SB 11.4.7

SB 11.4.7

Devanagari

इन्द्रो विशङ्‍क्य मम धाम जिघृक्षतीति कामं न्ययुङ्क्त सगणं स बदर्युपाख्यम् । गत्वाप्सरोगणवसन्तसुमन्दवातै: स्त्रीप्रेक्षणेषुभिरविध्यदतन्महिज्ञ: ॥ ७ ॥

Verse text

indro viśaṅkya mama dhāma jighṛkṣatīti kāmaṁ nyayuṅkta sa-gaṇaṁ sa badary-upākhyam gatvāpsaro-gaṇa-vasanta-sumanda-vātaiḥ strī-prekṣaṇeṣubhir avidhyad atan-mahi-jṣaḥ

Synonyms

indraḥ Lord Indra ; viśaṅkya fearing ; mama my ; dhāma kingdom ; jighṛkṣati He wants to devour ; iti thinking thus ; kāmam Cupid ; nyayuṅkta he engaged ; sa gaṇam — with his associates ; saḥ he (Cupid) ; badarī upākhyam — to the āśrama named Badarikā ; gatvā going ; apsaraḥ gaṇa — with the heavenly society girls ; vasanta the spring season ; su manda — vātaiḥ — and the gentle breezes ; strī prekṣaṇa — (consisting of) the glances of women ; iṣubhiḥ with his arrows ; avidhyat attempted to pierce ; atat mahi — jṣaḥ — not knowing His greatness .

Translation

King Indra became fearful, thinking that Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi would become very powerful by His severe penances and seize Indra’s heavenly kingdom. Thus Indra, not knowing the transcendental glories of the incarnation of the Lord, sent Cupid and his associates to the Lord’s residence in Badarikāśrama. As the charming breezes of spring created a most sensuous atmosphere, Cupid himself attacked the Lord with arrows in the form of the irresistible glances of beautiful women.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Indra became fearful, thinking that Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi would seize his heavenly kingdom. Thus Indra sent Cupid, who, with his associates, went to the Lord’s residence in Badarikāśrama. Cupid, not knowing the power of the Lord, released arrows of glances from beautiful women, along with the charming breezes of spring. Cupid (saḥ), not knowing the Lord’s greatness, going to Badarikāśrama with Apsarās, released arrows of women’s glances.

Purport

This verse and the following nine verses illustrate the Personality of Godhead’s opulence of supreme renunciation. The word atan-mahi-jṣaḥ, “not understanding the glories of the Lord,” indicates that King Indra was placing the Personality of Godhead on the same level as he himself, considering the Lord an ordinary enjoyer who would be attracted by mundane sex life. Indra’s plot to cause the falldown of Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi could not affect the Lord, but it reveals the shortsightedness of Indra himself. Because Indra is attached to his heavenly kingdom, he took it for granted that the Supreme Lord was performing austerities to acquire such flickering phantasmagoria as the kingdom of heaven ( tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate ).