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First written on March 31, 2007  Revised and Updated on June 16, 2007 Srimad Bhagavatham - Chapter 11 - Lifting of Govardhana Hill One of the main messages in the incarnation of the supreme lord as Lord Krishna was to stop all the Vedic rituals to appease the demigods. Even though everyone realized that there is only one supreme lord, vested interests were responsible for this trend of encouraging rituals for demigods, who were just angels and were agents of the supreme lord. It was totally an agrarian society at that time and rains very important to them. The demigod Indra was allotted this portfolio. He was also the king of all the demigods. For ages, the cowherds used to carry rituals to appease this demigod so that they have adequate rainfall. Indra had also become arrogant and Lord Krishna wanted to teach him a lesson that he was not above the supreme lord. He enquired with the local elders and wanted to know the purpose of appeasing Indra. He convinced them it was not necessary and instead suggested that they clean and worship the Govardhana hill which was in the vicinity of their dwelling. Accordingly, the villagers relented and carried this out. This angered Indra and he caused extensive rainfall continuously, flooding the area. The problem became severe and lives of cattle and people was at stake. They all appealed to Lord Krishna to save them. He just lifted the entire hill from the base and held it by his little finger like a big umbrella. All people and cattle moved under it. He held the hill continuously for seven days before Indra realized his folly and understood who Lord Krishna was. The rains stopped and people moved out. Krishna also replaced the hill in its original position. Krishna was probably the first environmentalist. Throughout his life, one of the messages was always to take care of the environment, even 5500 years ago. In the Vedas, all scientific facts were addressed in a religious manner, so that common people followed them. They were not educated or intelligent enough to understand the principles behind them. Education was restricted to the priestly and ruling class. Unfortunately, charlatans used such things to their advantage, which led to degeneration of the Vedic society.    End of Chapter 11 Written by Madhavan T Gopalachary The views, opinions and interpretations are personal. Sponsorship does not mean that the sponsors endorse them. Editorial Policy © Copyright, Jun-07 . www.madgopes.com . Without prejudice. All rights reserved www.mmgindia.com is the official website of Madras Management Group, Chennai, India. www.madgopes.com and www.mmg.name are personal websites and all editorials are published under their banner to retain editorial independence. We would highly appreciate feedback from readers and it may be sent to feedback@mmg.name