Five Reasons To Not Worship Govardhana

“My dear father, I am very respectfully and humbly inquiring. What is this arrangement? Why you are busy in making some sacrificial ceremony, what is the reason, and what is the result? For whose benefit is it and by what means will it be accomplished?” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.24.3)

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कथ्यतां मे पित: कोऽयं सम्भ्रमो व उपागत:
किं फलं कस्य वोद्देश: केन वा साध्यते मख:

kathyatāṁ me pitaḥ ko ’yaṁ
sambhramo va upāgataḥ
kiṁ phalaṁ kasya voddeśaḥ
kena vā sādhyate makhaḥ

Shri Krishna had an idea. There was a thought to consider something new, something different. He was only a child at the time, so what power did He really have? How could He possibly influence others to follow a particular direction?

He ignited the spark of change through a series of questions. At the foundation was purpose. What was the particular reason? What was to be gained by the annual yajna in favor of Indra, the king of heaven? Why was that the topmost priority, when there was already plenty to be thankful for?

Krishna posed the questions to His father, Nanda Maharaja, who happened to also be the leader of the community. It was an interesting issue to ponder. There was intelligence at the foundation. Still, there were many sober and rational justifications for staying on the path that was already charted.

1. Play it safe

Why mess with a good thing? If there has been success in the past, it is risky to deviate moving forward. If I know that a particular place of employment has been good to me, that they understand my unique home-life situation, that they extend freedom here and there to do as I please, why should I contemplate moving to a new place? That could jeopardize everything I have worked so hard to establish.

In the same way, there was no harm in worshiping Indra. The result was to be expected. There was a track record to lean on. There was something substantial at the foundation. All four legs of the table were intact, so to speak.

2. Respect the preparations already started

I am in the kitchen. Dinner is practically done. Everything is on the stove. The family will be dining on a mixture of lentils and rice, with some freshly cut vegetables included. I am about to add the heated spice mixture when my child asks what we plan on eating.

Upon hearing my response, they insist upon something different. They want pizza. What can I really do at this point? I have already started. If considering in terms of a progress bar, there is very little time left until completion.

This is similar to what Nanda Maharaja faced. The preparations were already underway. The people were set to worship Indra. Why should that effort go to waste? What would be gained by trying something different?

3. Stay true to tradition

This is at the heart of Vedic culture. The knowledge which flows in a descending manner. The Absolute Truth can only be known in this way. We cannot rely on speculation. Otherwise, we will go on speculating, for years and years, across thousands of lifetimes, and never reach the proper conclusion.

बहूनां जन्मनाम् अन्ते
ज्ञानवान् मां प्रपद्यते
वासुदेवः सर्वम् इति
स महात्मा सु-दुर्लभः

bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ

“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.19)

The Indra-yajna was something like a tradition. The people of Gokula-Vrindavana were respecting the successes of the past. They were not ready to invent something new. They were not going to speculate that satisfaction in life could be achieved through this means or that.

4. Honor the higher authorities

A person new to the traditions within Vedic culture might find the visuals to be odd and unnecessary. Why is there worship of these figures carved in stone? Why are there symbols painted on coconuts? Why are there even coconuts? What is with the stuff painted on the forehead?

The foundation is respect for what has already been established. I was placed into this world through higher forces. The family in which I took birth has some history, as well. Even in the case of inauspicious circumstances, there is at least some protection necessary for viability to continue into adulthood, for reaching a situation where I can ponder the meaning to life.

Indra-yajna was a way to show respect to the devas. These are the gods responsible for the material world. They are like administrators in a government of celestials. The less intelligent will consider this to be mythology, but a sober person would have to admit that the sun, the moon, the stars, outer space, the wind, the rain, and other fixtures of nature are awe-inspiring and impossible to comprehend in full.

There must be some higher power responsible, for providing maintenance, for giving the sufficient energy, for establishing an operation that has predictability and reliability. Indra-yajna is one way to pay honor and respect for those operations.

5. Avoid acting whimsically

As I have the gift of independence, some free will, coupled with intelligence, I can question anything and everything. I can hypothesize that a different approach will be better. This is a guess. If I should follow that path, on a whim, while eschewing long-standing tradition, there is not much support should something later go wrong. I alone will be to blame if there is a disaster in the aftermath.

…

These were some of the many reasons for not taking the advice of Krishna. There is a way to relate to our circumstances at present. We can apply the same justifications for declining the call to sanatana-dharma. Why should I risk everything in favor of what some renounced sage says about the science of self-realization? Why should I try to realize the self? What exactly will that do for me?

We see that Nanda Maharaja listened to Krishna, anyway. The community took the existing preparations and moved them towards Govardhana Hill. This was a new tradition. It was sort of followed on a whim, though with the recommendation of a beloved child. It was kind of a risk, as there was no telling how Indra would respond.

सर्व-धर्मान् परित्यज्य
माम् एकं शरणं व्रज
अहं त्वां सर्व-पापेभ्यो
मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

From what occurred, from the aftermath, we see that the promise of protection to the surrendered souls is true. Shri Krishna was like the greatest iconoclastic rebel, in the sense of curbing the pride of the demigods. He showed the true meaning to dharma, that everything rests in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the param dhama, and the visual of the massive hill resting on His pinky finger shows that everyone can accept His shelter and be protected.

In Closing:

Rather the wrath of Indra beneath,
Quickly this hill get underneath.

Following Shri Krishna’s call,
Worry not from His hand to fall.

The pride in heavenly leader detecting,
So now all of us worshipers protecting.

With this new tradition promising to stay,
To maintain auspicious vision to pray.