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BY: SUN STAFF
Krishna lifting Mount Govardhana Oct 22, 2014 — CANADA (SUN) — The Appearance of Govardhan In honor of Govardhana-puja, observed in the month of Karika, we offer a detail study of this beautiful painting from an illustrated Bhagavat Purana in Jaipur, c. 1840. Govardhana Hill is the abode of many happy animals, including peacocks, snakes and monkeys. There are different stories about the manifestation of Sri Govardhana in different yugas. It is said that when Lord Rama's monkey army was carrying stones to construct the bridge to Lanka, that Sri Hanuman himself carried Govardhana from the Himalayas for the bridge. As Hanuman transported Govardhana over the region of Vraja, his associates Nala and Neela, who were organizing the actual building of the bridge, announced that their work was complete, and no more stones were needed. Hanuman therefore deposit Govardhana in Vraja Mandala, and there it stayed. Lord Rama promised that in the Dvarpara-yuga, He would Appear as Sri Krishna, and His pastimes would include holding up Govardhana for seven days and seven nights, to protect the residents of Vraja. There is another story of the Appearance of Govardhana Hill, from Krsna-lila, given in the Garga Samhita. Upon Nanda Maharaj's inquiry, Upananda the older brother of Nanda Maharaj, related the appearance of Govardhan in Vrndavan. In answer to a question from King Pandu, Bhismadev explained:
"While in Goloka Vrndavana Krsna informed Srimati Radharani that She should now appear on earth as it was time for Them to perform Their different pastimes within the material world. Srimati Radharani replied that unless Vraja Dhama, the Yamuna and Govardhana Hill were present there, She would not be very happy. Krsna told Radharani that She need not worry, and informed Srimati Radharani that Vraja Dhama, the Yamuna and Govardhana Hill had already made Their appearance on the earth planet. In the Satya Yuga, in the land of Salmali dvipa, the wife of the great mountain Dronacal gave birth to a son named Govardhana. At the time of Govardhana's birth all the demigods appeared in the sky and showered flowers upon him. Great mountains, led by the Himalayas and Sumeru, came there to offer their respects. They performed parikrama of Govardhana and accepted him as their king. They offered prayers praising Govardhana for having descended from Goloka Vrindavana, describing him as the 'crown jewel of Vraja.
Some years later, at the beginning of Satya yuga, Pulastya Muni went to Salmali dvipa. Seeing the beautiful Govardhana Hill covered with many lovely creepers, flowers, rivers, caves and chirping birds, Pulastya Muni felt that that Govardhana hill was capable of giving liberation, so he went to King Dronacal, who immediately offered his respects and inquired from the sage what service he could render. Pulastya Muni informed Dronacal that he was from Kasi and was on pilgrimage to all the holy places. He explained that even though the sacred river Ganges flowed through Kasi, there is no beautiful hill within the city. He asked King Dronacal to give his son, Govardhana, to him so that he could perform his tapasya while sitting on top of the hill. Hearing Pulastya Muni's request, Dronacal, who was not willing to part with his son, started to shed tears in thought of separation from his beloved Govardhana. Not wanting to see Pulastya Muni become angry and curse his father, Govardhana asked the sage how he would carry him all the way to Kasi. The sage replied that he would carry him in his right hand. Govardhana then agreed to go with the sage on one condition: If Pulastya Muni put him down anywhere during the course of the journey, he would not be able to lift him again. Pulastya Muni agreed. Carrying Govardhana in his right hand he left for Kasi.
Pulastya Muni passed through Vraja on his way to Kasi. On arriving in Vraja, Govardhana decided that he should remain in Vrndavan. By his mystic power he was able to influence Pulastya Muni to attend to the call of nature. Pulastya Muni then put Govardhana down and went off to attend to his needs. In returning, he found he was unable to lift Govardhana again despite all of his efforts. In great anger Pulastya Muni cursed Govardhana to sink into the ground by the measurement of one mustard seed every day, Govardhana's originally being 64 miles long, 40 miles wide, and 16 miles high when he first came to Vraja in the beginning of Satya yuga. It's explained that after 10,000 years of the Kali yuga, Govardhana will have completely disappeared." After narrating this story of Giriraj Govardhan's appearance, Upananda explained to Nanda Maharaja, that as long as Govardhan Hill and the river Yamuna remained manifest, Kali yuga would not take its full effect. He also explained that anyone who is fortunate enough to hear the description of the appearance of Govardhan Hill would be freed from all sins.
In glorification of Sri Sri Giriraj Govardhan, Srila Raghunatha das Goswami in his Govardhanasraya Dasakam writes:
Srila Raghunath Das Goswami in his Stavavali prays: "O Govardhana, O King of mountains, O hill, the best of Hari's servants, whose nectarian name flows from the moonlike mouth of Sri Radha; O hill that the Vedas declare to be the tilak marking of Vraja, please grant me a residence near to you."
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