“Prepare very nice foodstuffs of all descriptions from the grains and ghee collected for the yajna. Prepare rice, dahl, then halavah, pakora, puri and all kinds of milk preparations like sweet rice, sweetballs, sandesha, rasagulla and laddu and invite the learned brahmanas who can chant the Vedic hymns and offer oblations to the fire. The brahmanas should be given all kinds of grains in charity. Then decorate all the cows and feed them well.” (Krishna giving direction on the first Govardhana Puja, Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Volume 1, Chapter 24)

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1. A car

“Check it out. Here it is. Just drove it off the lot. Yes, yes, I understand that the value has greatly diminished now. No, no, I do not hear that sound. Okay, very funny; supposedly you can hear all of those thousands of dollars being flushed away. Can you pay attention for a minute? Just see all of the new features. It has this satellite camera angle thing, from the top. It helps you park. I can lock and unlock using my smartphone. If ever I should lose my keys, it won’t be the end of the world. The dashboard display is beautiful. The drive is smooth. I need you to be more excited about this.”

2. Clothes

“Well? What do you think? No, I did not get a haircut. I am not styling my hair different. Pay attention to other areas, please! I picked this up the other day, on a trip to the mall. Yes, I understand there is something called online shopping, but sometimes it is better to go in-person. To feel the fabric, to try things on in the fitting room. This was really expensive, but I think well-worth the sacrifice. Don’t you think I look great in it? The people at the event will be so impressed. Really? You think they won’t notice at all? Oh, what do you know, anyway?”

3. Television programming

“Here you go. Come on, take it. Go ahead, change the channel. Keep pressing the button. You are never going to reach the end. I now receive thousands of channels. Whatever game you want, from whatever country. Every hit movie, ever produced. Every cartoon. All the classics, plus the latest releases. It wasn’t easy. I climbed to the roof and installed the thing myself. That satellite dish is so huge I could probably connect with astronauts on their spaceships, if I wanted. What are you doing? Why did you turn it off? Don’t you want to watch something?”

4. Songs

“Well, here it is. I am sending you the network address. Just see what I have gathered. Practically every song ever published. All of the albums from that band you like. I have automation running in the background. It will look for anything new. It will download the files automatically and organize them properly. You can search by artist, by song title, by album name, and by year. Come on, aren’t you just a little impressed? You will never have to purchase music again.”

5. Food preparations

The above reviewed situations show that my interests might not align with others. I strive to reach a higher standard, but others are not even aware of the existence of standards. They have their way of doing things. They approach life a certain way. Even if I were to spend hours in the kitchen, in preparing the most elaborate dishes, my guests might only want to eat a candy bar or drink some water.

This leads to a question. Just what am I doing all of it for? Just why am I going the extra mile? Why am I so desperate to impress others, when they hardly care about my activities and my goals? An incident from history proves that one person happens to be watching. He has the most careful and attentive eye. Though a single individual, His presence is everywhere. The person who always thinks of Him is never lost to Him.

यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र
सर्वं च मयि पश्यति
तस्याहं न प्रणश्यामि
स च मे न प्रणश्यति

yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra
sarvaṁ ca mayi paśyati
tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśyāmi
sa ca me na praṇaśyati

“For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 6.30)

The first Govardhana Puja involves a transition. The people of a small community were busy preparing for a religious sacrifice. The Sanskrit word is yajna. This yajna was in honor of Indra, who lives beyond the clouds as the king of heaven. Something like pleasing the rain gods, the sacrifice was to at least acknowledge the helplessness of man in securing the continuation of life. They always need help. Even if that help appears to be steady in its delivery, the dependence is always there. The rain facilitates growth of seeds into fuel. Grains are due to rain. The rain is due to higher forces. Yajna is for pleasing those higher forces.

सहयज्ञाः प्रजाः सृष्ट्वा पुरोवाच प्रजापतिः
अनेन प्रसविष्यध्वमेष वोऽस्त्विष्टकामधुक्

saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā
purovāca prajāpatiḥ
anena prasaviṣyadhvam
eṣa vo ’stv iṣṭa-kāma-dhuk

“In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Vishnu, and blessed them by saying, ‘Be thou happy by this yajna [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you all desirable things.’” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.10)

This community happened to have a small, adorable, fearless, and intelligent child in their midst. This child happened to be the foster son of the leader of the community. The bluish-complexioned Krishna inserted Himself into the situation. He observed what was taking place and proposed a change. He insisted that the people skip the yajna in honor of Indra. They should worship the nearby hill named Govardhana, instead. They should not worry about the repercussions. The spirit of sacrifice would remain. The appreciation would merely transition to a different place. Govardhana provided for the community. Govardhana was dear to the cows. The cows produced steadily in the manner of the field yielding crops. What is the harm in worshiping Govardhana?

There should be nothing spared in this yajna. Though newly proposed, introduced into the equation without any supporting history, the people should utilize their full culinary ability. They should make the best foods they can think of. The quantities should be large. Everything should be presented before Govardhana. The people should not think that the effort will go unnoticed. Govardhana will appreciate.

This is true because Govardhana happened to be non-different from Krishna. The boy was essentially recommending worship of Himself. The people did not know it at the time. Yogamaya was at play. Since they were so devoted to Krishna, they followed along. Their first reward was visible and verbal acknowledgment. Krishna assumed the identity of the hill and confirmed to the people that everything was accepted.

Just what did this mean, exactly? What was the benefit to pleasing Govardhana? What was there to receive? At least Indra provided the rain. At least people could understand the long-term benefit of pleasing Indra. In this case, the second reward was actually a punishment. Indra observed the affair from above. He sent devastating rainfall in retaliation, to teach the people a lesson the world would never forget.

The third reward happened to overshadow everything else. The young Krishna lifted the massive Govardhana Hill and used it as an umbrella. He proved that the original source of benedictions is always watching. The uplifted hill was the protection resulting from the best offerings, presented with the greatest attention and care. Krishna was so impressed with those people that He literally lifted mountains to protect them.

In Closing:

By offerings so impressed,
That hill directly addressed.

Everything there accepted,
But someone felt rejected.

With boiling content and disdain,
That sending devastating rain.

But best reward for devotion there.
With hill as umbrella lifted in air.

Categories: the five

Tags: dailyprompt, food, govardhana, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry