The Adventures of Charismatic Krishna as Goverdhan Girdhari

Krishna is the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Krishna is the most loved, most followed and most popular god of Hinduism. Krishna was born to king Vasudev and Queen Devaki in the jails of Mathura. His biological parents were captivated by his maternal uncle Kansa. Kansa was afraid of his death by the eighth child of Yashoda, as was predicted. Krishna was shifted to the house of Nandbaba within a few minutes of his birth. They were his foster parents who brought him up with utmost love and care. Nand Baba and Yashoda witnessed all his mischievous and mesmerising Balleela. He killed many demons there.

Let's put light on Goverdhan Girdhari ‘s chapter

Girdhari means a person who holds (dhara) the hill(gir). Let's read more vividly. According to holy text, once, in Vraj region, people used to worship Indra(god of rain and king of heaven). Main livelihood of people was agriculture and cow farming. In those times, sunlight and rains were major source of irrigation. People used to worship Indra for rains. Indra was haughty of power and position. To teach him a lesson, Little Krishna asked villagers to worship govardhan mountain as it feeds our cows and is the source of our wealth and well being. People started performing goverdhan puja. It aroused anger and frustration in Indra. His crossness made him pour torments of rain onto the geographical region. It rained  with thunderstorm and lightning. It was such terrifying rains that houses could not stand. All greeneries and trees started mangling. All the cattle, humans, and other living beings were petrified to see such heinous rains and thunderstorm.

Then to safe guard people and cows from rain, Little Krishna lifted the Giriraj (goverdhan) hill onto his little finger to use it as refuge. He lifted the hill for seven days continuously. This act of lifting Giriraj(goverdhan) hill gave him the name of goverdhan Girdhari. Indra learned the lesson of equality and love from this act. He apologised to lord krishna.

It is believed that Krishna stood on his twisted leg for seven continuous days without food and water. After keeping down the hill on floor back, Krishna was very hungry. So, to fill his hunger pangs, Yashodhra cooked 56 different dishes for Krishna. As, Krishna used to eat 8 times in a day. From then on,56 bhog is served to krishna at various religious ceremonies and temples.

Another sacred text suggest a different story on naming him goverdhan Girdhari. There was a gopi who married to one of the friends of Krishna. At the time of vidaai(departure to in-laws house), her mother told her not to look at Krishna. As all the gopi get mesmerised by the looks of Krishna and they forget everything. Everyone is drawn to him once he or she sees him. Hence, when the palanquin of this newly wedded bride arrived at the groom's house, Krishna tried to see her. He even tried to peep into the palanquin to see the face of gopi. But, because of the fear of being hypnotised by him, Gopi turned her face away. Krishna again tried to see her from the front side, again she turned away. As she was his friend’s bride, Krishna was curious to see her. Every time he failed to see her. One day  when Krishna was lifting up the Govardhan on his pinkie finger, she looked at him for the first time and she melted completely into him. She continuously looked at him for seven days. It is said that Girdhari told  Gopi that the number of times you avoided me will be the same number of rebirths you will not remember me. You will be my  greatest devotee on Earth after those rebirths. And, when she was reborn, she saw the idol of Krishna lifting Govardhan on his finger, she called him Girdhari. She was later recognised as Meera.

Yugal chawi, Radhakrishna and Sheshnag Dhari are few of the idol depictions of life of Shri Krishna. One can easily spot a picture or idol of Krishna holding goverdhan parwat on his little finger. These idols are widely available online and offline markets.

You can find Goverdhan Krishna idol in by visiting this website: https://www.statuestudio.com/hindu-gods/krishna

• We should keep idol of Girdhari with care
• One should always place idol in North East corner of the house.
• The idol should be kept clean.
• Bhog should be offered to idols.
• Krishna idol should never be kept at bathroom or bedroom.
• Always chants his mantras in front of the idol.

Krishna is the most charming god who has an innate quality of attracting anyone who comes in contact with him. It is believed that a very advanced devotee can see and feel the magical energy of Krishna and his idol everywhere. We can not see Krishna with our materialistic eyes, but by binding our love and devotion with the idol, we keep our faith growing and blooming with time.