May Govardhana Hill fulfill my desire

[This was poasted at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bodhayan/]

"O Govardhana, O king of mountains, (the best of Hari's servants), O hill whose nectarine name flows from the moonlike mouth of Sri Radha, O hill that the Vedas declare to be the tilaka marking of Vraja, please grant me a residence near to you." (Garga Samhita)

Giriraj's coming to Vraja:

Following the inquiry of Nanda Maharaj to his brother Upananda Prabhu, concerning the appearance of Giriraj Govardhan in Vrndavan, Upananda Prabhu related the story as told by Bhismadev (citing the Garga Samhita) to Maharaj Pandu, who had also asked the same question.
In Goloka Vrndavana Lord Sri Krsna informed Srimati Radharani that She should make ready for Their coming to this particular material universe to appear on the Earth planet to enact Their transcendental pastimes. Srimati Radharani replied that unless Vraja Dhama, the Yamuna and Govardhana Hill were present there, She would not come. Krsna assured His Beloved that Vraja Dhama, the Yamuna and Giriraj Govardhana had already made Their appearance on the Earth planet, and were awaiting Srimati's and Krsna's coming.
Thousands of years before this conversation, in the land of Salmali Dvipa, Dronacal's (a flying mountain) wife gave birth to a son named Govardhana. At the time of Govardhana's birth all the demigods appeared in the sky and showered flowers upon him. The great mountains, led by the Himalayas and Sumeru came, offering their respects and prayers, praising Govardhana for having descended from Goloka Vrndavana. They accepted Govardhan as their king, described Him as the "crown jewel of Vraja," and performed parikrama of Govardhana.
At the beginning of Satya Yuga, the great sage Pulastya Muni came to Salmali dvipa. Seeing the beautiful Govardhana covered with many lovely creepers, flowers, rivers, caves and chirping birds, Pulastya Muni felt that Govardhan was capable of giving liberation. He then went to meet Dronacal, who immediately offered his respects and inquired from the sage what service he could render. Pulastya Muni informed Dronacal that he was on pilgrimage to all of the holy places, his explaining that he resided in Kasi. He explained that although Kasi was so auspicious due to the presence of the Ganga flowing through the city, there were no hills possessed of such beauty present in the city. He asked Dronacal if he would give his son Govardhana to him so that he could bring Govardhana to Kasi, so that he could perform his tapasya sitting on top of the hill.
Dronacal did not want to give up Govardhana, and began crying in thoughts of possible separation from his son. Govardhana, not wanting to see Pulastya Muni become angry and curse his father, asked Pulastya Muni how he would be able to carry him all the way to Kasi. Pulastya Muni said he would carry him in his right hand. Govardhana agreed to go with the sage giving one condition; if the sage put him down anywhere during the course of the journey, he would not be able to lift him again. Pulastya Muni agreed, and left, carrying Govardhana in his right hand.
On his way to Kasi Pulastya Muni entered into Vraja, Govardhana's desiring to remain there. Govardhana then arranged for Pulastya Muni to feel the urgings of relieving himself, so Pulastya Muni attended to the call of nature, putting Govardhana down. When Pulastya Muni returned, he was unable to again lift Govardhana to any degree, despite the tremendous strength he was using to do so.
In great anger Pulastya Muni then cursed Govardhana that He would daily sink into the ground, the measurement of one mustard seed. When Govardhana first came to Vraja in the beginning of Satya Yuga, he was 64 miles long, 40 miles wide, and 16 miles high. It is explained that after 10,000 years of the Kali Yuga, Govardhana (and Yamuna Devi) will have completely disappeared.
After narrating the wonderful story of Govardhana's appearance, (another brother of Nanda Maharaj), Sunanda Prabhu informed Nanda Maharaja that as long as Govardhana Hill and the river Yamuna remained manifest, Kali Yuga would not take its full effect. Sunanda Prabhu also explained that anyone who is fortunate enough to hear the description of the appearance of Giriraj Govardhana would be freed from all sins.

Sri Govardhanastakam (Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur)

1. krsna prasadena samasta saila samrajyam apnoti ca vairino 'pi
sakrasya yah prapa balim sa saksad govardhano me disatam abhistam

May Govardhana Hill, which by Krsna's mercy became the king of all mountains and received the respectful tribute of its arch enemy Indra, fulfull my desire.

2. sva prestha hastambuja saukumarya sukhanubhuter ati bhumi vrtteh
mahendra vajrahatim apy ajanam govardhano me disatam abhistam

As it was held above the earth it became so filled with happiness by experiencing the softness of its beloved Krsna's lotus hand it did not even know it was being struck by Indra's thunderbolt. May Govardhana Hill fulfill my desire.

3. yatraiva krsno vrsabhanu putrya danam grhitum kalaham vitene
sruteh sprha yatra mahaty atah sri govardhano me disatam abhistam

Trying to collect a toll, Krsna quarrelled there with King Vrsabhanu's daughter. The personified Vedas yearn to listed to that quarrel. May Govardhana Hill fulfill my desire.

4. snatva sarah svasu samira hasti yatraiva nipadi paraga dhulih
alolayan khelati caru sa sri govardhano me disatam abhistam

Bathing in a nearby lake, the elephant of a pleasant breeze, covered with pollen of kadamba and other flowers, gracefully plays there. May Govardhana Hill fulfill my desire.

5. kasturikabhih sayitam kim atrety uham prabhoh svasya muhur vitanvan
naisargika sviya sila sugandhair govardhano me disatam abhistam

Does the sweet fragrance of Govardhana come from the musk deer who relax there, from the Lord who plays there, or is it Govardhana's own natural scent? May Govardhana Hill fulfill my desire.

6. vamsa pratidhvany anusara vartma didrksavo yatra harim harinyah
yantyo labhante na hi vismitah sa govardhano me disatam abhistam

Searching there for Lord Hari on the path of His flute music, the astonished deer do not find Him. May Govardhana Hill fulfill my desire.

7. yatraiva gangam anu navi radham arohya madhye tu nimagna naukah
krsno hi radhanugalo babhau sa govardhano me disatam abhistam

As the Divine Couple traveled on the Ganges there, the boat began to sink in the middle. Krsna was splendidly handsome as Radha clung to His neck. May Govardhana Hill fulfill my desire.

8. vina bhavet kim hari dasa varya padasrayam bhaktir atah srayami
yam eva saprema nijesayoh sri govardhano me disatam abhistam

Without taking shelter of the feet of the hill that is the best of Lord Hari's servants and full of love for the Divine King and Queen, how is it possible to attain pure devotional service? May Govardhana Hill fulfill my desire.

9. etat pathed yo hari asa varya mahanubhavastakam ardra cetah
sri radhika madhavayoh padabja dasyam sa vinded acirena saksat

May the reader of these eight verses glorifying Lord Hari's greatest servant, his heart melting with pure love, quickly attain direct service to the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava.

Hare Krsnays, janhava dd @ buffalo, ny

Govinda Damodara Madhaveti Govinda Damodara Madhaveti

Inner light

It's Diwali (Kali-Puja, if you're in West-Bengal), the festival of lights. In India, it's probably the biggest holyday in the calendar, not to mention that in some years it tends to be celebrated within the proximity of the Muslim Eid-Ul-Fitr, the Christian Christmas and the Jewish festival of lights, Hanukkah. In India they celebrate it with lights, fireworks and music. Right here I'm sitting in my apartment, all filled with candles, wondering if I'm the only one in Israel celebrating this holyday.
Diwali comes to celebrate many things, mainly the return of Rama to Ayodhaya. The lighting of candles are to show Rama the way. The festival of lights tends to appear in many cultures. As mentioned, the Jewish Hanukkah is celebrated by lighting candles for eight days, commemorating the miracle of the miracle of the container of oil. Of course, mysticism in both Hinduism and Judaism tends to give the lighting rituals a deeper meaning. And in both cases it's the same: victory of good over evil, light over darkness.
The lights we light in Diwali (or, for some, all through the Kartika month while chanting the Damodarastaka prayer) symbolize our inner light and it's victory over the darkness of ignorance and illusion. The self is eternal and spiritual. Matter is temporary. When the eternal identifies itself with the temporary, that is an illusion. Victory of light over the darkness of ignorance would be to revive our original spiritual identity, realizing I am not this body and accepting God into our hart. According to the Gita, God is already their in our hart. But we have to realize it and revive our relationship with him.
So in this symbolic ritual of lighting the Diwali lamp, we should show the way to Rama or Damudara (Krishna) into our harts and make our harts Ayodhaya or Vrindavan.

Durga Puja- A deep Insight!

(taken from mayapur.com)

By Shyamagopika dd on Mon, 2008-10-06 13:30.

While Durga puja is celebrated in pomp and splendor all over Bengal and other parts of the world, read through HG Jananivasa Prabhu’s wonderful class on the real meaning of Durga puja. Class was on the Bhagavad Gita verse 17.14, where Lord explains about the austerity of the body. In the purport, Prabhupada writes one should not do anything which is not sanctioned by the scriptural injunctions. Following is the transcription of the class on Durga puja.
As long as we are in this material world, it is understood that we are in prison and the head of this prison is Durga devi.As prisoners are given a particular type of uniform, similarly this body, the material body, be it an animal body, plant body or human body, but we have a material body means we have a uniform. This body is like uniform of the prisoners. As long as we have this body, we are under the realm of Durga devi , that means, we are all prisoners. As most of the prison uniforms have stripe marks, similarly, if we mark stripes i.e. tilak marks in this body, which is our uniform, and then we will be prisoners of Krishna and no more of Durga.
We should understand that Durga devi is working under the direction of Krsna. As, we see in Brahma Samhita,
sristi stithi pralaya sadhana saktirekachayeva yasya bhuvanani bibharti durgaicchanurupam api yasya ca cestate sagovindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
TRANSLATIONThe external potency Maya who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit potency, is worshiped by all people as Durga, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durga conducts herself.
So, she is not independent or the controller but simply she acts under the direction of the Supreme Lord just as shadow follows the substance.She has two sons-Ganesh and Kartikeya- represents mundane success and beauty and that’s why people who wish to be materially successful worship Ganesha. She is seen as standing along with lakshmi and saraswati who represents mundane knowledge and opulence. She carries 20 weapons in her arms, which represents various pious activities enjoined in Vedas. She holds a snake in her hand. This represents the beauty of destructive time. She tramples over the demon Mahisasura. This represents how she tramples over the vices in this world.When Jiva forgets eternal relationship with Krsna, he is put into Durga’s realm and the veil of Karma acts as the instrument for punishing rebellious jivas. Durga’s business is to punish all these rebellious jivas. This is not actually punishment. It is meant for reformation. When somebody is sent into prison, it is not really meant for punishment but for reformation. So, Durgadevi is also having a trident-the Trishul. Trishul represents the threefold material miseries-adhytamika, adibautika and adidaivika.miseries. Every moment in life and everyone without any exception suffers due to one, two or all the three of these miseries. So these miseries are not but trishul of Durga. She is constantly pricking up the jivas with her trishul. But the idea is to wake up the jiva and not punishing.
‘Why am I suffering so much in this material world? Why am I forced to be in womb, packed up for nine months, in the upside down position in darkness with worms biting me every moment?’There was a report in Australia two years ago, when a baby was born and he actually spoke-“No, not again!not again!”. The doctors were surprised and rushing towards the baby to know what is happening! (laughter)Anyway, Krsna reminds us the misery of this world- old age is coming, disease ,death and it’s always suffering! So, the living entity comes to the point, ‘Why am I suffering’! How can I find solution to this problem? Then he turns to Vedas, brahmanas and Guru to whom he can inquire.Sanatana Goswami, our sambandha guru, when he approached Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he inquired, ‘why am I suffering’? When someone asks this question, human life starts at this point. Then, Vedas and spiritual master can give us knowledge. You are not this body. You are the Soul. Soul is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge.Jiva asks,‘Why am I suffering in this material world? This is not my place and where is that situation where I can live my eternity, bliss and knowledge?’Then spiritual master says, it is not this material world, dear son,it is the spiritual world-back home back to Godhead where you originally belong to. There is no disease,old age and death.Guru Maharaj,'how can I get that?'Guru says,'Yes, you have to perform devotional service.'How can I perform devotional service?'Just Chant Hare Krishna and be happy'(Jai!)
Guru says chant Hare Krsna,be happy and go back to Godhead. So, this is the situation.
So, Durga devi, when that person becomes devotee of Krsna, she becomes so happy. Let me help him go back to Godhead.Then that personality who is keeping you here becomes instrument to help you transcend this material world. How? We have all the 33 crores of demigods and they are all present everywhere in the body controlling and she is their mother. When she is happy, seeing the jivas advancement in Krishna Consciousnees, she orders all the devatas to clear from the route. This is what she wants. She doesn’t want to keep anyone imprisoned in this world forever.
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur once commented,'Durga Puja is not dancing for hindi songs, taking intoxication and having fun',as we see nowadays in puja pandals.Real Durga puja is to become a Krishna Bhakta. Then Durga will be really happy. But if we worship her in anyway we like, whimsically, Srila Prabhupada says they are fools. This body is her property. So,ultimately she is going to take over your body. So, they are worshipping her means they are worshipping their own death. So, they are fools.
We do not want to do Durga puja as fools but do Durga puja by becoming a Krsna bhakta!
Hare Krishna!

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

Sri Bhagavad Gita ki jai!