Giriraja

Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami is also our authority.

He tells us that Srimati Radhika Herself personally gave Giriraja Govardhana
the name Hari-dasa-varya. Hari-dasa means servant of Krsna.

pramoda-madana-lilah kandare kandare te
racayati nava-yunor dvandvan asminn-amandam
iti kila kalanartham lagna kastad dvayor me
nija-nikata-nivasam dehi govardhana tvam

Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami is praying, "O Govardhana, in your caves and
kunjas, throughout the twenty-four hours of the day, you are not only
witnessing but facilitating the most confidential pastimes of Radha and
Krsna and their associates. I therefore beg you to please give me residence
near you so that I can also witness and serve their pastimes." It is in this
way that we follow our authorities. Srila Visvanatha Cakavarti Thakura, in
his prayers to Govardhana, has a similar message. He is praying for the
service of Govardhana and for the service of Radha and Krsna through the
mercy of Govardhana. "You facilitated and witnessed the Dana-keli pastimes
of Radha and Krsna's love quarrel involving the payment of taxes. I want to
witness this delightful quarrel." In this way we follow our authorities, our
guru-parampara, to know how to worship Govardhana as Hari-dasa-varya. In
addition, we understand that Giriraja Govardhana is the fractional
manifestation of the heart of Srimati Radhika. In all existence, the supreme
absolute truth is Radha-Krsna. Radhika is the complete svarupa-sakti, the
complete facilitator of Krsna's pleasure. She expands in order to give Krsna
pleasure in different ways. She expands as Yogamaya, as Mother Yasoda, as
the gopis, as the queens, as the Laksmis, and in so many other ways. In Her
beautiful madhurya love, She even expands as the Dhama and Baladeva, and as
Giri Govardhana. Ultimately, therefore, even greater than Hari-dasa-varya,
Govardhana is a sakhi. Only the sakhis, the gopis, can witness the most
confidential pastimes of Radha and Krsna in the kunjas and caves. Even the
most intimate sakhas, like Subala and Arjuna, cannot witness these pastimes.

Why is Govardhana in the form of stone? Being stunned is one of the symptoms
of asta-sattvika bhava, the eight-fold ecstatic symptoms of love. Giriraja
Govardhana is so stunned in seeing these beautiful pastimes, which he
himself has facilitated by becoming the caves and kunjas, that he is now
like stone. In this way he can witness the pastimes of Radha and Krsna, and
at the same time Radhika and Krsna don't feel encumbered or embarrassed by
anyone else seeing them. After all, he appears only as stone. In this way,
Giriraja Govardhana can be worshiped in more and more intimate ways, for
more and more advancement in Krsna Consciousness.



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