Program with HG Govardhandhari Dasa

Haribol!

Last Saturday, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a program by HG Govardhandhari Dasa. My gosh, there's just something about his kirtans I swear!! His kirtans are just beautiful. He barely sings the first 2-3 lines and I'm already struggling to hold back tears. I first met him on Wednesday. He sang the Jaya Sri Krishna Chaitanya mantra thrice, and by the time he started singing the Hare Krishna mahamantra, there were tears in my eyes! He sang some songs that I had never heard before, but am absolutely in love with now. One of them was 'Jaya Yashoda Nanda Dulal'. It's just beautiful! There's a bit in it where you need to sing 'Gopal Gopal Gopal'. That was just insane!!!! All of us just let ourselves go and called out to Gopal. Govardhandhari Prabhu just knows how to make our hearts yearn for Krishna. Everyone was on such an emotional high during his beautiful kirtans. My heart was literally crying out to Gopala thanks to Prabhu's beautiful kirtan.

Govardhandhari Prabhu then gave a lecture on Govardhan Parikrama. He mentioned that a muni cursed Govardhan Hill. The story goes like this: A muni wanted to take Govardhan hill elsewhere from its original location because he liked it and wanted to meditate while on the hill. So the hill agreed to be moved, but on the condition that once it is put down, it will remain there and will not be moved. So with his mystic powers, the muni carried the hill. However, the hill began to get heavier and heavier due to recollection of fond memories. Moreover, the muni needed to relieve himself. So he set the hill down. As per the condition, he could not move it again and this angered the muni so he cursed Govardhan hill. He said that each day, it would sink into the sand by the size of a mustard seed, and by the end of the Kali Yuga, it would be flat.

So now I had a question about how Govardhan hill could get cursed since it was a devotee of Krishna and Krishna is very attached to Govardhan hill. I was hesitating to ask this, however. So I was hoping I would be answered somehow, maybe someone else would ask, maybe Krishna would do something, etc. At the end of the lecture, Prabhu decided to quiz us on how well we understood the leelas that he had just explained. He addressed the very question that I had! I sat there gaping in wonder and amazement, thinking how merciful Krishna is, answering my never-ending questions, proving Himself to me time and time again while I tirelessly keep doubting Him and demanding proof of His existence. Prabhu said that this was the arrangement. When Krishna left this earthly planet, all His paraphernalia also went along with Him. But Govardhan hill is so big. So this was the arrangement of the Lord. Moreover, according to me, it serves as a prophesy; as a sign of the end of times.

It's really amazing how all of us are so connected through our love for Krishna. It's like we're all one big happy family. The best part is that it doesn't even matter if you call Him Krishna, Allah, Rama, Jehovah, etc. That's not really even that important. The important thing is the love we share for God. Even though I met Prabhu just twice so far, I feel such a deep connection with him. I feel like this with most devotees I meet. But I don't know, I just feel so attached to Prabhu right now... Perhaps it's because he let me see Krishna through his eyes for a while... God has given us so many wonderful associations. He has given us His association, the association of our families, our friends, of pure devotees, aspiring devotees... so many wonderful things :)

Here's a photo of Govardhandhari Prabhu