SB 10.24.37 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

एषोऽवजानतो मर्त्यान् कामरूपी वनौकस: हन्ति ह्यस्मै नमस्याम: शर्मणे आत्मनो गवाम् ॥ ३७ ॥

Verse text

eṣo ’vajānato martyān kāma-rūpī vanaukasaḥ hanti hy asmai namasyāmaḥ śarmaṇe ātmano gavām

Synonyms

eṣaḥ — this one ; avajānataḥ — those who are neglectful ; martyān — mortals ; kāma — rūpī — assuming any form at will (such as that of the snakes who live upon the hill) ; vana — okasaḥ — residents of the forest ; hanti — will kill ; hi — certainly ; asmai — to him ; namasyāmaḥ — let us pay our obeisances ; śarmaṇe — for the protection ; ātmanaḥ — of ourselves ; gavām — and of the cows .

Translation

“This Govardhana Hill, assuming any form he wishes, will kill any residents of the forest who neglect him. Therefore let us pay our obeisances to him for the safety of ourselves and our cows.”

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

"This Govardhana Hill, assuming any form he wishes, will kill any residents of the forest who neglect him. Therefore let us pay our obeisances to him for the safety of ourselves and our cows." KB 10.24.37 Kṛṣṇa also declared at that meeting, “One who neglects the worship of Govardhana-pūjā, as I am personally conducting it, will not be happy. There are many snakes on Govardhana Hill, and persons neglecting the prescribed duty of Govardhana-pūjā will be bitten by these snakes and killed. In order to assure the good fortune of the cows and themselves, all people of Vṛndāvana near Govardhana must worship the hill, as prescribed by Me.”

Purport

Kāma-rūpī indicates that the form of Govardhana can manifest as poisonous snakes, wild animals, falling rocks and so on, all of which are competent to kill a human being. According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, the Lord presented six theoretical points in this chapter: 1) that karma alone is sufficient to determine one’s destiny; 2) that one’s conditioned nature is the supreme controller; 3) that the modes of nature are the supreme controller; 4) that the Supreme Lord is simply a dependent aspect of karma; 5) that He is under the control of karma; and 6) that one’s occupation is the actual worshipable deity. The Lord presented these arguments not because He believed them but rather because He wanted to stop the impending sacrifice to Indra and divert it to Himself in the form of Govardhana Hill. In this way the Lord desired to agitate that falsely proud demigod.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

At will, Govardhana takes any form such as a snake and kills the non-devotees. He kills those who disrespect this incident. The people of Vraja had personally seen him devour all the unlimited offerings. Or, some may disrespect by not performing this sacrifice. Thus it is indicated that the ceremony should be performed repeatedly. He easily kills the disrespectful who are subject to death and do not have a house (vanaukasaḥ). Or vanaukasaḥ can be a vocative (O people of the forest!). We should offer respects for the safety of ourselves and the cows and (ca) to prevent sickness and pain in the cows. Another version has hi yasmat hanta. Since he will kill the disrespectful, we should offer respects for the welfare of ourselves and the cows. Or, we should offer respects for the welfare of our cows since the cows are our livelihood. He inspires them to offer respects to this form. This is not a contradiction to the mood, since this was a different form, without the perspective of being their son. They, as a custom, offered respects to Nārāyaṇa and other forms. The direct orders spoken by that form are described in Hari-vaṁśa: adya prabhṛti cejyo ‘haṁ goṣu ced asti vo dayā ahaṁ vaḥ prathamo devaḥ sarva-kāmakaraḥ śubhaḥ mama prabhāvāt ca gavām amṛtāny eva bhakṣyatha śivaś ca vo bhaviṣyāmi mad bhaktānām vane vane ramṣye ‘haṁ saha yuṣmābhir yathā divi gatas tathā ye ceme prathitā gopā nanda-gopa-purogamāḥ eṣām prītaḥ prayacchāmi gopānāṁ vipulaṁ dhanam paryāpnuvantu viprā māṁ gāvo vatsa-samākulāḥ evaṁ mama parā prītir bhaviṣyati na saṁśayaḥ If you are merciful to the cows, then from today you should worship me. I am your first devatā. I fulfill all desires and am most auspicious. By my power, you drink the nectar of the cows. I will be auspicious for you, my devotees in all the forests. I will enjoy with you just as I do in the spiritual world. Being pleased with all the celebrated cowherds headed by Nanda, I will give you great wealth. The brāhmaṇas and cows along with the calves should circumambulate me. I will be most satisfied with this, without doubt.