shri-govarddhana-adi-darshanam

Darshana of Govardhana Hill and Other Holy Places

 punash ca kasa-bhitena / sammantrya sva-janaih saha

 nandishvare nivasash ca / cakre nandena sa-vrajam 1

   punah - again; ca - and; kasa-bhitena - due to fear of Kasa; sammantrya - inviting; sva-janaih - by his people; saha - with; nandishvare - on the hill named Nandishvara; nivasah - abode; ca - and; cakre - made; nandena - by Nanda; sa-vrajam - with the cowherd community.

  Krishna Dasa continued, "Again due to fear of Kasa, Maharaja Nanda consulted with his people and thus the community of cowherds made their new abode on Nandishvara hill.

 govarddhana-girau ramye / manah svarga-nadi-tate

 nitya viharatah kna-ramau sakhi-samanvitau 2

   govardhana-girau - on the hill of Govardhana; ramye - on the charming; manah-svarga-nadi - Manasa-Ganga; tate - on the bank; nityam - daily; viharatah - enjoyed; kna-ramau - Krishna and Rama; sakhi-samanvitau - with their friends.

  "Every day Krishna and Rama enjoyed with their friends on the banks of Manasi Ganga near charming Govardhana Hill.

 indra-garvva-nirasartha / sapta-varo harih kila

 giri dadhara harena / svana raka vicintayan 3

   indra - Lord Indra; garva - pride; nirasa - driving out; artham - with the purpose; sapta-varah - seven years old; harih - the remover of sin; kila - indeed; girim - hill; dadhara - held; harena - with joy; svanam - of His own people; rakam - protection; vicintayan - considering.

  "In order to drive out the pride from the heart of Indradeva, Shri Hari, at the age of seven, cheerfully held up Govardhana Hill, thinking of the protection of His people.

 nau-krida ktavan kno / gangaya rasa-kautuki

 kurvvanti mathura gothe / loka gamana-nirgame 4

   nau-krida - boat-sports; ktavan - performed; knah - Krishna; gangayam - on the Manasa Ganga; rasa-kautuki - eager for rasa; kurvanti - they did; mathuram - to Mathura; gothe - from the pasturelands; lokah - the people; gamana-nirgame - coming and going.

  "Always eager to taste new varieties of rasa, Krishna sported boating pastimes on Manasa Ganga, ferrying the cowherd folk as they traveled from the pasturelands to Mathura for marketing their milk products.

 atra dana-nimitta hi / prastarasha vishan harih

 gopika ramayan reme / bhaktanugraha-kamyaya 5

   atra - here; dana-nimittam - on the plea of extracting taxes; hi - certainly; prastara - a large rock; asham - part; vishan - entering; harih - the thief of the mind; gopikah - milkmaids; ramayan - gave pleasure; reme - enjoyed; bhakta-anugraha - mercy to the devotees; kamyaya - because of desiring.

  "Desiring to show mercy to His bhaktas, Shri Hari entered this narrow passageway in the rock for the purpose of demanding payment of a toll. He enjoyed and gave pleasure to the milkmaids."

 pashyan shri-gaura-candrah sa rasana-kutukad bahya-vtti vihaya

    vashi-shrivatsa-vetraih kusuma-kisalayair mandita shyama-dhama

 dana me dehi radhe rasavati vimale dana-patre 'vadad yo

    hy eva ta stauti gaurah sa jayati khalu bho radhika-prana-nathah 6

   pashyan - observing; shri-gaura-candrah - Lord like a golden moon; sah - He; rasana - tastes; kutukat - out of enthusiasm; bahya-vttim - external activities; vihaya - giving up; vashi - flute; shrivatsa - mark of Shri Lakmi; vetraih - with a staff; kusuma - flowers; kisalayaih - with newly grown leaves; manditam - decorated; shyama-dhama - the abode of dark beauty; danam - charity; me - to me; dehi - give; radhe - O Radha; rasavati - O abode of rasa; vimale - to this spotless; dana-patre - to this recipient of charity; avadat - He said; yah - who; evam - thus; tam - Her; stauti - He praises; gaurah - the golden Lord; sah - He; jayati - glories! khalu - indeed; bhoh - Oh!; radhika-prana-nathah - the Lord of Radha's life-breath.

  Observed the stone altar of dana-keli, Shri Gaura Candra became eager to taste the rasa of the toll pastime, abandoning the consciousness of external phenomena. Then the effulgent dark beauty manifested. marked with Shrivatsa, holding a bamboo flute and a staff for herding cows, and adorned with flowers and fresh leaves. He exclaimed, "O Radhe! O reservoir of rasa! Give Me charity. I am a most suitable candidate for Your charity." All glories to Shri Gaura Hari, for whom Radhika is dearer than His life-breath, as He prays in this way.

 tadaiva sahasa bhakti-rasavito 'khileshvarah

 paana jala-da ktva / lilepa shirasi rudan 7

   tada - then; eva - surely; sahasa - suddenly; bhakti-rasa-avitah - absorbed in the mellows of bhakti; akhila-ishvarah - the Lord of all; paanam - stone; jala-dam - water-giver cloud; ktva - made; lilepa - anointed; shirasi - on the head; rudan - weeping.

  Suddenly overwhelmed by bhakti-rasa, the master of all wept. That stone was also weeping and Gaura anointed his head with those tears.

 gireh purvve kunda-yugma / pashya kna-rasa-pradam

 asya dakina-parshve ca / rasa-mandalam uttamam 8

   gireh - of the hill; purve - to the east; kunda-yugmam - a pair of sacred ponds, Radha Kuna and Shyama Kuna; pashya - just see; kna-rasa-pradam - bestowing mellows of Krishna; asya - of Govardhana Hill; dakina-parshve - on the southern side; ca - and; rasa-mandalam - the circle of the rasa dance; uttamam - beyond the modes of material mature.

  Krishna Dasa continued, "Behold! To the east of the hill are a pair of kunas which bestow Krishna-rasa. And on the southern side is the circle of the transcendental rasa-dance.

 shri-radha-knayo rasa-vilasa-sthanam atra vai

 pashya prema-rasaih purnair / bhaktair eva vibhavyate 9

   shri-radha-knayoh - of Shri Shri Radha-Krishna; rasa-vilasa - pastimes of the rasa dance; sthanam - place; atra - here; vai - actually; pashya - just see; prema-rasaih - by the mellows of love of Krishna; purnaih - by the full; bhaktai - by the devotees; eva - truly; vibhavyate - it is revealed.

  "See here the actual place of the rasa-dancing pastimes of Shri Shri Radha-Krishna. These pastimes are revealed only to devotees whose hearts are wholly absorbed in prema-rasa."

 radha-madhavayor aikyat / tat tad bhava-vibhavitah

 tat tal lilanukarana / gaurangah samadarshayat 10

 radha-madhavayoh - of Radha and Madhava; aikyat - by the oneness; tat tat - each one; bhava - mood; vibhavitah - experienced; tat tat - those same moods; lila - pastimes; anukaranam - followed in footsteps; gaurangah - the golden Lord; samadarshayat - displayed.

  Because Shri Gauranga is the combined form of Radha-Madhava, Gaura Hari displayed whatever moods the Divine Couple experiences in Their relationship, as He followed Their lila step by step.

 bhava-prakashaka kna / praha brahmana-sattamah

 parvvatopari sampashya / radhikaradhana-sthalam 11

   bhava-prakashakam - revelation of ecstacies; knam - Krishna; praha - he said; brahmana-sattamah - the exalted brahmana; parvata-upari - upon the hill; sampashya - please behold; radhika-aradhana-sthalam - place for the worship of Radhika.

  The exalted brahmana then spoke to Krishna Chaitanya, who was experiencing the bhavamaya pastimes in His heart, "Behold a temple on this hill for the worship of Shri Radhika.

 anna-kuta-sthala catra / suresha-garvva-nashakam

 indrotpata harir vikya / govarddhana-dharo 'bhavat 12

   anna-kuta - heaps of grains; sthalam - place; ca - and; atra - here; sura-isha - Lord of the demigods; garva - pride; nashakam - destroyer; indra-utpatam - calamities; harih - Hari; vikya - seeing; govardhana-dharah - the lifter of Govardhana Hill; abhavat - became.

  "Here is the place where the residents of Vraja offered heaps of foodstuff to the brahmanas and to Govardhana hill. After seeing the calamities wrought by Indra, Krishna destroyed the pride of that chief of the demigods by lifting Govardhana hill.

 parvvatopari ta pashya / hari-rayakhyaka vibhum

 tasyopari dakine 'pi / gopala-raya-sanjnakam 13

   parvata-upari - on top of the hill, tam - that; pashya - just see; hari-raya-akhyakam - known as Hari Raya; vibhum - the great; tasya - of that place; upari - above; dakine - to the south; api - also; gopala-raya-sanjnakam - known as Gopala Raya.

  "On top of the hill please see the great Deity known as Hari Raya. On top of the southern part of the hill is the Deity known as Gopala Raya.

 indra-garvva-nirase ca / brahmana codita sati

 surabhi svar-nadi-toyenabhieka mudakarot 14

 govindasya ca vedadyaih / sevitasya mahottame

 ktagasko mahendro 'pi / ya stutva nirbhayo 'bhavat 15

   indra-garva - the pride of Indra; nirase - having cast out; ca - and; brahmana - by Brahma; codita - ordered; sati - the saintly; surabhi - wish-fulfilling cow; svah-nadi - celestial Ganga; toyena - by water; abhiekam - sacred bath; muda - joyously; akarot - performed; govindasya - of Govinda; ca - and; veda-adyaih - by the personified Vedas and so on; sevitasya - of He who was served; maha-uttame - in the great festival; kta-agaskah - who had done wrong; maha-indrah - the great Indra; api - although; yam - whom; stutva - having offered prayers; nirbhayah - free from fear; abhavat - he became.

  "When Krishna cast out the false pride from Indra's heart, by Brahma's order, the chaste Surabhi cow joyously bathed Govinda with celestial Ganga water. Then in a great festival Shri Govinda was served by all the Vedas, and shastras, and mighty Indra, after offering the prayers to Govinda, became free from fear of reactions to his offence.

 sarvva-papa-hara kunda / pashya parvvata-dakine

 asyopari panca-kunda / brahma-rudrendra-suryyakam 16

 moketi-kunda-sanjna ca / sarvva-papa-hara shubham

 pashyan gaura-harih knah / premnovaca dvija prabhuh 17

   sarva-papa-haram - destroying all sin; kundam - the holy pond; pashya - just see; parvata-dakine - to the south of the hill; asya - of that spot; upari - beyond; panca-kundam - five kundas; brahma-rudra-indra-suryakam - Brahma, Shiva, Indra, the Sungod; moka - liberation; iti - thus; kunda-sanjnam - pond, known as; ca - and; sarva-papa - all sins; haram - taking away; shubham - auspicious; pashyan - seeing; gaura-harih - the golden Lord; knah - all-attractive; premna - with love; uvaca - He said; dvijam - to the brahmana; prabhuh - the Master.

  "Behold to the south of Govardhana hill this sin-destroying kuna, and beyond it five other splendid kunas, which also remove all sin. They are named Brahma, Rudra, Indra, Surya and Moksha." Gazing on them, Shri Krishna in His form of Mahaprabhu Gaura Hari spoke lovingly to the brahmana:

 dhanyo 'ya giri-raja eva jagati shri-kna-ramau muda

    yatra kridata eva santatam aho gopala-balaih saha

 eva jalpati prema-purna-rasa-dah shri-gaura-candrah svaya

    shri-govarddhana eva sagraham api ta pujayan ntyati 18

   dhanya - glory; ayam - this; giri-raja - king of hills; eva - truly; jagati - in the material world; shri-kna-ramau - the two resplendent brothers Rama and Krishna; muda - with joy; yatra - where; kridata - they two play; eva - surely; santatam - forever; aho - Oh!; gopala-balaih - with the cowherd boys; saha - together; evam - thus; jalpati - utters; prema-purna - filled with love; rasa-dah - who bestows mellows; shri-gaura-candrah - the golden-moonlike Lord; svayam - spontaneously; shri-govardhana - the favorite hill of Krishna; eva - indeed; sa-agraham - with eagerness; api - even; tam - him; pujayan - offering worship; ntyati - He dances.

  "O thoughout this universe, Giriraja Govardhana is the most glorious of bhaktas. Here Krishna and Rama always play in great bliss with the gopala-balas!" Exclaiming this with heart-felt eagerness, Shri Gaura Candra, the bestower of the complete spectrum of love for Krishna, danced while worshipping Govardhana hill.

   Thus ends the Eighth Sarga entitled "Darshana of Govardhana Hill and Other Holy Places," in the Fourth Prakrama of the great poem Shri Chaitanya Carita.