Govardhan Puja is celebrated the day after Diwali. It is the day Lord Krishna defeated Indra, the deity of thunder and rain.
As per the story, Krishna saw huge preparations for the annual offering to Indra and questioned his father Nanda about it. Krishna spoke at length about the the true ‘dharma’ or duty of villagers – which is to concentrate on farming and protection of their cattle and not religious offerings. The villagers were convinced by Krishna, and did not proceed with the rituals. Indra angry at the boy Krishna, invoked many clouds to appear in the sky and schemed to flood the region with rains lasting for seven days and seven nights. Krishna in reply then lifted Govardhan hill, under which all the animals and people of the region took shelter, safe from the rains of Indra’s fury. Ultimately, Indra accepted defeat. He offered his prayers and left to his heavenly kingdom.
Govardhan actually is not a mountain that Krishna lifted. It literally translates into – gobar dhan or a pile of cow dung! With incessant rains, the top soil, which is vital for plant growth got eroded. At that time, gobar helped in re-establishing the fertility.
Dharma is above and beyond ritualistic offerings. Duty performed with righteousness protects the person from all harm. Farmers, who protected their cattle and concentrated on Gau based natural farming, had their land, crops and wealth protected.
In today’s context of climate change – Indra is once more upset – with massive droughts and excess rains – that our own actions are responsible for. 2 simples ways we can stop this:
1. Choosing our diet wisely – There is a huge environmental cost to beef as is agreed by China, Denmark and even the UN. “Vegetarianism and veganism”, says Marco Springmann, a researcher at Oxford University, “could save millions and trillions of dollars from a health perspective, an environmental perspective and an economic perspective, really.” Read more – http://time.com/4266874/vegetarian-diet-climate-change/
2. Promoting Organic Produce – Natural farming and indigenous seeds have potential to withstand climate changes and pest attacks – vital for food security of the world in the erratic weather conditions. Organic crops are more drought resistant a report by CNBC is available for further reading here – http://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/09/rought-resistant-report.html Gau based farming heals the soil and hence our health.
Celebrating Govardhan Pooja – Inviting everyone to join the festivities with the resolve to prevent climate change by following the above as our own dharma.
Do upload your pictures of celebrating with #GobarDhan and share with us. You can join in the festivities with Desi Cows for Better India as we distribute free Jeevamrit to one and all opposite Tatanagar Park on 31st October, 2016 from 6am to 8am. Bring your empty bottles!
Let gobar heal the soil and us in turn.