After Krishna performs the ritual of Kaan Jagai, He looks at the hundreds of colourfully decorated cows, the gwalas in their festive best and the Brahmanas with fondness. They had trudged several miles with smiles on their faces to fulfil his wish. Krishna knew they would do anything for Him.
A peaceful silence descends when Krishna says, “A donor will give whatever he has only when he is good and ready to do so. And often he thinks highly of himself because he has the upper hand in this yagna. ( Add yagna deva link here) But O Vrajwasis, understand this. Without a recipient – the role of a donor has no value – and the yagna ceases to exist.
None of us can survive in isolation. I Krishna too am incomplete without my Shakti – Prakriti. Yes, we cannot survive without Indra’s timely rain. But it is Bhudevi who nurtures Prakriti. If Bhudevi, the recipient of Indra’s rain, ceases to exist who would worship Indra as the donor?
And what would we do with water alone if the plants did not bless us with seeds? How can we grow crops without seeds? And plants don’t survive only on water, do they? They need rich fertile soil, an abundance of sunshine, the coolness of the night and gentle breeze to grow well.
The sun’s searing heat alone will scorch our plants to death. The moon’s pale light alone is not enough for our plants’ wellbeing. And every plant grows well only in a particular kind of soil and in a particular season. And who helps us maintain the fertility of our soil? Our cows! We make manure from their dung.
And can we sustain ourselves only with food and water? Don’t we drink milk and make curd, butter and so many other things that we get from our cows? And we eat different parts of every plant that we grow.
Tell me, don’t we use clay and the minerals we find in the mountains and the various parts of the trees to create our pots, pans, instruments, vehicles et al? Every aspect of Nature is useful to all of us.
So tomorrow during the Goverdhan Pooja we will celebrate the interconnectedness of the various aspects of Nature.”
Krishna senses the fear in the hearts of the Vrajwasis. Why even the ever so gentle cows suddenly become frisky. Krishna bows down to Gargacharya looks at Nanda and says, “Know this O Vrajwasis – that the Goverdhan Pooja is my yagna. I, Krishna may well be the donor of blessings in this yagna but it is Prakriti, my Shakti, the recipient – who helps me complete my yagna.
We forget that our cows too may yearn for freedom or more time with their calves. And we forget that mount Goverdhan too may tire of standing tall and straight for aeons together. We assume that our plants bear their fruits and seeds only for us. We take Prakriti’s blessings for granted.
It is in Prakriti’s very nature – to give all that She has – and then of Herself too. She does what She has to do. Silently. Without a single complaint on Her lips. With a smile. Always with a smile. So, tomorrow when we perform the Goverdhan Pooja, I will listen to all the secret wishes of all aspects of Prakriti and fulfil all their desires too. For She buries all her desires and aspirations in her bosom. Quietly.”
And that is the essence of this divine yagna called Goverdhan Pooja. Krishna marvels at the interconnectedness of Prakriti. He appreciates the perfect harmony in which her various aspects do their work silently – with only one clear goal in their hearts – to serve mankind to the best of their ability.
The symbolic rituals of Goverdhan Pooja
We shape a small mountain out of cow dung to represent mount Goverdhan. Then we cover this entire mount with yellow sevanthi flowers. We then insert a few branches with leaves and berries in it and a few flags. The flags symbolise the desires and aspirations of the various aspects of Nature. We then place banana stems – which symbolise selfless service – on either side and offer our prayers to all these aspects of Nature.
We now place earthenware lamps on all four sides of mount Goverdhan. Then we place one Jhariji beside Goverdhannathji and another one next to the Nidhi Swaroop that we have enshrined in our homes. This symbolises that Krishna is incomplete without Yamunaji – who represents Bhakti. We then seat a swaroop of Goverdhannathji within mount Goverdhan and seat Krishna (our Nidhi Swaroop) on a Simhasan opposite mount Goverdhan. We ring bells and cymbals and sing keertans to usher in positive vibrations during this divine yagna.
The diyas and the Jharijis highlight the fact that only when we, manavas, harness and control natural elements like fire, wind and water do they prove useful for our sustenance. Most important of all is this: We can create our Nidhi Swaroops (and the idols in our temples), things like bells and cymbals, the pooja material and the bhog too only with the minerals, natural material and food grains that we find in Nature.
We now perform the Goverdhan Pooja on Krishna’s behalf. First we worship mount Goverdhan with haldi, kumkum and chandan. We then bathe the swaroop of Goverdhannathji with milk and the waters of the Manasi Ganga using a Shankha. Then we offer Him vastra (dhotis, upparnas and strips of yellow cloth) and place the Kundwara bhog (the utsav bhog in which laddoos are kept in 8 earthenware pots and covered with white and yellow mathris) before Goverdhannathji and cover it with a new white cloth.
Krishna symbolically acknowledges Prakriti’s blessings and then patiently listens to all the desires and aspirations of every aspect of Prakriti and showers his abundant grace on them all.
We distribute the Kundwara bhog’s prasad to the gwalas and feed it to our cows. Then we offer mukhwas to Goverdhannathji, seat him beside our Nidhi Swaroop and perform the arti of both the swaroops to celebrate the fact that Krishna becomes Purna Purushotham only when his Shakti – Prakriti is beside Him.
We then invite a cow into the temple premises and lead them around Goverdhannathji in a pradakshina. The gwala then gently prods the cow and makes it cross over the mount of Goverdhannathji that we had created.
When we reflect on this particular part of the ritual we realize only when all aspects of Nature work in perfect harmony can we manavas breathe fresh air, sow seeds, reap a bumper harvest and earn our livelihood through mining, weaving et al.
We then donate the prasadi vastra to the sevaks and gwalas, tie a pair of the silken yellow coloured strips to the horns of our cows and distribute the rest to the cowherds and the people who are doing the darshan of Goverdhan Pooja.
And as Krishna’s divine yagna comes to an end, we reaffirm to ourselves that we will always respect and appreciate the interconnectedness of all aspects of Prakriti.
Photos given by: Aditi and Teerth.
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