Govardhana is a holy mountain in the Vraja region of Bhāratavarsha. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa holds it to be the holiest of all sacred hills, with no equal on the earth in spiritual merit. Its name means “that which increases the welfare of cows” (go, cow; vardhana, that which increases or nourishes). It has this name because it gives fresh, tender grass to the cows of Gokula every day.

The most famous episode of Kṛshṇa’s childhood is told in the Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa first persuaded the gopas of Gokula to worship Govardhana instead of Indra. Then he lifted the whole mountain on his left hand and held it up for seven days as a shelter against Indra’s terrible storm. This broke the pride of Indra, the king of the devas, and Kṛshṇa received the name Govinda.

Name and holiness

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa explains the name in Kṛshṇa’s own words: “That which nourishes and increases the welfare of the go (cows) is called Govardhana.” The mountain gives fresh, tender grass to the cows of the Gokula settlement every day without fail. It is what keeps the whole cattle-herding life of the gopas going.

Kṛshṇa also says that there is no holy being (puṇyātmā) on the whole earth equal to Govardhana. He says this when he is persuading the gopas to worship the mountain rather than Indra. His reason is plain and practical. Govardhana helps the cows and the gopas every day. It is present, it can be seen, and it keeps their lives going. The benefit of worshipping it is felt at once. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21)

The merit of worshipping Govardhana

In the same passage Kṛshṇa persuades Nanda to turn the Indra-yāga toward Govardhana. He lists what worship of the mountain equals. It equals all the puṇya (merit) from bathing at holy tīrthas, from feeding brāhmaṇas, from every kind of vrata, from every kind of upavāsa (fasting), from every kind of tapas, from great dāna, from service to Śrī Hari, from pradakshiṇā of the earth, from hearing all the Vedas and śāstras, and from doing all kinds of yajña with dīkshā. Kṛshṇa declares that all this merit comes to the one who feeds the cows their grass and lets the goja (the cow kind) graze freely on Govardhana.

Anyone who stops the cows from grazing freely on Govardhana takes on the pāpa of brahma-hatyā (the killing of a brāhmaṇa). That pāpa needs great prāyaścitta (atonement) to remove. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21)

The Govardhana-pūjā in place of the Indra-yāga

Nanda was the chief of Gokula. He had arranged a great Indra-yāga, the yearly worship of Indra for good rain and wealth. Huge amounts of food, drink and goods had been gathered. Ṛshis and brāhmaṇas had come, and the whole community took part.

Kṛshṇa came to the gathering with Balarāma and the gopas, shining in his divine beauty. He held a long talk with Nanda. Who really controls the rain? Not Indra. The sun draws up the water. The clouds are formed by the order of Brahmā. Everything in the world works by the will of Parameśvara. Indra is only one instrument among many in a system ruled by the Supreme. The brāhmaṇas are the true channels of all divine grace. And Govardhana feeds the very cows that feed the gopas, so it is the nearest and most real sign of divine grace in their lives.

Kṛshṇa ended by proposing that half the goods gathered be given to Govardhana and to the brāhmaṇas. Nanda was convinced and agreed. The gathering of ṛshis gave their approval. Among them were Garga, Gālava, Śākalya, Gautama, Kaṇva, Kātyāyana, Saubhari, Vāmadeva, Yājñavalkya, Pāṇini, Ṛshyaśṛṅga, Bharadvāja, Kṛshṇadvaipāyana, Jaimini, Parāśara, Maitreya and Vaiśaṃpāyana, and others. The Indra-yāga became a Govardhana-pūjā and a brāhmaṇa-pūjā. The food was offered, the fire yajña was done, and the sacred chants rang out. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21)

Kṛshṇa takes the form of Govardhana

When the offerings were finished, Kṛshṇa went near Govardhana mountain and took a second form, separate from the form standing beside Nanda. He said: “I am Govardhana. I accept your offerings. Ask me for a vara (a boon), Nanda.” At the same time the Kṛshṇa beside his father pointed to this mountain form and urged Nanda to pray to it. Nanda was deeply moved. He prayed for firm bhakti toward Śrī Hari and for dāsya-mukti, liberation through eternal service. The mountain form accepted the offerings, gave the vara and vanished.

This shows that Govardhana is not only a hill of earth and stone. It is a form of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself, a svarūpa (his own manifestation). (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21)

Indra’s anger and the storm

Indra learned that his yearly worship had been stopped, and that a mere child had caused this insult. He was full of rage. He mounted his chariot and rode to Gokula with his whole army of Maruts and masses of storm-clouds. He meant to destroy Gokula and Govardhana mountain completely.

The attack was terrible. Howling winds tore through the settlement. Thick black clouds blotted out the sky. Rain fell in torrents mixed with hailstones. Lightning struck again and again, and the earth shook with the force of the attack. Trees were torn up. The gopas, gopīs, cattle and children ran in panic. Nanda, in his fear, began to pray to Śrī Hari. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21)

Kṛshṇa lifts Govardhana

Kṛshṇa answered at once, with the ease of a child at play. He comforted his father and the frightened people. Then, with his left hand, as a child might pick up a small stone, he lifted the whole of Govardhana mountain. He held it high over Gokula, and it became a huge umbrella that sheltered every person, every cow and every living being in the settlement.

The text says: “Bālakuḍu (the child) raised that mountain with his left hand as if lifting a stick.” This act shows that the child of Nanda and Yaśodā was no ordinary boy.

For seven days and seven nights Kṛshṇa stood so, with the mountain resting on his raised hand, while the whole community sheltered under it. No rain, no hail and no wind reached them. The storm raged outside, but under Govardhana there was peace. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21)

Indra is defeated and submits

As the days went by, every weapon and every effort of Indra failed. His vajra (thunderbolt) was frozen when he raised it, and his armies were held still. He was bewildered. The Purāṇa tells that Kṛshṇa’s laughter and ease in holding the mountain showed Indra who the child really was. Indra saw in him the Parāt-para Brahman, the Supreme beyond all guṇas, who creates and destroys all worlds by a play of his eyebrow.

Indra fell into a deep faint, and then into an inner vision in which everything around him appeared as Kṛshṇa. When he came to himself, he came down from his chariot and offered his famous stotra, the Indra-Govinda Stotra. In it he honoured Kṛshṇa as the son of Yaśodā and Nanda, as the beloved of Rādhā, as the one who delights with the gopīs, and as Govinda who protects the cows and the earth. After he received Kṛshṇa’s grace, Indra left with his armies, fully humbled.

Kṛshṇa then gently set Govardhana back in its place. The community came out from under its shelter, and great joy followed. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21)

Kṛshṇa named Govinda

The name Govinda, which Indra uses in his stotra, has several meanings. It means the protector of cows (go, cows). It means the finder or protector of the earth (go, earth; vinda, one who finds or protects). It also means the one who is known through the Vedas (go, Vedic words). In this episode all three meanings are at work. Kṛshṇa protected the cows of Gokula from Indra’s storm. He upheld and protected the earth by lifting the mountain. And he showed himself as the Parāt-para Brahman, known through all the Vedas. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21)

Govardhana as a tīrtha

This episode makes Govardhana one of the holiest places in Bhāratavarsha. In Kṛshṇa’s own words, the cows that graze on its slopes, the earth touched by their hooves and the dust of the mountain are all equal to a holy tīrtha. Kṛshṇa tells Nanda in his talk that one who dies in the region of Govardhana gains mukti (liberation) at once. The mountain is one with Kṛshṇa’s own form. So going round Govardhana (pradakshiṇā) is the same as going round Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21)

Govardhana in the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Tenth Skandha

The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells the Govardhana episode in Chapters 24 to 27.

Kṛshṇa’s argument (Chapter 24)

Kṛshṇa saw the great preparations for the Indra-yāga. He put a series of questions to his father Nanda and the gopas. His argument starts from karma, svabhāva (one’s own nature) and the order of the world. Each being is born with a particular svabhāva, a nature and a work, and acts by that nature to live and to thrive. This svabhāva is itself the arrangement of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. Cows live on grass. Gopas live by the cows and by the forest. Their true protector is not Indra but the land they live on, the forest where they graze, and above all Govardhana, which gives fresh grass to the cows every day. Worship should go to what really keeps one alive, to one’s svābhāvika-devatā, the deva that belongs to one’s own nature and way of life.

Clouds also give rain by their own nature. They do not need Indra’s command for every rainfall. Rain comes from the working together of sun, clouds and wind. Indra does not send each shower himself. He presides over a natural process that would go on without him.

Kṛshṇa ended: the gopas should worship what truly gives them life. These are the brāhmaṇas, who hold together the order of dharma in society, the cows, who give milk and feed the community, and Govardhana, who gives the cows their grass. Half the goods prepared for the yāga should go to these three. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Tenth Skandha, Chapter 24)

The Govardhana-pūjā (Chapter 24)

The community accepted Kṛshṇa’s words. The preparations were turned to a new use. The gopas worshipped Govardhana with great quantities of food. They went round the mountain with the cows, and brāhmaṇas were fed richly. As the offerings were set before the mountain, Kṛshṇa himself took a divine form on the face of the mountain, vast and shining, and ate all the offering. At the same time he stood beside his father and pointed toward that form. He said to the gopas: “Look, Govardhana himself has appeared and is taking our offerings directly!” Kṛshṇa stood beside Nanda and was also Govardhana. This shows that Govardhana is a svarūpa (his own manifestation) of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Tenth Skandha, Chapter 24)

The lifting and the Govinda Abhisheka (Chapters 25 to 27)

Chapter 24 gives the Govardhana-pūjā and Kṛshṇa’s appearing as the mountain. Chapter 25 tells of the storm and the lifting. Chapters 26 and 27 end the episode with Indra’s submission and Kṛshṇa’s naming as Govinda.

The lifting (Chapter 25): Indra loosed the Sāṃvartaka clouds of dissolution against Gokula. Kṛshṇa lifted the whole Govardhana mountain on his left hand. He held it for seven days and seven nights as an umbrella over the whole community and all their cattle. The Bhāgavata notes his ease. He stood with the mountain on his raised hand as if he were holding a child’s toy.

Indra’s submission (Chapter 27): After seven days, when all his weapons had failed, Indra came down and offered his stotra of surrender. Kṛshṇa received him kindly. He explained that this was not a punishment. It was the compassionate removal of Indra’s pride (mada) by Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. He urged Indra to rule his realm knowing that all lordship flows from the Supreme.

The Govinda Abhisheka (Chapter 27): Surabhi, Kāmadhenu herself, the divine cow, came forward and bathed Kṛshṇa with divine milk. Indra bathed him with water of the Gaṅgā brought by Airāvata. In this rite Surabhi named Kṛshṇa “Govinda”, the protector of cows, the upholder of the earth, the one known through the Vedas. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Tenth Skandha, Chapters 25–27)

Sources

Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21
Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Tenth Skandha, Chapters 24–27