rak
tava nava-gha-rpasyntare kurvataiva
agha-baka-ripuoccair datta-mna druta me
nija-nikaa-nivsa dehi govardhana tvam
O Govardhana, O hill that the enemy of Agha and Baka
honored by transforming into a new house to give Vraja
protection from the sustained fury of the sura king,
please grant to me residence near you.
giri-npa-hari-dsa-rei-varyeti-nmmtam idam udita r-rdhik-vaktra-candrt
vraja-nava-tilakatve klpta-vedai sphua me
nija-nikaa-nivsa dehi govardhana tvam
O Govardhana, O king of mountains, O hill whose
nectar name "the best of Lord Hari's servants" flows