The Great Secret of Facing Saṁsāra Miseries — From Govardhana

 

The Great Secret of Facing Saṁsāra Miseries — From Govardhana

Verse:
sva-preṣṭha-hastāmbuja-saukumārya-sukhānubhūter ati-bhūmi-vṛtteḥ
mahendra-vajrāhatim apy ajānan govardhano me diśatām abhīṣṭam
(May Govardhana — who, absorbed in the supreme bliss of the softness of his beloved Kṛṣṇa’s lotus hand, did not even notice the blows of Indra’s thunderbolt — bestow upon me my desired perfection.)

Govardhana teaches the great secret of spiritual life. When Indra’s thunderbolts struck with all their fury, the hill did not tremble. He remained absorbed in the sweetness of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus hand resting upon him. In that touch of divine tenderness, even the fiercest pain became powerless.

This is the same mystery that protects a sādhaka amidst the storms of saṁsāra. The miseries of the world may not cease, but through contact with Śrī Nāma and seva, their impact fades into nothingness. The thunderbolts of destiny may strike, yet the heart absorbed in divine remembrance feels only ānanda.

Every act of devotion — chanting, offering, remembering — is a point of contact with that tender hand. Through such connection, pain is not denied but transcended. The soul anchored in bhakti stands like Govardhana: unmoved, lifted, and sanctified.

The great secret is this — do not resist life’s storms; hold to the touch of Śrī Hari. What thunderbolt can harm one who rests beneath Kṛṣṇa’s hand?