Mount Govardhan had been worshipped.
He had accepted all the prasad.
Indra had flown into a rage.
Torrential rain had flooded Vrindavan.
Instinctively, all had turned to Him for solace.
And that delicate son of Nanda had done the unimaginable.
He had lifted up Govardhan on the tip of His little
finger.
Effortlessly.
And held it like that for 7 days and nights.
Sheltered from the storm, the brajavasis had been in
ecstasy.
For they had been able to gaze, uninterrupted by mundane
activities, on that radiant, smiling face.
No one had felt hungry or thirsty or tired or worried.
After 7 days, the clouds had been exhausted.
The sun had come out shining bright.
He had forced everyone to return home, and gently set
down Govardhan.
As they turned to leave, one of the gopa boys had a
sudden moment of realization.
He asked in wonder:
“How did You have the strength to hold up this great mountain for all this time?
Who are You? Are You a God, or a Gandharva, or a
Yaksha or a Danava?”
The smile vanished from Krishna’s face.
yadi vo’sti mayi prItih SlAghyo’ham
bhavatAm yadi |
tad-Atam-buddhi
sadRSI buddhir-vah kriyatAma mayi
||
nAham devo na gandharvo na yaksho na ca
dAnavah |
aham
vo bAndhavo jAtah na vaS-cintyam ato’nyatA
||
--
(VishNu purANam 5.13.11 & 12)
“If you
have real love for me and think that I am worthy of praise from you, then you
must think of me as you think of yourselves (i.e., you must think of me as a
gopa, as you all are). I am neither a
god, nor a gandharva, neither a yaksha (a demi-god), nor a dAnava (demon). I am a born relative to you all. You must not think of me any other way”!
He flashed that beautiful
smile at the gopa boy.
And the veil fell firmly
back in place.
The gopa boys ran home,
and laughing aloud, He rushed along with them.
Those innocent boys that
day composed a song that is still sung in Brajabhumi.
He wants us to think of
Him as one amongst us.
He’s seated within,
waiting silently, through all the births we have taken.
All we need to do is turn
to Him, and He will lift the mountain of this samsara, sheltering us from all
storms, and drown us in the ecstasy of His charming smile!
