A cow from Shri Krishna’s herd, climbs the Govardhan Hill and drops her milk on top of a mysterious black arm on the top of the hill. Everyday, in the after noon, she continues to lag behind the rest of her herd to perform her ritual over the protruding arm. Her owner, unaware of her devotion begins t wonder why the cow’s milk giving capacity has reduced. One day he follows her and discovers her secret rite with ShreeNathji. The year marked is 1409 and ShreeNath’s appearance upon the hill seizes the attention of the local brajvasis. They are amazed that whatever they desire is given to them. For this they only need to pray to the raised arm.
The story of ShreeNathji is the amazing history of His worship, travels and lilas. ShreeNathji's manifestation and the subsequent developments were originally revealed by Shri Gokulnathji, the grandson of Shri Mahaprabhuji Vallabhacharya who appeared in India in the year 1479 on exactly the same day that ShreeNathji’s face appeared from hill. ShreeNathji stayed on the Govardhan Hill for as long as Shri Mahaprabhu, his son Shri Gusainji and his seven sons lived on the earth. Shri Gokulnathji was Shri Guisainji’s illustrious fourth son and composed an ocean of devotional literature mostly in Sanskrit and Braja language. The portion of this text the reveals ShreeNathji’s travels from the Govardhan Hill to Mevar all occurred after the lifetime of Shri Gokulnathji.
The “lila” of ShreeNathji is a subtle mixture of the spiritual and material worlds. Wherever ShreeNathji appears false distinctions are removed. This is the non-dualist vision of Shri Maha-prabhuji Vallabhacharya who saw everything as Krishna and nothing but Krishna. He went on to explain what ShreeNathji manifested in form. The wisdom that is required to enter into the realm of ShreeNathji has been laid down by Shri Mahaprabhuji, the incarnation of ShreeNathji’s face.
Who could describe his “lila” better than his main partner Shri Mahaprabhuji, who on one level is an Acharya – who empowers the devotional heart while on the divine level is Shri Svaminji, Shri Krishna’s consort. The combination of a playful God and an insightful guru who illuminates the arena with lightening bolts of Vedant wisdom has allowed the plays to begin.
If divinity is not felt in the world, it becomes a place to either exploit or renounce. ShreeNathji's lila shows a third way, that is to neither want only, enjoy or pridefully renounce. For the bhatas, ShreeNathji was not a stone image but a living divinity who interacts and plays with his bhatas. It is believed that sometimes he leaves the temple to play to play chess with a bhakta, at other times he remains awake the entire night to listen to their music. ShreeNathji through his power of grace descended into the world of His bhaktas and made it divine. Vallabhacharya speaks of the blessed bhakta’s aspirations in his “Subodhini” in the words of Krishna’s beloved:
“We experience Krishna with our eyes; we feel Him through all of our senses. Hari is the desire, the festival of our hearts. To behold Krishna’s form is the ultimate reward. To have conversations with God, To behold Him, to mingle and embrace Him To please Him, To serve Him, To touch Him, To taste the nectar of His lips. Is what we live for. We need to thoroughly enjoy Hari Until ever hair on our bodies Stands erect with bliss.”
