Diwali meditation 4 – Govardhana Puja – Celebrate the bounty of nature with bountiful offerings to nature and the Lord of nature

Hare Krishna One of the festivals associated with Diwali is Govardhan Puja this is the festival where nature and nature’s bounty is remembered relished and offered back to the source of it all to the Lord of nature the festival is basically the occasion when Krishna arranged for all the Vrajavasis, the residents of Vrindavan to worship the hill Govardhan in today’s world where we are increasingly recognizing that we need our ecology to be able to sustain our very life on this planet this festival reminds us to become conscious of nature and of the gifts that nature offers us Govardhan represents nature in its bountiful abundance Govardhan is filled with lush trees, with soft grass, with flowing streams, with birds chirping, with flowers and fruits in abundance, with caves that offer shelter from heat and cold and rains a place for Krishna to relish his pastimes with his most intimate devotees Govardhan represents and acts as the eternal devotee of Lord Krishna facilitating his other devotees all the Vrajavasis to perform various pastimes with Krishna and similarly the earth that we live on gives us abundant gifts so that we can serve Krishna, so that we can go about our daily lives enriched with the necessities of life provided by nature and Krishna asks for the Vrajavasis to worship Govardhan it is not just the worship of a hill the hill is a great devotee of Krishna and Krishna is reminding us all that we are dependent on him, not just in an abstract metaphysical sense but in an immediate physical sense because we need the gifts that he is providing through nature and this bountiful gift of nature is meant to inspire us to offer bountiful gifts, offerings in return and thus Govardhan Puja which is also known as Annakut is a celebration when huge quantities of food items are prepared and offered to Krishna and to Govardhan actually just as there is a mountain which is a great devotee of the Lord, similarly devotees prepare huge mounds of foodstuffs and these mounds of foodstuffs are offered to the Lord through his devotee Govardhan the idea is that in this loving reciprocation wherein Krishna reminded the Vrajavasis who were literally people living on the earth, not just on the earth physically, we all live on the earth but they lived directly based on the gifts that earth provided them the earth provided them the grass to graze their cows and Govardhan provided them that so Krishna through this festival guides us all to remember the source of our gifts the immediate source that is nature the ultimate source that is he himself and by preparing many many items and offering them on the occasion of Govardhan Puja we can participate in that reciprocation of love with the divine which is manifested eternally for our very sustenance materially and for our progress towards transcendence spiritually Thank you.

Hare Krishna. One of the festivals associated with Diwali is Govardhan Puja. This is the festival where nature and nature's bounty is remembered, relished and offered back to the source of it all, to the lord of nature.

The festival is basically the occasion when Krishna arranged for all the Vrajavasis, the residents of Vrindavan to worship the hill Govardhan. In today's world where we are increasingly recognizing that we need our ecology to be able to sustain our very life on this planet, this festival reminds us to become conscious of nature and of the gifts that nature offers us. Govardhan represents nature in its bountiful abundance.

Govardhan is filled with lush trees, with soft grass, with flowing streams, with birds chirping, with flowers and fruits in abundance, with caves that offer shelter from heat and cold and rains, a place for Krishna to relish his pastimes with his most intimate devotees. So, Govardhan represents and acts as the eternal devotee of Lord Krishna, facilitating his other devotees, all the Vrajavasis to perform various pastimes with Krishna. And similarly, the earth that we live on gives us abundant gifts so that we can serve Krishna, so that we can go about our daily lives enriched with the necessities of life provided by nature.

And when Krishna asks for the Vrajavasis to worship Govardhan, it is not just the worship of a hill. The hill is a great devotee of Krishna and Krishna is reminding us all that we are dependent on him, not just in an abstract metaphysical sense, but in an immediate physical sense because we need the gifts that he is providing through nature. And this bountiful gift of nature is meant to inspire us to offer bountiful gifts, offerings in return.

And thus, Govardhan puja, which is also known as Annakut, is a celebration when huge quantities of food items are prepared and offered to Krishna and to Govardhan. Actually, just as there is a mountain, which is a great devotee of the Lord, similarly, devotees prepare huge mounds of foodstuffs and these mounds of foodstuffs are offered to the Lord through his devotee Govardhan. The idea is that in this loving reciprocation, wherein Krishna reminded the Vrajavasis who were literally people living on the earth, not just on the earth physically, we all live on the earth, but they lived directly based on the gifts that earth provided them.

The earth provided them the grass to graze their cows and Govardhan provided them that. So Krishna, through this festival, guides us all to remember the source of our gifts, the immediate source that is nature, the ultimate source that is he himself. And by preparing many, many items and offering them on the occasion of Govardhan puja, we can participate in that reciprocation of love with the divine, which is manifested eternally for our very sustenance materially and for our progress towards transcendence spiritually.

Thank you. Hare Krishna.