Devanagari
देवे वर्षति यज्ञविप्लवरुषा वज्राश्मवर्षानिलै:सीदत्पालपशुस्त्रियात्मशरणं दृष्ट्वानुकम्प्युत्स्मयन्
उत्पाट्यैककरेण शैलमबलो लीलोच्छिलीन्ध्रं यथाबिभ्रद् गोष्ठमपान्महेन्द्रमदभित् प्रीयान्न इन्द्रो गवाम् ॥ २५ ॥
Verse text
deve varṣati yajṣa-viplava-ruṣā vajrāsma-varṣānilaiḥ
sīdat-pāla-paśu-striy ātma-śaraṇaṁ dṛṣṭvānukampy utsmayan
utpāṭyaika-kareṇa śailam abalo līlocchilīndhraṁ yathā
bibhrad goṣṭham apān mahendra-mada-bhit prīyān na indro gavām
Synonyms
deve
—
when the demigod Indra
;
varṣati
—
caused rain
;
yajṣa
—
of his sacrifice
;
viplava
—
due to the disturbances
;
ruṣā
—
out of anger
;
vajra
—
with lightning bolts
;
aśma
—
varṣa — hail
;
anilaiḥ
—
and winds
;
sīdat
—
suffering
;
pāla
—
the cowherds
;
paśu
—
animals
;
stri
—
and women
;
ātma
—
Himself
;
śaraṇam
—
being their only shelter
;
dṛṣṭvā
—
seeing
;
anukampī
—
very compassionate by nature
;
utsmayan
—
smiling broadly
;
utpāṭya
—
picking up
;
eka
—
kareṇa — in one hand
;
śailam
—
the hill, Govardhana
;
abalaḥ
—
a small child
;
līlā
—
in play
;
ucchilīndhram
—
a mushroom
;
yathā
—
just as
;
bibhrat
—
He held
;
goṣṭham
—
the cowherd community
;
apāt
—
He protected
;
mahā
—
indra — of King Indra
;
mada
—
of the false pride
;
bhit
—
the destroyer
;
prīyāt
—
may He be satisfied
;
naḥ
—
with us
;
indraḥ
—
the Lord
;
gavām
—
of the cows .
Translation
Indra became angry when his sacrifice was disrupted, and thus he caused rain and hail to fall on Gokula, accompanied by lightning and powerful winds, all of which brought great suffering to the cowherds, animals and women there. When Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is by nature always compassionate, saw the condition of those who had only Him as their shelter, He smiled broadly and lifted Govardhana Hill with one hand, just as a small child picks up a mushroom to play with it. Holding up the hill, He protected the cowherd community. May He, Govinda, the Lord of the cows and the destroyer of Indra’s false pride, be pleased with us.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Indra became angry when his sacrifice was disrupted, and thus he caused rain and hail to fall on Gokula, accompanied by lightning and powerful winds, all of which brought great suffering to the cowherds, animals and women there. When Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is by nature always compassionate, saw the condition of those who had only Him as their shelter, He smiled broadly and lifted Govardhana Hill with one hand, just as a small child picks up a mushroom to play with it. Holding up the hill, He protected the cowherd community. May He, Govinda, the Lord of the cows and the destroyer of Indra's false pride, be pleased with us.
KB 10.26.25
They said, “Let Kṛṣṇa, who is so kind, beautiful and merciful, protect us. When angry Indra sent torrents of rain, accompanied by showers of ice blocks and high wind, Kṛṣṇa immediately took compassion upon us and saved us and our families, cows and valuable possessions by picking up Govardhana Hill, just as a child picks up a mushroom. He saved us so wonderfully. May He continue to glance mercifully over us and our cows. May we live peacefully under the protection of wonderful Kṛṣṇa.”
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twenty-sixth Chapter of Kṛṣṇa, “Wonderful Kṛṣṇa.”
Purport
The word
indra
means “lord” or “king.” Thus in this verse Kṛṣṇa is pointedly called
indro gavām,
“the Lord of the cows.” In fact, He is the real Indra, the real ruler, of everyone, and the demigods are merely His servants, representing His supreme will.
It is apparent from this and the previous verses in this chapter that Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lifting of Govardhana Hill made quite an impression on the simple cowherd men of Vṛndāvana, and they repeatedly remembered this feat. Certainly anyone who soberly and objectively considers the activities of young Kṛṣṇa will surrender to Him and become His eternal devotee in loving devotional service. That is the rational conclusion one should come to after reading this chapter.
Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Tenth Canto, Twenty-sixth Chapter, of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
entitled “Wonderful Kṛṣṇa.”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"O King Pariksit! May that Krsna who lifted Govardhana and protected the inhabitants of Vraja from the disturbance caused by hunger, hail and rain arising from Indra’s wrath, who was expert in starting the worship of Govardhana and cut the pride of the devatas, be pleased with us. In the same way may he who protects you with the essence of the Vedas in the form of the Bhagavata from the lightning bolt curse arising from Srngi’s anger, who is expert at starting the sacrifice of listening to the bhagavatam and destroys the pride of the brahmanas devoid of bhakti, be pleased with us." In this way Sukadeva, by praying for Krsna’s mercy, indicates that Pariksit should apply this to himself. "When Indra, angry that his sacrifice was stopped began to pour rain, Krsna, seeing that the area containing animals, men and women which had taken shelter of him alone was afflicted with rain, hail, lightning and wind, he smiled slightly, and with little effort, lifted up Govardhana easily, like a small child lifting a mushroom, and protected Vraja. May the Indra of Gokula (gavam indra), who cuts the pride of Indra, be pleased with us-- with Pariksit, with me, and with the assembled listeners."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Concluding the chapter, Śukadeva remembers the lifting of Govardhana and all the accompanying events in great bliss. Śukadeva remembers the pretext of destroying Indra’s sacrifice in order that Kṛṣṇa protect the people of Vraja who had taken shelter of him, while meditating on him as the king of the cows, the object of his own love. Realizing the great affection they had for him as the highest human goal, understanding that such love was the highest taste, and that it was solely dependent upon his mercy, Śukadeva prays for such love. Indra, creating showers of rain, produced fear created by his revengeful mood. His anger at having his sacrifice stopped shows an even more frightful situation. The main fright is then described: the thunder, rain, hail and wind. The cowherds, animals and women were suffering (sīdat) from the thunder and storms. In that terrifying condition they surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. Directly seeing their condition, he was full of compassion. Though he was overcome with compassion, he showed bravery, and was undisturbed: he smiled. He smiled scornfully at Indra. In that mood he lifted Govardhana, with his left hand only, though he was only a child. He lifted it like a mushroom, without effort. And he held it up for seven days and nights. Overcome with astonishment, joy, zeal and conviction, Śukadeva then says “He protected Vraja.” Then in joy and pride he says “Kṛṣṇa was the conqueror of Indra’s pride.” Though Kṛṣṇa was king of the cows he destroyed the pride of the king of the devatās. This is spoken in derision. The position of king of the devatās is included in his being the king of the cows, just as rivers enter the ocean. May Kṛṣṇa show such love for me (prīyāt)! On attaining such love I will attain the position of following the people of Vraja. He speaks of Kṛṣṇa in the mood of the people of Vraja: he is king of the cows or king of us people living in Gokula. This is shown to be his goal, as in the case of Brahmā’s prayers. Śruti says:
jajāna eva vyavādhata sprḍhaḥ prāpaśyad vīro ‘bhipauṁsyaṁ raṇam avṛścad adrim iva avasasyadaḥ spṛdh astabhnān nākaṁ svavaśyayā pṛthum
As soon as he was born Kṛṣṇa (vīraḥ) began to have enemies and undertook many battles. In the form of Govardhana he easily consumed piles of food. He stopped the attacking clouds because he held up the mountain easily. Ṛg Veda 10.113.4
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Unsatisfied with the wealth of special love, all the people of Vraja pray for more love. Identifying themselves as people of Vraja they do not utter the name of Indra out of hatred (deve). Or deve means that Indra shone with anger (divyati), desiring to conquer Kṛṣṇa. Indra created rain because he was angry (ruṣā) that his worship was replaced with Govardhana worship (yajna-vilplava). He saw the suffering cowherds, cows and women. They suffered more in that order. Kṛṣṇa was merciful in that order. He lifted the mountain by its root (utpāṭya).
Abalaḥ means he was a child, or was without Balarāma, in order to glorify him alone. He did not need the help of Balarāma. Or it means he had more strength than Viṣṇu since he revealed special powers in this pastime. He lifted the mountain easily (līlā) like a mushroom. Mahendra indicates that Indra was full of pride and that he was stronger than all others. Here his name is mentioned.
Or he broke the pride of Indra because of his great anger at the devotees (mahā). This indicates that he gave the greatest benefit to the greatest offender. Therefore he was merciful (anukampī). Therefore he should be pleased with us, who have taken shelter of him, though we are fallen.
This verse is also meant to appease Parīkṣit who was overcome with prema and a prayer so that the people of Vraja, who were surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, could tolerate the suffering.
Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Tenth Canto, Twenty-sixth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Wonderful Kṛṣṇa."
10.27: Lord Indra and Mother Surabhi Offer Prayers
verses: Summary, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22-23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28
Chapter Summary
This chapter describes how the Surabhi cow and Indra, having seen the amazing power of Lord Kṛṣṇa, performed a bathing ceremony for Him.
Ashamed of having attacked Vṛndāvana with a violent storm, Indra secretly came before Lord Kṛṣṇa, offered obeisances and praised Him. Indra stated that although Śrī Kṛṣṇa is never caught in the current of material illusion, which is born of ignorance, He nevertheless accepts a humanlike body and performs various activities to establish religious principles and chastise the wicked. By this means He crushes the false prestige of those who presume themselves great controllers. Indra went on to declare that Kṛṣṇa is the father, guru and Lord of all living entities, and that in the form of time He is the agent of their punishment.
Satisfied with Indra's prayers, Śrī Kṛṣṇa told him that He had stopped the indra-yajña so that Indra, puffed up as he was with false pride, would remember the Lord. Persons intoxicated by material opulence never see Him standing before them with the rod of punishment in His hand. Therefore if Lord Kṛṣṇa desires the actual good fortune of some person, He brings him down from his position of opulence.
Lord Kṛṣṇa ordered Indra to return to his proper position in heaven and to serve there without egotism. Indra, along with the cow Surabhi, then performed a bathing ceremony for Kṛṣṇa, using the water of the heavenly Ganges and the milk of mother Surabhi. Indra and the cow took this opportunity to bestow upon the Lord the name Govinda, and the demigods showered flowers and recited various prayers.