Giriraja

[Guest guest]

Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami is also our authority.

 

He tells us that Srimati Radhika Herself personally gave Giriraja Govardhana

the name Hari-dasa-varya. Hari-dasa means servant of Krsna.

 

pramoda-madana-lilah kandare kandare te

racayati nava-yunor dvandvan asminn-amandam

iti kila kalanartham lagna kastad dvayor me

nija-nikata-nivasam dehi govardhana tvam

 

Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami is praying, "O Govardhana, in your caves and

kunjas, throughout the twenty-four hours of the day, you are not only

witnessing but facilitating the most confidential pastimes of Radha and

Krsna and their associates. I therefore beg you to please give me residence

near you so that I can also witness and serve their pastimes." It is in this

way that we follow our authorities. Srila Visvanatha Cakavarti Thakura, in

his prayers to Govardhana, has a similar message. He is praying for the

service of Govardhana and for the service of Radha and Krsna through the

mercy of Govardhana. "You facilitated and witnessed the Dana-keli pastimes

of Radha and Krsna's love quarrel involving the payment of taxes. I want to

witness this delightful quarrel." In this way we follow our authorities, our

guru-parampara, to know how to worship Govardhana as Hari-dasa-varya. In

addition, we understand that Giriraja Govardhana is the fractional

manifestation of the heart of Srimati Radhika. In all existence, the supreme

absolute truth is Radha-Krsna. Radhika is the complete svarupa-sakti, the

complete facilitator of Krsna's pleasure. She expands in order to give Krsna

pleasure in different ways. She expands as Yogamaya, as Mother Yasoda, as

the gopis, as the queens, as the Laksmis, and in so many other ways. In Her

beautiful madhurya love, She even expands as the Dhama and Baladeva, and as

Giri Govardhana. Ultimately, therefore, even greater than Hari-dasa-varya,

Govardhana is a sakhi. Only the sakhis, the gopis, can witness the most

confidential pastimes of Radha and Krsna in the kunjas and caves. Even the

most intimate sakhas, like Subala and Arjuna, cannot witness these pastimes.

 

Why is Govardhana in the form of stone? Being stunned is one of the symptoms

of asta-sattvika bhava, the eight-fold ecstatic symptoms of love. Giriraja

Govardhana is so stunned in seeing these beautiful pastimes, which he

himself has facilitated by becoming the caves and kunjas, that he is now

like stone. In this way he can witness the pastimes of Radha and Krsna, and

at the same time Radhika and Krsna don't feel encumbered or embarrassed by

anyone else seeing them. After all, he appears only as stone. In this way,

Giriraja Govardhana can be worshiped in more and more intimate ways, for

more and more advancement in Krsna Consciousness.

 

 

 

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