Govardhana Pūjā Begins
Every year the gopas of Gokula prepared a great yajña (fire ritual) for Indra, the deva of the rains. When Kṛshṇa saw the preparations, he asked his father Nanda what they were for. He then argued that karma and svabhāva (one’s own nature) decide what beings receive, and that Govardhana, the cows and the brāhmaṇas deserve honour first, because they keep Gokula alive. The gopas gave the Indra yajña to Govardhana, and Kṛshṇa took a second form as Govardhana and ate the offerings.
The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the twenty-fourth chapter of the tenth Skanda. The Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa tells it in the tenth chapter of its Pañcamāṃśa and adds the four vidyās (branches of knowledge). The storm sent by an angry Indra and the lifting of Govardhana come in the chapters after this one.
Kṛshṇa asks about the Indra yajña
Kṛshṇa saw Nanda and the community getting ready for the yearly Indra yajña. They were gathering large amounts of food, arranging the fire and inviting the brāhmaṇas. He turned to his father with a question that seemed simple but held a deep challenge.
“Father, what is this preparation? For whom is it? What is its purpose, and what result does it bring?”
Nanda answered: “Son, this is our yearly pūjā to Indra, who rules the rains. Indra sends the rain. The rain makes the grass grow. The grass feeds the cows. The cows give us milk and keep us alive. So every year we honour Indra with a great yajña, so that this blessing continues.”
Kṛshṇa’s argument
Kṛshṇa answered with a long argument. His points were these.
Karma and svabhāva are the first causes. All beings receive what they receive, joy and sorrow, wealth and poverty, because of their own karma from earlier actions and their own svabhāva, which decides how they live and act. No deva gives or holds back at will. A being who acts by its svabhāva and uses up the fruits of its karma receives what is due. Indra, or any other deva, is not the real giver. At most he is a nearby instrument in a system that karma and svabhāva wholly govern.
The nature of rain. Rain does not fall because Indra decides to send it. The sun draws up water, the clouds form by the order Brahmā set for the world, and the rain falls through natural processes. These processes are held in the larger order of Parameśvara. Indra is one instrument within this order, and he does not act on his own.
Thanks go first to what truly keeps us alive. Kṛshṇa said the gopas’ thanks should go first and most directly to what keeps their lives going. That is the mountains and forests that give the cows their grass, the cows that give milk, and the brāhmaṇas who keep sacred knowledge. Mount Govardhana in particular gives fresh grass to the cows of Gokula every day, and so it plainly keeps the community alive. A giver who is near and visible deserves honour before a distant and abstract deva.
The yajña is redirected
Kṛshṇa ended his argument: “Use all the things gathered for this yajña, the food, the fire-offerings and the grains, to honour Govardhana, to feed the brāhmaṇas and to honour the cows. This is more in line with dharma for our community.”
Nanda was persuaded by his son’s reasoning. He spoke with the brāhmaṇas and the other gopas who were gathered. The brāhmaṇas were impressed by Kṛshṇa’s argument and gave their approval. The whole community changed the preparations. The great store of food was offered to Govardhana. The fire yajña was done with prayers to Govardhana instead of Indra. The brāhmaṇas were fed richly. The cows were honoured and fed. The community walked around the mountain in pradakshiṇā (circumambulation).
Kṛshṇa as Govardhana
When the offerings were finished, Kṛshṇa left his father’s side for a moment and appeared at the mountain itself, in a second form. He was a vast divine being who said he was Govardhana in person. In this mountain form he said: “I am Govardhana. I accept your offerings, O Nanda. Ask me for a vara (boon).” Then he ate the whole great store of food that had been offered.
Meanwhile the Kṛshṇa who stood beside Nanda pointed to the mountain form and urged his father: “Pray to it! This is Govardhana himself, accepting your offerings.” Nanda was filled with devotion. He prayed for steady bhakti (devotion) to Śrī Hari and for dāsya-mukti, liberation through eternal service. The mountain form granted the vara and disappeared.
In this episode the mountain is shown to be Bhagavān Kṛshṇa’s own svarūpa (own form), not only a sign of him. To honour Govardhana is to honour Bhagavān Kṛshṇa directly.
The Vishṇu Purāṇa account: the four vidyās
The Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Pañcamāṃśa, Chapter 10, adds a point to Kṛshṇa’s argument against the Indra yajña. In this account Kṛshṇa names the four traditional branches of knowledge (vidyā) as the base of his argument:
- Anvīkshikī: logical inquiry, which allows correct reasoning about cause and effect and about the nature of dharma.
- Trayī: the three Vedas (Ṛk, Sāma and Yajur), which govern sacred duty and ritual action.
- Vārtā: the science of livelihood, meaning farming, cattle-keeping and trade, which is the practical base of the gopas’ lives.
- Daṇḍanīti: statecraft, the right use of power and rule.
Kṛshṇa said that when these four vidyās are rightly understood, a gopa sees that his wealth, his livelihood and his protection all come from what directly supports him: the mountain, the forest, the rains and the cattle. They do not come from a distant ruler like Indra, who works on a different plane of cosmic rule. When a gopa’s vidyā is sound, he honours Govardhana before Indra.
Sources
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapter 24
- Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Pañcamāṃśa, Chapter 10