In2-MeC

Groningen, The Netherlands
26 October 2003

Myself, Vidyagati, Dharmaksetra and Pitambara dd just concluded a small morning Govardhana day program here in Groningen.

Soon we'll leave for Amsterdam. There will be a Govardhana Puja ceremony at the ISKCON temple there. Devotees have asked that my Giriraja sila be bathed in their abhiseka ceremony.

Jaya Giriraja!

Let us humbly pray to Srila Prabhupada that by His Divine Grace we may take advantage of this holy Govardhana Puja, and the Kartika month, to cross over the obstacles that separate our hearts from the blissful realm of pure Vaisnava sanga.

Poem to Sri Giriraja

Nanda's lotus-eyed son
At only seven years of age
Lifted the Govardhana Mountain
Balanced it on his little finger for a week
Sheltered all His beloved devotees
And defeated Indra's pride.

The law is on Indra's side.
After all, he is the king of heaven.
But he made a mistake when he thought to impose
The duality of the material world upon Vrndavana.
"Be good, you Vrajavasis, and worship me!
I who sit on the throne of Svarga
Will bless you with due rewards.
Neglect me, and you're bad...
Subject to my punishment."

Such are the rules of the external world.
But the life and soul of Sri Vrndavana Dhama
Is Lord Krsna Himself
And He instructs the residents of His abode,
"Here, we need only worship Govardhana hill."

King Indra, all respects to you
But don't you see that this land of Vraja
Is the Lord's own heart!
Please don't try to police this place
With your Vedic codes;
Otherwise as great as you are
You will run afoul of duality yourself
And risk becoming something like Kamsa
Who sent his riotous agents of destruction,
Putana and the rest,
Into Vrndavana to be delivered by Krsna.
O ruler of Amaravati and enemy of the asuras!
Don't let pride force you to imitate the demon-king!

But as ordained by the script of fate
(written by none other that Sri Hari)
Indra ordered his powerful Samvartaka clouds
To indundate Vraja with rains of devastation.
Krsna is so kind...
He did not treat those clouds as demons.
Weapons of Indra are respectable,
As Garuda respected the vajra.
For seven days
Sri Giridhari blessed the clouds
With the darsana Of His Govardhana-lila!
When the sky cleared, Surabhi proclaimed Sri Krsna
"The real Indra"
And Indra himself fell at the Lord's lotus feet.

Why do I attend to topics other than this,
Krsna's Govardhana pastimes,
And thus waste my miserable life?
I beg you, Sri Giriraja,
Lift this heavy stone of worldliness from my heart
And let just one nectarean drop of taste
For hearing and chanting Your glories
Water the parched soil there.

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