Vraja Vilasa 75 : Annakuta at Govardhana Talhati

I take shelter of the place where Sri Nanda Maharaj offered the Annakūṭa-feast to Govardhana hill, and where Sri Krishna deceived Sri Radha by offering her a boon, assuming a very huge body.

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vrajendra varyārpita bhogam uccair
dhṛtvā bṛhat kāyam aghārir utkḥ
vareṇa rādhāṁ chalayan vibhuṅkte
yatrānna-kūṭaṁ tad ahaṁ prapadyeStavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā: In this verse Das Goswami praises the place where the Annakūṭa-feast was offered to Govardhana hill. At this place Sri Krishna convinced his father to give up the custom of offering to Indra and to commence the tradition of offering directly to Govardhana hill, and here Sri Krishna assumed a huge body, proclaimed himself to be the Govardhana hill and ate the huge offering of foodstuffs called Annakūṭa (“mountain of food”), which was given by Sri Nanda Maharaj.

kṛṣṇas tv anyatamaṁ rūpaṁ gopa viśrambhaṇaṁ gataḥ;
śailo’smīti bruvan bhūri balim ādad bṛhad-vapuḥ ||

To bestow faith on the cowherds Sri Krishna assumed another huge body, proclaimed “I am Govardhana hill!”, and then ate the huge feast offered by the cowherds. (Bhāg. 10.24.35)

In his Gopāla-campū (Pūrva, 18th Pūraṇa) Śrīmad Jiva Goswamipāda describes how Sri Krishna assumed this large form to eat the Annakūṭa offering:

This giant took handfuls of rice and vegetables from each of the huge piles of food and began to eat it, and in between he attracted small ponds, lakes and rivers to have something to drink. In this way, all the pools and ponds were all dried up. Wherever Sri Krishna, who had attained the form of Govardhana hill, stuck out his hand to take some food, there all the Vrajavasis came running, just like chataka birds.

The Govardhana giant placed all the vegetables in the piles of rice and began to take big morsels with his right hand, while sticking up his left thumb and index finger as if deriding Indra. To take more food he began to extend and retract his hand so fast that he covered all four directions. When the Vrajavasis saw that with their own eyes they became greatly astonished, because there was not even one grain of rice left over at the place where the mountain had eaten. He had become fattened and nourished exactly to the extent he had eaten. In this way Girirāja finished his meal in no time.

Seeing the most amazing way in which Sri Girirāja was eating, the children became afraid, the youngsters laughed and the elders became astonished. Jubilant Girirāja was very pleased with anyone who had become qualified for devotional service. Then he got himself water from afar, repeatedly washed his mouth with it and repeatedly spat the water out again. This water caused high grass to grow. Then Girirāja took some large bamboo-rods and brushed his teeth with them. By revealing this peerless transcendental form Girirāja fulfilled everyone’s desires. Then he took millions of betel leaves and began to chew them. Blossoming of pride, he made his face look even more beautiful than the morning sun.

Śrīla Dāsa Goswamipāda says: “Sri Krishna assumed this gigantic form when he had the mount worshiped so that he could find a pretext to deceive Sri Radha by granting her a boon.” Out of bashfulness Sri Radha and Krishna cannot freely look at each other in front of their superiors. This desire, cherished within the heart for so long, had become so strong that Sri Krishna revealed this gigantic mountain-form in which he could eat. Now Sri Radharani could freely gaze at her beloved in front of her elders and swim in an ocean of bliss by accepting this blessing at the  same time that everyone else was also accepting blessings from him. Śrīla Jiva Goswamipāda has written:

paraṁ girir eva satraṁ hariṇā na prakāśitam
kintu śrī rādhikādīnām ānanendurucer api

In this pastime Sri Krishna did not only reveal the sacrifice to Girirāja; he also relished the increase of beauty of the moon-like faces of Sri Radhika and the Vrajasundarīs.

Raghunath Das Goswami says: “I take shelter of the place at the base of Girirāja where Sri Krishna’s Annakūṭa-pastime took place.”

śrī nanda vrajendra varya, manete koriyā dhārya,
kṛṣṇa-yukti koriyā śravaṇa
annakūṭa arpaṇa kore, govardhana girivare,
vraje yoto gopa gopīgaṇa
śrī govinda agocare, prakāṇḍa mūrati dhare,
annakūṭa korilā bhojana
varādi pradāna chale, rādhāke chalanā kore,
se sthānera loinu śaraṇa

I take shelter of the place where Sri Vrajendra Nanda patiently listened to Sri Krishna’s advice to offer a mountain of food to Girirāja Govardhana with all the cowherd men and women, and where Sri Govinda assumed a gigantic form in an unseen way, so that he could eat the food mountain and deceive Sri Radha on the pretext of offering her a boon.

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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.

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