“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

Indra should have known better. He should have held back. He should have reserved judgment. Leave the gun in the holster. He should have retained in memory the previous allegiance shown by the people of Vrindavana. He should have had compassion on them, appreciating their loyalty, for they are dependents. He is the benefactor; they are the recipients. They are the worshipers; he is the worshiped.

Indra should have done a lot of things differently in the events surrounding the first Govardhana Puja, but he chose the route of retaliation. There was an underlying motive to the targeted attack. Indra sent the samvartaka cloud to the area of Govardhana Hill to teach a lesson. He wanted to expose how weak the small child of bluish complexion actually was.

“When King Indra ordered the samvartaka and companion clouds to go to Vrindavana, the clouds were afraid of the assignment. But King Indra assured them, ‘You go ahead, and I will also go, riding on my elephant, accompanied by great storms. And I shall apply all my strength to punish the inhabitants of Vrindavana.’” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 25)

The people needed to learn their lesson. They should have known better. They should not be taking advice from a boy. Nepotism should only be a factor during adulthood. Since when does the leader of a community take orders from their son of childhood age? At least wait until they are old enough to steer a chariot, produce food on their own, take care of dependents, and the like. Then the openness and willingness to listen would be justifiable.

In the lila of Shri Krishna, we see that there are many incidents where others test the strength, agility, cleverness, and wit of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in that vision of the celebrated avatara. This is usually from the standpoint of antagonism. Someone is against God. They do not prefer to submit to a higher authority. They will acknowledge the presence of shastra, but those law codes can be exploited for personal gain.

For instance, if shastra says that women are less intelligent and should never be given independence, an abuser can take those words as license to exploit. They can subjugate women, torture them, force them into servitude, and never consider their personal comfort or welfare. They can do the same to children, who are also dependents.

To foster a rivalrous spirit with the Supreme Lord in the adult form is one thing. This sort of conflict takes place all the time. It has been ongoing, since before history was recorded in paper form or passed down through an oral tradition. Anytime someone rises to prominence, others look to bring them down. If an upstart arrives on the scene, others want to see exactly how strong they are.

The contrast is more striking when the object of competition is a mere child. What if the person wanting to test is actually not aligned with adharma? What if they are otherwise considered a “good guy”? What if they accept worship, in a tradition dating back to the beginning of time? What if they are known to align with the divine way, in following the mode of goodness, sattva-guna?

The result is always the same. Whether someone underestimates the Supreme Lord by a little or by a lot, they learn a lesson in the end. This was the case with the first Govardhana Puja. Indra could not believe that the people of Vrindavana decided to skip the annual yajna in his honor. They were fooled, you see. They were tricked by the clever words of the boy Krishna, who began His presentation with a simple question.

Kim phalam. What were the people looking to gain? What was the purpose to their worship of Indra? Krishna already knew the answers. He was ready to respond, accordingly. The same rewards could be attained by worshiping the nearby Govardhana Hill. The people should try that worship, at least this one time. There was not a moment to waste.

Indra responded accordingly. He decided to test the ability in Krishna. There was devastating rain. There was an imminent flood. How would the people survive? Just what could Krishna do now? Talking high philosophy and asking about the phalam, fruits, were not going to save anyone.

The underestimated Krishna then did something amazing. Not to Him, but to the people witnessing. Krishna lifted the just worshiped Govardhana and used it as an umbrella. This thwarted the attack from Indra. It is such an interesting use of a piece of land that a yogi could spend many lifetimes meditating on this single incident.

As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna could have employed a host of other methods. He could have ordered someone to arrive at the scene and attack Indra. He could have expanded His own form to direct the rainfall elsewhere. He could have lifted the potential victims and transported them to safety.

Instead, Krishna created a new tradition of worship. It looked like Govardhana was responsible for saving the people. They were not entirely sure that Krishna had held the hill up all by Himself. You see, others decided to assist. They helped, as well. It was Govardhana that received the credit, both then and into the future, where it is still worshiped in a wonderful annual tradition.

In Closing:

By Govardhana to lift,
Presenting a timeless gift.

When Indra reaching too far,
That hill becoming the star.

Such that even to this day,
Leading followers that way.

With offerings humbly presented,
In tradition that Krishna invented.

Categories: kim phalam

Tags: bhagavan, god, govardhana, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, vishnu