Text 23
kṣut-tṛḍ-vyathāṁ sukhāpekṣāṁ
hitvā tair vraja-vāsibhiḥ
vīkṣyamāṇo dadhārādriṁ
saptāhaṁ nācalat padāt
kṣut — of hunger; tṛṭ — and thirst; vyathām — the pain; sukha — of personal happiness; apekṣām — all consideration; hitvā — putting aside; taiḥ — by them; vraja-vāsibhiḥ — the residents of Vraja; vīkṣyamāṇaḥ — being glanced upon; dadhāra — He held; adrim — the mountain; sapta-aham — for seven days; na acalat — He did not move; padāt — from that place.
Lord Kṛṣṇa, forgetting hunger and thirst and putting aside all considerations of personal pleasure, stood there holding up the hill for seven days as the people of Vraja gazed upon Him.
According to the Viṣṇu Purāṇa:
vrajaika-vāsibhir harṣa-
vismitākṣair niṛīkṣitaḥ
gopa-gopī-janair hṛṣṭaiḥ
prīti-visphāritekṣaṇaiḥ
saṁstūyamāna-caritaḥ
kṛṣṇaḥ śailam adhārayat
“Lord Kṛṣṇa held up the mountain while His praises were chanted by the residents of Vraja, all of whom now had the opportunity to dwell together with Him, and who glanced at Him with joyful and amazed eyes. Thus the cowherd men and women were all elated, and out of loving affection they opened their eyes wide.”
By continuously drinking the nectar of the beauty and sweetness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the residents of Vṛndāvana felt no hunger, thirst or fatigue, and Lord Kṛṣṇa, by seeing their beautiful forms, also forgot about eating, drinking and sleeping. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura points out that seven days of continuous rain from the Sāṁvartaka clouds failed to flood the district of Mathurā because the Supreme Lord, simply by His potency, immediately dried up the water as it fell to the ground. Thus Kṛṣṇa’s lifting of Govardhana Hill is full of fascinating details and has for thousands of years remained one of His most famous pastimes.