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Vrindavana, also known as Vraja, is Lord Krishna’s favorite place to play. Govardhana, a personified mountain in Vrindavana, is immensely dear to Krishna. By some crazy amount of mercy and love, Govardhana has brought me into His arms and has made me feel dear to Him.

At the ripe young age of seven, my parents and I moved to Govardhana through unexpected circumstances. I was a bouncy, carefree young girl excited to see new things. Little did I know, Govardhana was taking me under His wing. Lots of exciting things have happened in my life since then. Exciting, fun, scary, wonderful things, and always, I have felt so incredibly protected by Govardhana. He’s the strength that guides me, the hug that holds me, the pat on the head that keeps me going. I’ve been given a lot of love that I don’t deserve and I hope to show my gratitude by giving out all the love I can, and telling everybody about how my ever loving protector, Mt. Govardhana ROCKS.

I hope someday I get to play on His sixteen mile high sides, frolicking as one of His sweet cows or perhaps dancing as a colorful bird.

“The name ‘Govardhana’ has two primary translations. In the literal meaning, ‘Go’ translates to ‘cows’, and ‘vardhana’ translates to ‘nourishment’. Another meaning of ‘Go’ is ‘the senses’ and ‘vardhana’ can also mean ‘to increase’ – thus the name is also translated by worshippers of Krishna as ‘that which increases the senses’ in their attraction to Krishna. In this connection, it is believed that the personality of Govardhana blesses the worshipper by increasing his devotion (bhakti). Thus, by residing in the foothills of Govardhan Hill, all the senses and the respective duties of a soul attain divinity and are more inclined to perform service to Krishna.”

Following is the story of how Govardhana came to be in Vraja:

In the land of Salmali Dvipa, the wife of the great mountain Dronacal gave birth to a son named Govardhana. At the time of Govardhana’s birth, all the demigods appeared in the sky and showered flowers upon Him. The great mountains, led by the Himalayas and Sumeru, came there to offer their respects. They then performed parikrama of Govardhana and accepted Him as their king. They offered very nice prayers praising Govardhana for having descended from Goloka Vrindavana, describing Him as the “crown jewel of Vraja.”

Some years later, at the beginning of Satya-yuga, the great sage Pulastya Muni paid a visit to Salmali Dvipa. Upon seeing the beautiful Govardhana Hill covered with many lovely creepers, flowers, rivers, caves and chirping birds, the sage felt that this hill was capable of giving liberation. He then went to meet Dronacal, who immediately offered his respects and inquired from the sage what service he could render.

Pulastya Muni informed Dronacal that he was from Kasi (Benares) and was on pilgrimage to all the holy places. Pulastya Muni said that even though the sacred river Ganges flowed through Kasi, there was no beautiful hill. He then asked Dronacal to give Govardhana to him so that he could perform his austerities sitting on top of the hill.

On hearing the sage’s request, Dronacal, who was not willing to part with his son, started to shed tears in thought of separation from his beloved Govardhana. Not wanting to see Pulastya Muni become angry and curse his father, Govardhana asked the sage how he would carry Him all the way to Kasi. The sage replied that he would carry Him in his right hand. Govardhana then agreed to go with the sage on one condition — that if the sage put Him down anywhere during the course of the journey, he would not be able to lift Him again. Pulastya Muni agreed. Carrying Govardhana in his right hand he left for Kasi.

By the will of providence, Pulastya Muni passed through Vraja on his way to Kasi. Filled with joy on arriving in Vraja, Govardhana decided He should remain there in the holy Dhama. By His mystic power, He was able to influence Pulastya Muni to attend to the call of nature. Unmindful, the sage put Govardhana down and went off to answer the call. But when he returned he was unable to lift Govardhana again. Trying with all his might, using both hands, he could not lift Govardhana even slightly.

In great anger, Pulastya Muni cursed Govardhana to sink into the ground by the measurement of one mustard seed every day. When Govardhana first came to Vraja in the beginning of Satya-yuga, He was eight yojanas long (64 miles); five yojanas wide (40 miles) and two yojanas high (16 miles). It is said that after ten thousand years of the Kali-yuga, Govardhana will have completely disappeared. Presently at His highest point, the hill is 25 m high and 11 km long.

– Narrated from the Garga Samhita some five thousand years ago by Grandfather Bhisma