When Bhagavan Brahma had hidden all the cows and children and Bhagavan Krshna became all the cows and children, and when Bhagavan Brahma came to see all these new cows and new children, what he saw was thousands of Bhagavan Narayanas who were supposed to be the children and the cows.

Vedanta: Bhagavan Narayana is the icon for the intellect or buddhi. Our intellect is currently extroverted and an extrovert intellect tends to instruct. An intellect that is always instructing is an intellect of doership. That is what Bhagavan Brahma felt, that he was the doer and that he created these cows and children. An intellect that is trained to be introverted or inward looking is not engaged in instruction, but in inquiry. It inquires into the purpose of life or Who am I? Such an intellect doesn’t develop doership, but surrenders. The inquiring intellect surrenders. Our course is to train our intellect to go from extrovert to introvert so that we feel there is more to who we are, more to what we are doing than we are right now.

A common saying in Vedantic circles is — Keep our head in the forest, but the hands in the market. That is, whatever we are doing, schooling, working, tending to responsibilities at home, our hands should be there, but our head should be in the forest, reading, writing and reflecting. And those who practice this best are the Gopis. Their hands were engaged in their responsibilities, tending, farming etc, but their heads were at Bhagavan Krshna’s feet, at the feet of a beautiful seven year old boy. How come their heads were not at their own kids’ feet? Because they had the knowledge that this was Bhagavan. We say that our kids are like God, but we don’t actually know that.

The Gopis were contemplators. These Gopis weren’t educated, but they were advanced contemplators, identified so completely, so strongly with Bhagavan Krshna that they had dis-identified from their own bodies and minds, and more so dis-identified from their own vasanas. The absolute way to change our vasanas is vasananasha or dis-identification. For us this is more of a technical term, but for the Gopis, it was their experience.

Skanda 10:25:21 — Rishi Shuka is sharing with Raja Parikshita more of Bhagavan Krshna’s leelas. ‘Na traasa ihavah karyaha’ — which means — “I am here for you, do not be afraid.” Bhagavan Krshna is sharing this with the Gopis and Gopas, that what He is holding will not fall and for them to not be afraid. The winds and rains will not trouble them as He was there. So they need not be troubled.

Building up to this — Bhagavan Krshna was observing that His foster father, Nanda was prepping intensely for a yajna collecting lots of food, herbs and vessels. Though Bhagavan Krshna knew why he was doing this, He asked His father what he was doing and why he was doing, in an innocent way. Shri Nanda tried to explain this to Bhagavan Krshna that they were doing this to please Indra as he was the controller of the clouds and rains. Bhagavan Krshna listened and responded:

1. Those people who are enemies or neutral to our well-being in our life, they should be avoided, but we should be close to those who are our friends or those who help us to grow. And He said that we should have the same relationship with Vedic rituals. If we don’t know why we are engaged in a vedic ritual or engaged in the vedic ritual out of fear, we should avoid that. We should be close to only those vedic rituals that we know about as only those would be fruitful. First Bhagavan Krshna brings friendships and then compares that to rituals.
2. Every jiva is subject to karma. There is an action and a reaction and then another action. Then why are we engaged in a yajna towards Indra? Where does he fit into this cycle of action-reaction? So that is another rebuttal.
3. Our responsibilities are honoring karma. So we being responsible, disciplined, careful, etc., that is honoring the true icon or power in our life that is karma, not Indra. Yet another rebuttal.

After Nanda and all the people working towards the yajna heard this, they internalised this and so instead they gave gifts or dakshina to Brahmanas as the Brahmanas specifically guided them. They gave fresh grass to the cows because the cows directly helped them, and they gave respect to the nearby mountain, Govardhana. They did pradakshina around the mountain thinking about it. So their whole yajna changed in texture focused on the Brahmanas, the cows and the mountain and all the food that they collected, they gave to everyone including the chandalas, the outcastes.

Bhagavan Krshna was most supportive and took on the spirit of the mountain as they were doing pradakshina around the mountain. He took on this mysterious form, and shared with all the people walking how pleased He was with the change in their yajna.

Who was infuriated by this? Indra was and he was now having a conversation with the clouds — “For these Gopas to antagonize us, depending on this Krshna, a mere mortal, an ignoramus, a pretentious, pseudo scholar, a silly boy and a braggart at that.” He told the clouds to act like this was pralaya and to have no reservation in their rains. And that’s what the clouds did! That monsoon was so torrential that there was no difference between low ground and high ground. It was also windy and all the Gopas, Gopis, the cows and calves were freezing.

Bhagavan Krshna then walked up to this mountain or hillock and lifted it from the earth like a mushroom, and held it with His left hand and then He shifted it to the nail of His little finger. Then He called all the Gopis, Gopas to be with Him and told them to not be afraid as He was there for them.

Some of Bhagavan Krshna’s friends were thinking that perhaps Bhagavan Krshna was getting tired. So they brought their sticks and put them under that mountain like a scaffold to help Bhagavan Krshna. For an entire week they lived under the mountain, and after a week Indra realised that This was no pseudo scholar, no silly boy, but This was Bhagavan.

Vedanta: This is very relevant to us.

• We should never engage in sadhana out of fear. We tend to be ritualists and tend to externalize, whereas we should be internalizing through reading, writing and reflection. Bhagavan Krshna was there to guide Nanda and others. We all have Bhagavatam to guide us. Don’t think that this is not Bhagavan Krshna. He continues to share with us that one should not engage in sadhana out of fear.
• We should be worshipping the unseen through the seen. In other words, Madhava puja is through manava puja. So we should be serving the unseen or Brahman in the seen, through humans, animals, plants.
• Might is not right. Many politicians think Might is right as they are authoritarians. Conversely, right is might, and such people are dharmik. Indra thought might is right, and Bhagavan Krshna taught him that right is might. Indra is symbolizing for us the one who is controlling. Bhagavan Brahma symbolised arrogance. And Agni devata symbolized indulgence and here Indra devata symbolizes being controlling or someone who is easily provoked. Those who are controlling insist you act like this or that and if not, they get shaken or rattled. Those who are not controlling, they are not insistent and are flexible. Swami Tejomayananda has shared that power is used to serve, and not demand. Bhagavatam shares that we should not take pride in all those who are below us, in a functional way — that is a gauge of holiness.

This whole narration is how Bhagavan Krshna came to be known as Giridhara — the One who holds the mountain. Let us always remember –

Na traasa ihavah karyaha — DO NOT BE AFRAID, I AM HERE FOR YOU!

Skanda 10:27:23 — This is Rishi Shuka sharing with Raja Parikshita what Surabhi or Kamadhenu is saying to Bhagavan. Indra and Surabhi, the mystical cow, came together upon the instruction of Indra’s mother and Surabhi’s guide Bhagavan Brahma, to do a Abhisheka. They poured pure water of the Ganga and pure milk from Kamadhenu, and said that from henceforth, you will be our Indra and you will be known as Govinda.

When Bhagavan Krshna finally put that hillock down, many of the Gopas came to Shri Nanda and said, “He is not your son. Tell us really who this boy is.” Until then, His identity was covert, but now it was overt, lifting up and holding a mountain on His nail for a week. There is a beautiful chapter, Chapter 26, where the Gopas started to share with Shri Nanda everything that Bhagavan Krshna had done, in terms of the Asuras and Suras. This is the Gopas pointing to Shri Nanda what his son did when he was a baby, when he was a boy. Bhagavan Krshna corrected –

• Putana — symbolic for Ignorance
• Shakata — symbolic for Materialism
• Trinavarta — symbolic for Desire
• Vatsa — symbolic for Attachment
• Baka — symbolic for Hypocrisy
• Agha — symbolic for Sin
• Bhagavan Brahma who is a Sura — symbolic for Arrogance
• Dhenuka — symbolic for Hoarding
• Kaliya — symbolic for cruelty
• Pralamba — symbolic for Greed
• Agni who is a Sura — symbolic for indulgence
• Indra who is a Sura — symbolic for controlling

So what Shri Nanda did was explain to the Gopas how what Rishi Garga had shared about Bhagavan Krshna was coming true. Rishi Garga had shared that Bhagavan had been alive forever and that He would protect them.

In the next chapter, Chapter 27, Indra and Kamadhenu both come to Bhagavan Krshna from swarga to worship Him, but with different perspectives. Indra came out of fear whereas Kamadhenu was not reactive, but came proactively. This is when they said that Bhagavan Krshna would be known as Govinda.

The etymology of the word Govinda is very vast. The simplest that relates to us is –

• Go means cows, but for us means senses
• Vin means to control
• Da is the One who gives (like Mukunda is the One who gives Moksha)

So Govinda is the One who gives us the discipline, the strength to control our senses. Literally, Govinda is the Indra or the controller or protector of cows. For us, for our senses.

An excerpt from Chapter 28 — One morning, Shri Nanda goes to the Yamuna to bathe as he is engaged in a vrata and he happens to go too early, that is before 3am. From 9pm to 3am, nature belongs to the Asuras. When the Asuras see Shri Nanda bathing, they are not happy, so they capture him in that water and take him to their master, Varuna, who is the icon for the water.

When Shri Nanda doesn’t come back, everyone is quite worried and goes to see Bhagavan Krshna to let Him know that His father had not come home. So Bhagavan Krshna goes to the Yamuna and dives down to go see Varuna devata. Varuna devata is not symbolic of any vice, so he asks forgiveness and says that his helpers didn’t know. He tells Bhagavan Krshna that He had brought glory to his life as he had now seen Him. Bhagavan Krshna then brings His father back to Vrindavana, but as He is doing this, everywhere they are travelling, through different dimensions, there are all sorts of beings and everyone is more reverential to Bhagavan Krshna. Shri Nanda is shocked to see all the powerful beings also showing reverence to this young seven year old boy.

Back in Vrindavana, Shri Nanda is sharing with his wife and all the Gopis and Gopas about what happened and they all felt sad. Why had Bhagavan not shown them who He was when they had now come to trust that This was Bhagavan? How come He didn’t make them feel who He is? And Bhagavan Krshna, being antaryami, knows what everyone is thinking and feeling. So He takes them to Brahmahridam, the heart of Infinity. In Bhagavatam, they externalise this as if He takes them to a physical place, but in Vedanta we know what it means is that He enlightens all of them.

And after that, He physically takes them to Vaikunta where Bhagavan Narayana lives. There is a lot of depth to this. The fourth purpose of life is Moksha. What is the fifth purpose of life? It is bhakti or devotion. That is why first to Brahmahridam for enlightenment, and then to Vaikuntha, to Bhagavan Narayana. After that, they all come back to Vrindavana. The same parents, the Gopis and Gopas have now moved past believing, to past faith, to past trust. Now they know who He is and know who they are. Do we know that?

Discussion: How are we controlling? Be specific.

Vivekji shared that he is frustrated when time is wasted, that he doesn’t waste time and that it is only others who do so. So this is controlling, but others feel the same way about him, that he is wasting their time. It is expressed as time, but it started with the way he thinks. Everyone expresses this differently and Sanatana Dharma shows that only Bhagavan is in control of time, not us.