Surabhi Kunda

It is said that the mother-goddess of all cows Surabhi Devi, arrived at Govardhana Hill
along with Indra and offered her own prayers of glorification to Lord Krishna, humbly requesting Him to forgive Indra for his great offence in attempting to devastate Vrindavana. Lord Brahma had asked Surabhi Devi to help Indra obtain forgiveness from Krishna for his sins, as he knew Krishna would fulfill any request made by Surabhi, because He is Govinda, the well-wisher of the cows. It is also said that because this area of Govardhana Hill peaceful and also very beautiful, Surabhi Devi decided to stay here near the sacred Hill and therefore made this place her residence. It is believed that Vajranabha Maharaja established this kunda.

Surabhi-kuëòa is filled with clean, sweet water. It lies on the right-hand side of the parikramä path, somewhat further along than Räghava Paëòita’s cave. On Indra’s request, Surabhé bathed Çré Govinda at Govinda-kuëòa with the milk from her udder. Later, out of a strong desire to have darçana of Çré Kåñëa’s cow herding pastimes, and especially of the Divine Couple Çré Rädhä-Kåñëa’s confidential pastimes in the nikuïjas, Surabhé dwelt here for the duration of Çré Kåñëa’s manifest pastimes in Vraja. Mahäräja Vajranäbha established this Surabhi-kuëòa in her memory. By bathing and performing äcamana here, all one’s sins, offences and unwanted desires (anarthas) are dispelled and one obtains vraja-prema.

This kunda is just a short distance off to the right of the parikrama path. It is a large kunda situated in the middle of Kadamba Vana, but unfortunately, very run down.
This Surabhi Kunda is a transcendental gateway into the service of Radha-KTshna. By the mercy of Surabhi, who resides here, even the most sinful person who simply glances on this place, even by mistake, will most certainly attain loving devotion to Rauna-Krishna. This Surabhi Kupda is a beacon of light in this Kaliyuga for the most heinous of offenders, even those foolish persons who offend the devotees of Radha- Krishna can find shelter here by the grace of Surabhi Devi.
On the first day of the bright half of Kartika, Lord Krishna, along with all of the residents of Vraja, worshipped Govardhana Hill. On the second day, Krishna-Balarama observed (sisters worship their brothers), after which on the third day, king Indra exhibited His anger against the Vrajabasis by attempting to devastate the Vrndavan area. In response, Lord Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill for seven days until the nbflth day. Thereafter, on the tenth day, the cowherd men enjoyed a large feast at which they discussed the qualities of wonderful Krishna. On the eleventh day (Ekadasi), King Indra begged forgiveness for his heinous
offenses from Lord Krsna.
• • •
This incident has been very nicely described by Srila Jiva Gosvami in his book Gopaia Campu, from which a synopsis follows.
After Indra had seen the exhibition of Lord Krishna’s mystic power of lifting Govardhana Hill, he became astonished and ordered his clouds to desist from their attempt to destroy Vraja. Bewildered, Indra returned to his palace. He was feeling so despondent that he was not talking with his wife, neither was he attending his court. When this news reached the ears of Brihaspati, the guru of the demigods, he went and met Indra in private and addressed him as follows, “My dear Indra, you have offended the personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, and thus you will not be able to find any shelter to protect you against the reaction to your offence. In the same way the trees and plants get there life force from the moon, so all living entities are maintained by Lord Krshna. Even though you have one thousand eyes, still you are not able to see things as they are”. Indra said, “I was not thinking, thus I have com mitted such foolish acts. Please kindly direct me how I can get out ol this dangerous position.” Brihaspati said, “Oh, Indra, only Lord Brahm.i can advise you what to do now”. With a very heavy mind and heart, Indra went to the abode of Lord Brahma and fell at his feet. Lord
Brahma, seeing Indra lying before him, spoke as follows, “Oh, King of the demigods, even though you hold such a important post, your intelli¬gence has been covered and, thus, you have committed the greatest offense, vaisnava aparadha I can do nothing to help your counteract the reaction, your only hope is to go and fall at the feet of Surabhi, the mother of all cows, and beg her to request Lord Krishna to pardon you. As Lord Krishna considers the cows more dear than His own life, perhaps, if you take Surabhi along with you and beg His forgivness, He may consider your case. King Indra immediately went and requested his aunt, Surabhi (Aditya, the mother of the demigods and Surabhi are sis¬ters), to come to Vraja. Lord Brahma arrived and also requested Surabhi to take Indra with her and beg Lord Krishna to relieve Indra of His fearful situation.
Thus, on the Ekadasi day, Surabhi arrived at this place along with Indra. At that time, Lord Krishna was inspecting the area around Govardhana to see what damage had been caused by the torrential rains sent by Indra. When Indra saw Lord Krishna, he immediately offered his obeisances, but Lord Krishna totally ignored him. At which point, Surabhi approached Lord Krishna and requested Him to forgive Indra’s gross offense, which was committed due to ignorance of his real posi¬tion.
When Lord Krishna heard the request of His pure devotee Surabhi, He smiled in agreement» to her proposal. Thus, we see that devotees are even more merciful than Krshpa Himself. As expressed in the following prayer:
vahcha-kalpa-tarubhyash ca
krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaishnavebhyo namo namah
%
I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the vaisnavas devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.
Surabhi came before Krishna and requested Him to become the Lord of the cows, Govinda, in the following prayers.
The Surabhi offered her prayers as follows. “My dear Lord Krishna, You are the most powerful of all mystic yogis because You are the soul of the complete universe, and from You only all this cosmic mani¬festation has taken place. Therefore, although Indra tried his best to
kill my descendant cows in Vrndavana, they remained under Your shelter, and You have protected them all so well. We do not know any¬one else as the Supreme, nor do we go to any other god or demigod for protection. Therefore, You are our Indra, You are the Supreme Father of the whole cosmic manifestation, and You are the protector and elevator of all the cows, brahmanas, demigods and others who are pure devotees of Your Lordship. O, supersoul of the universe, let us bathe You with our milk because You are our Indra. Oh Lord, You appear just to diminish the burden of impure activities on the Earth.”