Canto 10: The Summum BonumChapter 24: Worshiping Govardhana Hill

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.24.32-33

tathā ca vyadadhuḥ sarvaḿ

yathāha madhusūdanaḥ

vācayitvā svasty-ayanaḿ

tad-dravyeṇa giri-dvijān

upahṛtya balīn samyag

ādṛtā yavasaḿ gavām

go-dhanāni puraskṛtya

giriḿ cakruḥ pradakṣiṇam

SYNONYMS

tathā — thus; ca — and; vyadadhuḥ — they executed; sarvam — everything; yathāas; āhaHe spoke; madhusūdanaḥ — Lord Kṛṣṇa; vācayitvā — making (the brāhmaṇas) recite; svasti-ayanam — the auspicious chants; tat-dravyeṇa — with the paraphernalia intended for Indra's sacrifice; girito the hill; dvijān — and the brāhmaṇas; upahṛtya — offering; balīn — the presentations of tribute; samyak — all together; ādṛtāḥ — respectfully; yavasam — grass; gavāmto the cows; go-dhanāni — the bulls, cows and calves; puraskṛtya — placing in front; girim — of the hill; cakruḥ — they performed; pradakṣiṇam — circumambulation.

TRANSLATION

The cowherd community then did all that Madhusūdana had suggested. They arranged for the brāhmaṇas to recite the auspicious Vedic mantras, and using the paraphernalia that had been intended for Indra's sacrifice, they presented offerings to Govardhana Hill and the brāhmaṇas with reverential respect. They also gave grass to the cows. Then, placing the cows, bulls and calves in front of them, they circumambulated Govardhana.

PURPORT

The residents of Vṛndāvana were simply devoted to Lord Kṛṣṇa; that was the sum and substance of their existence. Being the Lord's eternal associates, they were ultimately not concerned with Lord Indra or ritualistic sacrifice, and they were certainly not interested in the mechanistic philosophy that Kṛṣṇa had just spoken to them. They simply loved Kṛṣṇa, and out of intense affection they did exactly what He had requested.

Their simple loving mentality was not small-mindedness or ignorance, since they were devoted to the Supreme Absolute Truth, who contains within Himself all existence. Thus the residents of Vṛndāvana constantly experienced the highest, essential truth underlying all other truths — and that is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, the cause of all causes and that which sustains the existence of all that exists. The residents of Vṛndāvana were overwhelmed in loving service to that Supreme Absolute Truth; therefore they were the most fortunate, most intelligent and most pragmatic of all living beings.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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