Sanatana Gosvami too old to do parikrama

One day while Sanatana Gosvami was moving along on the parikrama path, as he passed Kusuma Sarovar, Krishna suddenly appeared from the bushes and asked Sanatana why he was taking so much trouble at such an advanced age.

Sanatana simply smiled and continued to walk.

Krishna called out to him,

“Old man! You are too old for this.”

Sanatana explained to Him that he had taken a vow to do Govardhana parikrama daily.

Krishna simply laughed in reply and promptly picked him up, put him on His shoulder and started off saying,

“I will carry you!”

Sanatana stopped Him telling Him that his vow was to walk around Govardhana Hill, and not to be carried.

Krishna felt great happiness that his devotee was so determined to please Him by maintaining his devotional vows.

But He also felt great concern for Sanatana’s body, for it had become very weak due to old age; and thus it was very difficult for him to maintain his physical vows. 

Out of great loving compassion Krishna at that time placed his foot on a Govardhana Sila and thus made an impression in that stone.

Krishna requested Sanatana to take that sila and worship it with Tulasi leaves and water.

He also told him that if he performed parikrama around that Sila seven times daily it would be the same as going around Govardhana Hill; thus his vow would be maintained.

For the rest of his life Sanatana Gosvami worshipped that Sila at Chakra-Tirtha.

And after Sanatana Gosvami had disappeared from the vision of the mortal beings, Srila Jiva Gosvami took that Sila to Vrindavana where it is still kept and worshipped today in the Radha-Damodara temple.

This is a section of the book “Vrindavana Lila”.

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