Govardhana

This happened one autumn.

The cowherds decided to have a yajna to honour Indra. Indra was the ruler of the waters and it was he who sent the clouds. Without the clouds there would be no rain and without rain there would be no grain. What would the cattle eat in that case? This was reason why the cowherds wanted to worship Indra.

But Krishna told Nanda. “Father, we are not farmers or traders. We live through animal husbandry, we live in the forests. Our gods should be cattle and the mountains. Let up stop this worship of Indra and let us instead worship the mountain Govardhana”.

Nanda and the other cowherds agreed to this and that was how giri Yajna (mountain ceremony) started. Curds, rice pudding and meat were offered to the mountain. Hundreds and thousands of brahmanas and guests were fed.

But Indra was very angry because his yajna had been stopped and he called the clouds to him. “Listen to what I say,” he instructed them. “Destroy the cattle with rain and wind. I will come on Airavata and pour down rain as well.”