Everyone in the village was busy preparing for some event. Amused by this, Lord Krishna approached Nanda and asked about the event.
Nanda explained to Lord Krishna, “Every year, we offer a prayer service to Lord Indra, the god of rains. Our wealth is cattle and for their food, we require fresh grass, which grows on the hills, only because of rain. So, for timely rains we offer prayers to Lord Indra. Pleased by our prayers, he will bless us with seasonal rains.”
Not satisfied with the reasons put up by His father, Krishna said, “Father, rains are a natural event and why should Lord Indra meddle with it? This Govardhan Hill nourishes our cows with green grass. So, shouldn’t we worship the Govardhan, the holy mountain and cows?”
The elders were surprised at Lord Krishna’s words. They debated for a long time on this and finally agreed to offer prayers to the Govardhan Hill.
Lord Krishna had convinced everyone in the village to offer prayers to Govardhan Hill instead of Lord Indra. He took the lead and said, “Prepare a variety of dishes from sweets to savouries. Collect all the available milk for offering. Bring the holy men well-versed in Vedas to perform the ceremony. Arrange a huge feast for poor people. Feed the holy cows with green grass to their fill.”
Everyone in the village obeyed Lord Krishna. They made offerings to Govardhan Hill. To the surprise of the people, the Govardhan Hill consumed large quantities of the offerings. Actually, it was Lord Krishna Who had assumed a huge form of the spirit of the hill and consumed the offerings. However, in Heaven, Lord Indra was furious for being deprived of the sacrifice. “Look, the cowherd clan has ignored me and offered their prayers to a hill,” he said to a group of clouds.
Lord Indra was very angry and jealous that the cowherds had worshipped Govardhan Hill. Forgetting the divine position of Lord Krishna, Indra decided to send a storm to devastate the village. He ordered the clouds, “Go and rain heavily all over the hill and destroy the whole clan. I shall follow you shortly.” All of a sudden, it began to rain heavily on the hill.
The heavy rains were followed by thunder and lightning. Furious winds blew away all the trees. The panic-stricken cows wandered here and there. The people were frightened and alarmed, and ran out of their homes. It was noon, but the entire village had become pitch dark. The sun was nowhere to be seen. “Krishna, Lord Indra is furious. We all did what you said. Now, please protect us from this terrible rain,” the people pleaded to Lord Krishna.
Lord Krishna consoled the people of the village, “We had offered our prayers to Govardhan Hill, Our saviour. He shall protect us now.” Saying so, He went to the foot of the hill. He asked everyone to stand in the cover of the hill and bring their cattle, too.
After all the people and animals had stood under the covers of Govardhan Hill, in a miraculous show of strength, Lord Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill with one finger to make the hill form a huge umbrella. It poured heavily for seven days and Lord Krishna stood still, lifting the hill all that time. Lord Indra was amazed by the powers of Krishna and ordered the clouds to retreat. As the rains stopped, people came out of the shelter and returned home. Lord Krishna reinstalled the mountain in its original place. Lord Indra was shocked to see this. He couldn’t believe that a little boy had performed such a miracle.
Lord Indra realised the truth of Lord Krishna’s descent on the earth. He thought, ‘Oh, what a fool I have been! Lord Krishna is a divine being with miraculous powers. I challenged the Supreme Lord in my blind pride and jealousy? Now, what should I do?’
Coming down to the earth, he bowed before Lord Krishna and sought forgiveness. He praised Him and sang hymns in praise of His glories. The All-merciful Lord Krishna hugged Lord Indra in the most loving gesture of brotherhood. Thus, Lord Krishna taught Lord Indra a lesson to hold back his pride and vanity. Lord Indra did not believe Krishna was God and humiliated Him by producing rain and storm. But by protecting all the villagers, Lord Krishna showed that He can easily control the entire universe on the tip of His little finger. From that day on, Lord Krishna came to be known as Giridhari, Girdhar and Govardhandhari or the One who lifted Govardhan Hill or Mount (giri) Govardhan.
