“O sober Vidura, King Indra, his honor having been insulted, poured water incessantly on Vrindavana, and thus the inhabitants of Vraja, the land of cows, were greatly distressed. But the compassionate Lord Krishna saved them from danger with His pastime umbrella, the Govardhana Hill.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3.2.33)

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वर्षतीन्द्रे व्रज: कोपाद्भग्नमानेऽतिविह्वल:
गोत्रलीलातपत्रेण त्रातो भद्रानुगृह्णता

varṣatīndre vrajaḥ kopād
bhagnamāne ’tivihvalaḥ
gotra-līlātapatreṇa
trāto bhadrānugṛhṇatā

“Listen, it is easy to get wrapped up in the story. The depictions take you back to an ancient time. It is like you are transported to this serene, pristine, and beautiful village, where the people are nice to one another and everyone is more or less happy. It makes sense since the center of everything is Shri Krishna, who is the adorable son of Nanda Maharaja and his wife Yashoda. Krishna is indeed the jewel of that place. He is known as Vrindavana-chandra for a reason.

“But I like to dig deeper. As a thought exercise, I sometimes transport myself to that time and place. I wonder what it would be like to, for instance, deal with the wrath of Indra after that first Govardhana Puja. A flashflood is what insurance policies today might refer to as ‘an act of God.’ There is nothing you can do to prevent them. There is little in the way of preparation that can guard against the sudden onset of damage and destruction. You have no choice but to ride things out, sometimes literally, and see where you land.

“What bothers me is the disparity between the two parties. The aggressor in that case is literally the king of heaven. You cannot really go much higher in terms of a fixture in material life. It is like you get installed into the highest post, where you regularly receive worship. The worship is from people who are not as high as you. In other words, the worshipers are subordinates. That is the obvious juxtaposition within the relationship.

“Then, just a single time, in one particular year, those worshipers decide to go elsewhere. They take their offerings to a nearby hill. This is solely at the direction of a young child, the same Krishna we referenced before. The people otherwise had no hatred. They were not envious of the king of heaven. They meant no disrespect. Krishna merely convinced them to try something new.

“How can you retaliate against such innocent people? Remember, Indra is the king of heaven, who controls the rain. He sent the most devastating cloud, the samvartaka. This is like reaching into your toolbelt and taking out your biggest and most powerful weapon to be used in a military conflict, while the other side does not even know there is a fight going on. Why not tackle the problem directly? Why not attack Krishna? Why not announce yourself beforehand? At least if you defeat Krishna in front of the villagers, they would see that they had made a big mistake in listening to Krishna.”

In one sense, the actual attack is more sinister than we can possibly imagine. Why take on your rival when you can alternatively hit them where it really hurts? Why start a fight with Krishna when you can put His friends in danger? Why not teach Krishna a lesson about what happens when you mess around with the predictable flow of events? It would be like a store in the local neighborhood trying to put the newly built competition out of business, by harassing the customers who left for greener pastures.

The manner of the attack also served to highlight the extraordinary ability in the one who suggested Govardhana-puja in the first place. It is like Krishna was the insurance policy. He vouched for the newly introduced ritual. It was more than a ritual. It was not a business transaction resembling worship of the devas. Worship of Govardhana was worship of Krishna. Worship of Govardhana was bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. Worship of Govardhana was above even sattva-guna, which is the mode of goodness in the material world.

सत्त्वं सुखे सञ्जयति रज: कर्मणि भारत
ज्ञानमावृत्य तु तम: प्रमादे सञ्जयत्युत

sattvaṁ sukhe sañjayati
rajaḥ karmaṇi bhārata
jñānam āvṛtya tu tamaḥ
pramāde sañjayaty uta

“The mode of goodness conditions one to happiness, passion conditions him to the fruits of action, and ignorance to madness.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 14.9)

The envy was towards Krishna. The envy was towards Govardhana. The objects of envy then proceeded to protect the collateral damage, who happened to be the villagers and their cows. This proved that Govardhana-puja was an authorized form of worship. It was not something conjured up without intelligence, to deviate from the culture of dharma.

य: शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य वर्तते कामकारत:
न स सिद्धिमवाप्‍नोति न सुखं न परां गतिम्

yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya
vartate kāma-kārataḥ
na sa siddhim avāpnoti
na sukhaṁ na parāṁ gatim

“But he who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 16.23)

Rather, to follow Krishna, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the very embodiment of life in dharma. The people were on the right side. Indra was on the wrong side, at that moment. After being defeated, he returned to his good senses. Though the fear instilled and the potential for destruction are not viewed in a positive light, at least the intervention of Indra had a role in bringing about the most wonderful sight of a sacred hill resting atop the finger of the one who is always protecting the devotion of His devotees.

In Closing:

Their devotion always protecting,
Like with hill into air projecting.

Damage from Indra collateral,
Attack decision unilateral.

Choosing not directly to fight,
Rather for villagers peril and fright.

Govardhana immediately passing the test,
For annual worship now blessed.

Categories: questions

Tags: dailyprompt, govardhana, krishna lila, poem, poems, poetry