Srila Prabhupada describes the glories of Sri Govardhana
By Yashodananda Das
Books : Srimad-Bhagavatam : Canto 1:”Creation” : SB 1.10: Departure of Lord Krishna for Dvaraka : SB 1.10.25 : PURPORT :
Srila Prabhupada:
“…When the Lord descends, He exhibits superhuman acts just to prove His supreme right, and materialists like Ravana, Hiranyakasipu and Kamsa are sufficiently punished. He acts in a manner which no one can imitate. For example, the Lord, when He appeared as Rama, bridged the Indian Ocean. When He appeared as Krishna, from His very childhood He showed superhuman activities by killing Putana, Aghasura, Sakatasura, Kaliya, etc., and then His maternal uncle Kamsa. When He was at Dvaraka He married 16,108 queens, and all of them were blessed with a sufficient number of children.
The sum total of His personal family members amounted to about 100,000, popularly known as the Yadu-vamsa. And again, during His lifetime, He managed to vanquish them all. He is famous as the Govardhana-dhari Hari because He lifted at the age of only seven the hill known as Govardhana. The Lord killed many undesirable kings in His time, and as a ksatriya He fought chivalrously. He is famous as the asamaurdhva, unparalleled. No one is equal to or greater than Him…”
Srimad-Bhagavatam : Canto 2: “The Cosmic Manifestation” : SB 2.7: Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions : SB 2.7.32
gopair makhe pratihate vraja-viplavaya
deve ‘bhivarsati pasun krpaya riraksuh
dhartocchilindhram iva sapta-dinani sapta-
varso mahidhram anaghaika-kare salilam
Translation
When the cowherd men of Vrindavana, under instruction of Krishna, 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 Krishna, 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
Children play with an umbrella generally known as a frog’s umbrella, and Lord Krishna, when He was only seven years old, could snatch the great hill known as the Govardhana Parvata at Vrindavana and hold it for seven days continuously with one hand, just to protect the animals and the inhabitants of Vrindavana from the wrath of Indra, the heavenly King, who had been denied sacrificial offerings by the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi.
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-gita, 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 Krishna therefore advised the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi not to offer any sacrifices to the heavenly King Indra. But Indra, not knowing Lord Krishna in Vrajabhumi, was angry at the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi and tried to avenge the offense. But, competent as the Lord was, He saved the inhabitants and animals of Vrajabhumi 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 Brahma, or Siva.
Thus this incident definitely proved without a doubt that Lord Krishna 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.
Srimad-Bhagavatam : Canto 2: “The Cosmic Manifestation” : SB 2.7: Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions : SB 2.7.53 :
Translation
The Lord’s activities in association with His different energies should be described, appreciated and heard in accordance with the teachings of the Supreme Lord. If this is done regularly with devotion and respect, one is sure to get out of the illusory energy of the Lord
Purport
Some of them think that to hear about the pastimes of the Lord means to hear about His activities with the gopis or about His pastimes like lifting the Govardhana Hill, and they have nothing to do with the Lord’s plenary expansions as the purusavataras and Their pastimes of the creation, maintenance or annihilation of the material worlds.
But a pure devotee knows that there is no difference between the pastimes of the Lord, either in rasa-lila or in creation, maintenance or destruction of the material world. Rather, the descriptions of such activities of the Lord as the purusavataras are specifically meant for persons who are in the clutches of the external energy.
Topics like the rasa-lila are meant for the liberated souls and not for the conditioned souls. The conditioned souls, therefore, must hear with appreciation and devotion the Lord’s pastimes in relationship with the external energy, and such acts are as good as the hearing of rasa-lila in the liberated stage. A conditioned soul should not imitate the activities of liberated souls. Lord Sri Caitanya never indulged in hearing the rasa-lila with ordinary men.
Sri Madhavendra Puri discovers Lord Gopala at Govardhana Hill.
Books : Sri Caitanya-caritamrta – 1975 Edition : Cc. Madhya-lila : Madhya 4: Sri Madhavendra Puri’s Devotional Service :
One night while in Govardhana, Madhavendra Puri dreamed that the Gopala Deity was within the forest.
The next morning he invited his neighborhood friends to accompany him to excavate the Deity from the jungle. He then established the Deity of Sri Gopalaji on top of Govardhana Hill with great pomp. Gopala was worshiped, and the Annakuta festival was observed. This festival was known everywhere, and many people from the neighboring villages came to join.
One night the Gopala Deity again appeared to Madhavendra Puri in a dream and asked him to go to Jagannatha Puri to collect some sandalwood pulp and smear it on the body of the Deity. Having received this order, Madhavendra Puri immediately started for Orissa. Traveling through Bengal, he reached Remuna village and there received a pot of condensed milk (ksira) offered to the Deity of Gopinathaji. This pot of condensed milk was stolen by Gopinatha and delivered to Madhavendra Puri.
Since then, the Gopinatha Deity has been known as Ksira-cora-gopinatha, the Deity who stole the pot of condensed milk. After reaching Jagannatha Puri, Madhavendra Puri received permission from the King to take out one mana of sandalwood and eight ounces of camphor. Aided by two men, he brought these things to Remuna. Again he saw in a dream that Gopala at Govardhana Hill desired that very sandalwood to be turned into pulp mixed with camphor and smeared over the body of Gopinathaji. Understanding that that would satisfy the Gopala Deity at Govardhana, Madhavendra Puri executed the order and returned to Jagannatha Puri.
Books : Sri Caitanya-caritamrta – 1975 Edition : Cc. Madhya-lila : Madhya 4: Sri Madhavendra Puri’s Devotional Service : Madhya 4.1 : PURPORT :
Bhaktivinoda Thakura annotates that this Gopala Deity was originally installed by Vajra, the grandson of Krishna. Madhavendra Puri rediscovered Gopala and established Him on top of Govardhana Hill. This Gopala Deity is still situated at Nathadvara and is under the management of descendants of Vallabhacarya. The worship of the Deity is very luxurious, and one who goes there can purchase varieties of prasada by paying a small price.
govardhana dekhi’ prabhu ha-ila dandavat
‘eka sila’ alingiya ha-ila unmatta
When the Lord saw Govardhana Hill, He immediately offered obeisances, falling down on the ground like a rod. He embraced one piece of rock from Govardhana Hill and became mad.Sri Caitanya-caritamrta – 1975 Edition : Cc. Madhya-lila : Madhya 18: Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Visit to Sri Vrindavana : Madhya 18.16
vamas tamarasaksasya
bhuja-dandah sa patu vah
krida-kandukatam yena
nito govardhano girih
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, ” ‘May the left arm of Sri Krishna, whose eyes are like the petals of a lotus flower, always protect you. With His left arm He raised Govardhana Hill as if it were a toy. Sri Caitanya-caritamrta – 1975 Edition : Cc. Madhya-lila : Madhya 18: Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Visit to Sri Vrindavana : Madhya 18.38
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