Shree Krishna lifts govandhan mountain on his small finger.

HARE KRISHNA

Shree krishna's leelas are devine and majestic, in this chapter we shall see how shree krishna lifts govardhan hill to save people of vrindavan from Indra. As seen in the last chapter shree krishna shifts to vrindavan from gokul.

Since ancient times, worship of Indra, god of rain, had been performed on the day next to Diwali for timely rains. When the people of Vrindavan started preparations for the worship, Krishna called all o~ them and said, "Why do you worship Indra z Worship your cows that give you milk and calves. Worship the Yamuna where our cattle have their drinks and whose water irrigates our crops. Worship the Govardhan Hill on whose sides our cattle graze. So, the people o~ Vrindavan gave up the worship of Indra and began to worship cows, the Yamuna and the Govardhan Hill. Indra, the rain-god, felt highly offended and decided to teach the people of Vrindavan a bitter lesson. Indra let loose torrential rains on Vrindavan and lightning flashed terribly accompanied with deafening thunder. A rainstorm broke out and it began to hail heavily. The people of Vrindavan were frightened and ran to Krishna for safety. Krishna took all o~ them to the Govardhan Hill. He raised the hill on a finger of his left hand. It served as a big umbrella under which the people and the cattle of Vrindavan took shelter for seven days after which Indra accepted his defeat. Since this incident, the worship of the Govardhan started as a festival on the day following the Diwali. And this festival is celebrated as such even today. The pride of Indra, the rain-god, came to be decimated. He could do no harm to the people of Vrindavan despite his best efforts. Krishna had kept them safe under the umbrella of the Govardhan Hill during the weeklong torrential rain and violent storm. Indra had realized his blunder and he had come to know that Krishna was not an ordinary boy but Lord Vishnu Himself. So, riding his heavenly elephant, called Airavat, he came to Vrindavan accompanied by the Kamdhenu, the cow known for her capacity to fulfil each and every desire of man. Indra begged for Krishna's pardon with folded hands and praised him a lot. Kamdhenu was beside herself with joy because Krishna had saved all the cows and calves of Vraj giving them shelter under the Govardhan Hill when Indra was up to destroy them. So, she requested Krishna to be the Indra of Cows. She rained her milk on Krishna to give her a bath while Airavat showered the water of the heavenly Ganga on him. Then the title-- Indra of Cows-- was conferred on Krishna. It was then that Krishna came to be called Govind also. This word means the protector of cows.