Krishna, Indra, and Govardhan Mountain

This time I will tell the story of me, Indra, and Govardhan Mountain.

The people living in Vrindavan were all farmers including my father and mother. They worshiped Indra because he controlled thunder and rain and he was considered as king of all gods. He became arrogant and always looked down on the people who were beneath him like demons, other gods, and humans like me. He forgot one thing: that I was the avatar of Vishnu who he has to look up to.

The people in Vrindavan started cleaning their house and decorating the village to please the god Indra. He would bring the rain for the villagers and they could use that water for farming and drinking water. I really hated that. The one who should be worshiped is the Govardhan Mountain because it gathers rain water and slides the water down from the mountain to the river. I thought that it was Indra’s responsibility to make rain and make people happy.

I gathered the villagers and said, “You should not worship Indra for the rain.”

The villagers said, “Why? Indra is the one who brings the rain which we use in the farming and grow food to eat.”

I said, “No, it is the responsibility of Indra to bring rain but the one who gathers rain is Govardhan Mountain and then it comes down and we will use it for farming and grow food to eat.”

Everyone started thinking what I was saying is true and so everyone started praying to the Govardhan Mountain. But they were afraid. "What if Indra got angry," they said, "and does something terrible to us". I knew that Indra was arrogant and he would do something to harm the people of Vrindavan.

Indra heard that the people of Vrindavan stopped worshiping him and started worshiping the Govardhan Mountain. He got angry and ordered his cloud to go and pour down the rain and thunder.

All of the people gathered up in front of my house and said, “Krishna, please help us. We think that Indra is angry and our village is going to be flooded with all the water.”

I came outside and said, “Everyone gather all of your stuff and go to the Govardhan Mountain and I will come there after I get my stuff.”

I knew that Indra is not going to calm down for long time and I told my parents to get their stuff and go toward Govardhan Mountain. I only needed my flute so as soon as I got that I left my house and went to the Govardhan Mountain. Everyone gathered by Govardhan Mountain and to protect them from all the rain I had to do something. I picked up the mountain on my left hand's little finger. Everyone was surprised that I picked up the whole mountain. Everyone went underneath the mountain so that the rain would not harm them. They saw whole village flooded and I never gave up.

I said to everyone, “Please, take rest because Indra is not going to calm down soon.”

Everyone put their stuff down and they were happy that nothing happened to them. Indra saw me picking up the Govardhan Mountain and poured down more rain like crazy. I was wondering who gave the title of king of all gods to Indra. That title should belong to someone who is wiser. The rain kept going for seven days straight and after that Indra figured out that I am the avatar of Vishnu. He came down from the heaven on his vahana, the mighty elephant.

Indra said, “Avatar of Vishnu, please forgive me for my insolent behavior and putting you through all this trouble.”

I said, “Okay, can you please stop the rain?”

Indra said, “Okay.”

I said, “It is your responsibility to bring rain down and people should not worship you for the rain. Otherwise there no point having the power of rain and thunder.”

Indra said, “I am really sorry and I will not repeat the same mistake again.”

After that Indra left for the heaven, and all the people went back to Vrindavan.

Author Note:

In this story of Krishna, Indra, and Govardhan Mountain, I started with what Krishna was really thinking about why his village was celebrating the festival for Indra. He was confused why they were doing that but instead they should be worshiping the Govardhan Mountain. I showed that he did not ask the question to his parents because it was not only his parents but everyone in the village was celebrating. In order to know the reason behind the celebration Krishna gathered everyone and asked them why they were worshiping Indra. I did this using conversation with the villagers and Krishna.

It looked like the same things are written twice but the first time it was Krishna who is thinking by himself and next time he told everyone. I also added some things that were not in the original story like Indra is the King of all gods but it did not mention in the real story that I read. Indra worships the three gods who are Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. He will ask for forgiveness from those three gods but he will not do what a lower being tells him to do. That is how Indra is. At the end Indra got to know who Krishna is and stopped the rain and everyone left for Vrindavan.

Bibliography: Author Team Tell A Tale, Krishna and Govardhan Giri Save Vrindavan From Indra's Wrath.

For more information on Govardhan Mountain click here.