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compassion blended as it was with the path of devotion to the Lord
Sri Krishna. The wives brought their husbands round and the cause
triumphed in all India.
The raising of Govardhana.
The raising of Govardhana is only a sequel to the suppression
of Vedic Yajnas. Why are the gods, headed by Indra, worshipped?
Because the Indriyas are their channels of communion with men and
they can influence men through those channels. They are therefore
called Adhi-Devas. They are also the hands of providence and
through them we get all the things of the earth. But can they give
us anything that is not allotted to us by our own karma? If a
prolonged and unhindered connection with the manasic world or a
prolonged Svarga experience is brought about by the performance
of Vedic Yajnas it is on account of the superior force exerted
over the Devas, acquired by such performances, and is therefore due
to karma. The Devas cannot override karma.
But still men have to depend upon the gods in their everyday
lives. They are the hands of the karmic dispenser. True they deal
out things according to the karma of men. But they give to men the
desired objects of life and in return they expect yajna-offerings to
them. This is the old law of the existence of beings. The uni-
verse itself is the outcome of sacrifice and inter-dependence, the law
of giving and taking.
If men broke that law, what wonder that the gods should re-
sent it! But there was a higher law, governing men and Devas alike,
the law of direct communion with the lord of all, the supreme karmic
dispenser, the Adhi-yajna of Bhagavat Gita. If men placed
themselves and their karma entirely at the service of the Lord, where
was room left for the Devas? Against such men the gods them-
selves lost all power.
The Hill Govardhana is the accumulated karma of the Gopis,
which gives the pasture ground for their cows. Krishna bears the
burden of His Bhaktas' karma, and He lifted up the karmic hill of
his devoted band with very little effort of his own. And when Sri
Krishna bears the karma of His Bhaktas, the Devas are powerless
against them. It is karma that nourishes the senses and hence the
hill is called Govardhana (nourisher of the cows).
The Installation.
When the gods were displaced from their position of leader-
ship, whom were the cows, the senses, to follow? Surabhi, the
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