Gowardhandhari
The child cowherd Krisha gambolled with his friends near Govardhan Parvat. The hill was green with trees with different leaves, the ground was rich with undergrowth, creepers wrapped around tree trunks and collapsed on the branches, festooning them with flowers. Birds sung, hidden deep in that forest of green. Cows slowly chewed cud while the cowherds played and talked. " Why worship anyone else", said young Krishna, " when this mountain is where we get the sustenance of our lives from?"
Word spread in Gokul, as language always travels among intimates, sharing fresh thought. Something new opened in the eyes that took in these words and they all looked to the silent beautiful Gowardhan.
Indra was furious. Did the mountain have divine powers.. the kind that can be taken towards excess? The way Indra could play with his vajra- his thunderbolt. He decided to wreak a small merriment upon the smiling people of Gokul.
It rained and rained and rained. It rained like it would rain one day in a far away land called Macondo. ( although, in the absence of Krishna, it was to rain much more in Macondo) The water shook the roots of the trees entrenched into the soil, it poured rivers of mud into the hamlet nestled around Govardhan. People prayed, and then fear grew, and with it a peevishness at having listened to a charming dark skinned boy. Yashodha scolded Krishna for saying too much, too easily, all the time, even as she clasped him to her, wondering how to protect her family. Nand was out with the others, trying to build shelters, to no avail.
That is when Krishna somehow convinced them to follow him again, saying that the mountain that Indra so envied, would surely not let his worshippers down.They must have been desperate to listen to him, they were.
Krishna prayed at the foot of the mountain, and then, lifted it up on his little finger. The people of Gokul stood in the shelter of the mountain. Krisha stood easily, holding it aloft. The shade of the mountain was enough to sustain the village all over again.
Indra had to concede defeat. He probably also recognised the lurking shadow of Visnu in the form of the little boy.
