Posted by Vinayak Yadav on October 18, 2009 at 12:00am
GOVARDHANA PUJAGovardhana Hill is king of mountains and most worshippable in the entire universe. A vaishnava doesn’t walk or climb on it as; it is considered as Krishna Himself. Vrajvasis, cows, sheeps, monkeys, and animals are allowed to climb on Govardhana.The Gopis and Radharani addressed Govardhana as Haridas, and servant of Lord Krishna. He offers everything that appears on His body to be offered to cows/ calves, which are most dear to Lord Krishna.Lord Sri Krishna’s father Nanda Maharaja once inquired from his brother Upananda how Govardhana Hill had appeared in the sacred land of Vrindavana. Upananda replied that king Pandu, father of the Pandavas, had asked the very question to grandfather Bhishma, who had narrated the following story from the Ganga Samhita:One day in Goloka Vrindavana Lord Krishna informed Srimati Radharani that she should now appeared on earth as it was time for Them to perform Their transcendental pastimes within the material world.Srimati Radharani replied that unless Vraja dhama , the Yamuna and Govardhana Hill were present there, She should not be very happy. Krishna then told Radharani that she need not worry, as they all had already appeared on earth.Govardhana Puja is the celebration of Krishna’s pastime of lifting Govardhana Hill. As Srila Prabhupada relates in the Krishna book (chapters 24 and 25), Krishna dissuaded his father, Nanda Maharaja, from performing ritualistic sacrifice to the demigod Indra, and encouraged the residents of Vrindavana to worship Govardhana Hill.All the cowherd men of Vrindavana had arranged to worship King Indra. Because Vrindavana is a village of vaisyas (farmers and dairymen), and especially dependent on the rain to grow crops and feed the cows, the cowherd men felt obliged to offer Lord Indra some worship in order to ensure regular supply of rain.However, Krishna persuaded His Father, Nanda Maharaja, to abandon the worship of Lord Indra and to use the preparations he had already made to worship the cows, the brahmanas (priests) and Govardhana Hill. He instructed His father to prepare delicious foodstuffs from the grains and ghee collected for lord Indra’s yajna. Krishna Ordered that this feast be offered to Govardhana Hill with Vedic mantras chanted by qualified brahamanas. He instructed that the cows be decorated and fed to their satisfaction. Then keeping the cows before them, the inhabitants of Vrindavana were to circumambulate Govardhana Hill.When all these activities had been carefully performed, Krishna expanded Himself into a gigantic, transcendental form and declared to the inhabitants of Vrindavana that He was Himself Govardhana Hill, and accepted all the offerings made during the ceremony.Being proud of his position as King of the Demigods, Lord Indra took great offense at his sacrifice being cancelled, and attempted to chastise Krishna and the inhabitants of Vrindavan by calling the samvartaka clouds ( used to inundate the world at the end of each cycle of yugas) and instructing them to totally destroy the residents, the cows and the village of Vrindavana. Lord Krishna offered protection to the cowherd men and women by lifting Govardhana Hill so they could shelter underneath from Indra’s wrath. Krishna exhibited His supreme mystic power by holding the mountain aloft for seven days with the little finger of His left hand. Devotees celebrate this remarkable pastime by observing the festival called Govardhana Puja and Go Puja. For Govardhana Puja, a replica of Govardhana Hill is made from prasadam ( food offered to Krishna ), and a murty of Krishna is placed on top. The devotees then circumambulate this hill while singing in kirtana. Afterwards, the prasadam is distributed freely. This is a very exciting and meaningful festival, and is always enjoyed by those who participate. Also it is said that those who celebrate the Govardhana Puja festival need never fear death by snakebite !
Giriraj Govardhana Ki Jay...Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare IHare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare II
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