Govardhan Puja katha

Govardhan worshipped in place of Indra

As told in the Bhagavata Purana 10.24, the Vishnu Purana 5.10 and the Harivamsha (Vishnu Parva, chapters 16–17).

The rains had ended and autumn had come. Krishna and Balarama lived in Vraj. One day Krishna saw all the cowherds busy preparing a great sacrifice. He asked Nanda respectfully, “Father, whose worship is this? Is it laid down in scripture, or is it only a custom?”

Nanda said, “Son, Indra, king of the gods, is lord of the clouds. The clouds he sends bring rain, the rain grows our grain and the grass for our cows. So after the rains we offer a sacrifice to Indra every year.”

In the Bhagavata Purana Krishna answers that every being meets joy and sorrow through its own karma, that clouds rain by their own nature, and that Indra cannot change anyone’s destiny. In the Vishnu Purana and the Harivamsha his reasoning is different: “We are neither farmers nor traders. We are cowherds who live in the forest; the cows are our living and our gods, and these forests and hills shelter us. What have we to do with Indra? We should worship the hill and the cows.”

Then Krishna said that the things gathered for Indra’s sacrifice should be used for a sacrifice to the cows, the brahmins and the hill Govardhan. Let many dishes be cooked, from sweet rice to dal, with cakes and all kinds of fried and baked foods, and let all the milk, curd and ghee be gathered. Let the brahmins be fed, and everyone else too, down to the dogs and those held lowest in society; let the cows be given fresh grass. Then let everyone dress in their best and walk around the cows, the brahmins, the fire and the hill.

Nanda and all the cowherds liked the plan, and they did as he said. The Harivamsha paints the festival: trumpets sounded, bulls roared and calves called, there were lakes of curd and rivers of milk, and a mountain-like heap of cooked rice was carried to Govardhan.

When the worship was done, Krishna took on a vast form and said, “I am the hill.” In that form he accepted all the food the people of Vraj had offered. At the same time, in his own boyish form, he bowed with them to that form and said, “See, the hill has appeared and shown us its grace.”

Indra’s rain and the lifting of Govardhan

As told in the Bhagavata Purana 10.25 and 10.26.3, the Vishnu Purana 5.11 and the Harivamsha (Vishnu Parva, chapter 18).

When Indra saw that his sacrifice had been stopped, he was filled with rage. He sent against Vraj the Samvartaka clouds, the clouds that pour at the dissolution of the world. In the Vishnu Purana Indra says he will ride his elephant Airavata himself to make the storm fiercer.

Torrents of rain fell on Vraj. A fierce wind blew and hail came down. Earth, sky and every direction became one sheet of water. Many cows covered their calves with their own bodies, the calves shivered in the wind, and the frightened people of Vraj ran to Krishna: “Krishna, save us!”

Krishna understood that this was Indra’s anger and that Vraj must be protected. He pulled the hill Govardhan up from the earth and held it aloft with one hand, as easily as a child holds up a mushroom (Bhagavata Purana). By the Harivamsha he held it on his left hand.

He told the people of Vraj, “Come under the hill quickly with your cows and belongings. Don’t be afraid; the hill will not fall.” All the cowherd men and women came beneath it with their cows, calves, carts and goods, and there was room for everyone.

For seven days the rain went on, and for seven days Krishna stood holding the hill without moving. He paid no heed to hunger or thirst, while the people of Vraj gazed at him from beneath the hill in wonder and love. Later in the Bhagavata Purana the cowherds marvel that a boy of seven lifted so great a hill with one hand, as an elephant lifts a lotus.

All of Indra’s efforts came to nothing. Astonished, he called back the clouds. The sky cleared and the sun came out. Everyone came out with their cows and belongings, and as they watched, Krishna set Govardhan back in its place.

The people of Vraj embraced Krishna with love, and the gods showered flowers from the sky.

Indra’s apology and the naming of Govinda

As told in the Bhagavata Purana 10.27, the Vishnu Purana 5.12 and the Harivamsha (Vishnu Parva, chapter 19).

Indra’s pride was broken. By the Bhagavata Purana he came to Krishna in private, together with Surabhi, the divine cow from Goloka, bowed his head at Krishna’s feet and confessed that he had erred in his pride. In the Vishnu Purana Indra rides Airavata to Govardhan and sees Garuda, unseen by mortals, spreading his wings to shade Krishna.

Krishna told him that he had stopped the sacrifice for this very reason: to cure Indra of his pride.

Then Surabhi spoke for the cows: “Be our Indra.” She bathed Krishna with her own milk, and at the urging of Aditi and the mothers of the gods, Indra bathed him with water of the heavenly Ganga from Airavata’s trunk. The gods and sages hailed him as “Govinda”.

In the Vishnu Purana Indra says he has come at the cows’ wish. With holy water from a ewer taken from Airavata he performs the abhisheka, installs Krishna as “Upendra”, and says that as Indra of the cows he will be called “Govinda”; as he does so, the cows drench the earth with their milk. In the Harivamsha Indra pours heavenly water from a golden jar, and the cows of heaven shower milk from the clouds.

Then Indra returned to heaven, and Krishna went back to Vraj with the cows and the cowherds. In the Harivamsha Indra says that whoever recites this account and bows will not be touched by misery.