Vraja Vilasa 74 :: Govinda Kund and Govinda’s abhishek

May Sri Govinda Kuṇḍa, where Indra, the king of the gods, humbly clasped Sri Krishna’s lotus feet, afraid that he had committed an offense to him, where he had a blissful shower-festival arranged to crown Krishna as Govinda, the king of the cows, with the water of the celestial Gaṅgā through a Surabhi-cow, and that became manifest through those waters, become manifest before my eyes.

nīcaiḥ prauḍha-bhayāt svayaṁ surapatiḥ pādau vidhṛtyeha yaiḥ
svar-gaṇgā-salilaiś cakāra surabhi-dvārābhiṣekotsavam
govindasya navaṁ gavām adhipatā rājye sphuṭaṁ kautukāt
tair yat prādurabhūt sadā sphuratu tad govinda-kuṇḍaṁ dṛśoḥ

Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā: In this verse Shripad Raghunath Das Goswami praises Sri Govinda Kund, a pond at the base of Sri Girirāja. During one of Sri Krishna’s special pastimes this eternally perfect Sri Govinda Kund advented itself. Out of mercy on Indra, the king of the gods, who out of ignorance got stuck in the mud of great offenses by accepting worship from Sri Nanda and the cowherders, the eternally perfect companions who are worshipable even for Vrajendranandana. Sri Krishna caused Sri Nanda and the cowherds to give up the Indra-pūjā and to commence the Govardhana pūjā. Stupefied by his own opulence, Indra became very upset that his worship had been stopped and he engaged the clouds used to destroy the universe to inundate Vraja. By showering Vraja Dham for seven days and nights with powerful torrents of rain and thunderbolts he tried to cause great harm and thus committed a great offense. Finally, on the advice of Lord Brahmā, he went to Vraja with mother Surabhi, offered humble prayers to Sri Krishna, who was sitting blissfully on Govardhana hill, and bathed him with the waters of the celestial Gaṅgā through mother Surabhi.

This can be known through the following description in Śrīmad Bhāgavata:

After Sri Krishna had protected the Vrajavasis from the powerful hailstorms by lifting Govardhana hill, Surabhi and Indra came from the Go-loka (planet of cows) and took shelter of his lotus feet. Indra, who had become very embarrassed because he had disrespected Sri Krishna, considering him to be just an ordinary boy, approached the Lord in solitude and offered his obeisances unto him, touching the Lord’s lotus feet with his crown, which shone like the sun. Having seen Sri Krishna’s limitless power  and having heard about it from Lord Brahmā, Indra, whose pride of being the lord of the three worlds had been crushed, began to praise the Lord with folded hands. (10.27.1-3)

After Sri Indra had praised Sri Krishna with reverential prayers, the most merciful son of Sri Vraja-rāja smiled and said, with a voice as deep as the rumbling of the clouds:

O King of the gods! You had become greatly blinded with illusion due to your regal position, therefore I destroyed the sacrifice that was due to you in order to help you always to remember me. Those who are intoxicated by false pride over their wealth and lordship can not conceive of me as the ruler and chastiser of all. If I want to bestow my mercy on one of them I make him lose all his wealth. O Indra! Return to your abode! May all be well with you! You gods should all accept my sovereignty and remain on your posts without any false pride! (Śrīmad Bhāgavata 10.27.15-17)

After this mother Surabhi and her calves paid obeisances unto Sri Krishna’s lotus feet and offered beautiful praises to him. Then she showered Sri Krishna with water from the celestial Gaṅgā and a stream of her own milk and gave him the title of Govinda, the king of cows.

At that time Tumburu, Nārada, the Gandharvas, Vidyādharas, Siddhas and Cāraṇas began to sing Sri Krishna’s spotless glories and the Apsarās began to dance in topmost ecstasy. The demigods began to shower flowers from the sky, the soil of the earth became muddled by the milk that oozed from the cows, streams of ghī and milk began to flow in the rivers, streams of honey began to trickle from the trees, wheat and barley sprang up from the earth and ripened without the aid of sowing or ploughing, and the earth became newly decorated by innumerable jewels and other gems that came from the mines in the mountains. From the water that showered Sri Krishna’s limbs this self-manifest Sri Govinda Kund advented itself.

Das Goswami says: “May that Govinda Kund become visible to my eyes!”

When Indra, the king of the gods, perceived Sri Govinda, who is full in six opulences, his glory became extremely insignificant. Fearfully he took shelter of Govinda’s lotus feet and rolled in their dust. Humbly he praised the Lord with folded hands and devotedly bathed the merciful Sri Govinda with Surabhi’s milk and the water from the celestial Gaṅgā. When will Sri Govinda Kund, the lake that advented itself from the water of this bathing-ceremony, become visible to my eyes, and when will I be blessed to bathe in its waters?

Commentary of Sri Radha Kund Mahant, Pandit Sri Ananta Das Babaji Maharaj is named Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā (a drop of the nectar of Stavāvalī), and was published in Gaurābda 503 (1989 A.D.) from Sri Krishna Chaitanya Shastra Mandir, Vrajananda Ghera, PO Radhakunda (district Mathura), U.P., India.

Devotional songs in Bengali that follow each commentary were composed by Dr. Haripada Sheel.

© Translated by Advaita dāsa in 1994

More of Ananta Das Pandit’s writings in English translation can be found at Tarun Govinda’s blog, Amrita Tarangini.

Credit: Iskcon Desire Tree

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