Dear Parents,
Thank you for bringing the kids during the holiday season.
Prayers & Bhajan: We offered our respects to Lord Krsna and learnt a new verse in Damodarastakam.
[Note: Please refer to the older posts for lyrics and audio links]
Story: We heard about how and why Lord Krsna lifted Govardhan Hill and how King Indra realized his mistake and begged forgiveness.
When Indra understood that his sacrifice was stopped by Krsna, he became angry. He called for the cloud named Samvartaka to go over Vrndavana and completely destroy the people of Vrndavana and their cows by flooding the whole area.
Ordered by King Indra, all the dangerous clouds appeared above Vrndavana and began to pour water non-stop, with all their strength and power. There was constant lightning and thunder, blowing of severe wind. By continuous rainfall, all of Vrndavan was filled with water and it was accompanied by great winds, and every one began to tremble from severe cold. The people of Vrndavan and their cows prayed to Lord Krsna to protect them from Indra's anger.
Upon hearing their prayer, Krsna understood that this was a show of anger by Indra. To protect His devotees and also to make King Indra understand who is the Supreme Lord, Lord Krsna immediately picked up Govardhana Hill with one hand, exactly as a child picks up a mushroom from the ground. He called the inhabitants of Vrndavana to enter under the umbrella of Govardhana Hill and be safe. All of them entered beneath the great hill and remained there for one week without being disturbed by hunger, thirst or any other discomforts. They were simply astonished to see how Krsna was holding up the mountain with the little finger of His left hand. Seeing this, King Indra immediately called for all the clouds to stop. When the sky became completely cleared of all clouds, there was sunrise and the strong wind stopped. At that time Krsna, known as the lifter of Govardhana Hill said that it was safe for them to leave as the rain has stopped, the flood receded and everything was over. All the men left with their belongings and cows. After they had cleared out, Lord Krsna very slowly replaced Govardhana Hill exactly in the same position as it had been before. Then everyone approached Krsna and embraced Him with great joy. There were showers of flower from the heavenly planets and there was singing and dancing.
When Lord Krsna saved the inhabitants of Vrndavana from the anger of Indra by lifting Govardhana Hill, a surabhi cow from Goloka Vrndavana, as well as King Indra from the heavenly planet, appeared before Him. Indra, the King of heaven, was conscious of his offense before Krsna. So, he immediately fell down at the lotus feet of Krsna. Indra knew about the exalted position of Krsna because Krsna is the master of Indra, but he could not believe that Krsna could come down and live in Vrndavana among the cowherd men. But after this incident, his false pride was destroyed. Being conscious of his subordinate position, he appeared before Krsna with folded hands and began to offer his prayers.
He prayed for forgiveness and understood that as Krsna is the Supreme Father, He has the right to correct him when he makes mistakes. Lord Krsna said that He stopped Indra's Puja just to teach Indra that there is a higher power than him. He forgave Indra and asked him to be careful of false pride and return to the heavenly planet and continue as the ruler of heaven.
Then the transcendental surabhi cow, who also come with Indra to see Krsna, offered her respectful obeisances unto Him and worshiped Him. The surabhi cow offered her thanks and prayers to Krsna for protecting her descendant cows in Vrndavan although Indra tried his best to kill them. So, she bathed Lord Krsna with her milk.
Indra also bathed Krsna by the water of the celestial Ganges through the trunk of his carrier elephant. When Lord Krsna, was pleased with all of them, King Indra took His permission to return to his heavenly kingdom and be a king under the rule of the Supreme Father Shri Krsna.
We finally concluded the class with coloring pictures.
Looking forward to seeing all of you in the next class.
Haribol!!!
Gopala Class Teachers
Radhika Mataji
Amutha
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