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KB 1970-1-27 / Prayers by Indra, the King of Heaven
27 / Prayers by Indra, the King of Heaven
When Krsna saved the inhabitants of Vrndavana from the wrath of
Indra by lifting Govardhana Hill, a surabhi cow from Goloka
Vrndavana, as well as King Indra from the heavenly planet,
appeared before Him. Indra, the King of heaven, was conscious
of his offense before Krsna; therefore he stealthily appeared
before Him from a secluded place. He immediately fell down at
the lotus feet of Krsna, although his own crown was dazzling
like sunshine. Indra knew about the exalted position of Krsna
because Krsna is the master of Indra, but he could not believe
that Krsna could come down and live in Vrndavana among the
cowherd men. When Krsna defied the authority of Indra, Indra
became angry because he thought that he was all in all within
this universe and that no one was as powerful as he. But after
this incident, his false puffed up prestige was destroyed.
Being conscious of his subordinate position, he appeared before
Krsna with folded hands and began to offer the following
prayers.
"My dear Lord," Indra said, "being puffed up by my false
prestige, I thought that You had offended me by not allowing
the cowherd men to perform the Indra-yajna, and I thought that
You wanted to enjoy the offerings that were arranged for the
sacrifice. I thought that in the name of a Govardhana sacrifice,
You were taking my share of profit, and therefore I mistook
Your position. Now by Your grace I can understand that You are
the Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead, and that You are
transcendental to all the material qualities. Your
transcendental position is visuddha-sattvam, which is above the
platform of the material mode of goodness, and Your
transcendental abode is beyond the disturbance of the material
qualities. Your name, fame, form, quality and
pastimes are all beyond this material nature, and they are
never disturbed by the three material modes. Your abode is
accessible only for one who undergoes severe austerities and
penances and who is completely freed from the onslaught of
material qualities like passion and ignorance. If someone
thinks that when You come within this material world You
accept the modes of material nature, he is mistaken. The webs
of the material qualities are never able to touch You, and You
certainly do not accept them when You are present within this
world. Your Lordship is never conditioned by the laws of
material nature.
"My dear Lord, You are the original father of this cosmic
manifestation. You are the supreme spiritual master of this
cosmic world, and You are the original proprietor of everything.
As eternal time, You are competent to chastise offenders.
Within this material world there are many fools like myself who
consider themselves to be the Supreme Lord or the all in all
within the universe. You are so merciful that without punishing
their offenses, You devise means so that their false prestige
is subdued and they can know that You, and none else, are
the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
"My dear Lord, You are the supreme father, the supreme
spiritual master and supreme king. Therefore, You have the
right to chastise all living entities whenever there is any
discrepancy in their behavior. The father, the spiritual master,
and the supreme executive officer of the state are always well-
wishers of their sons, their students and their citizens
respectively. As such, the well-wishers have the right to
chastise their dependents. By Your own desire You appear
auspiciously on the earth in Your eternal varieties of forms;
You come to glorify the earthly planet and specifically to
chastise persons who are falsely claiming to be God. In the
material world there is regular competition between different
types of living entities to become supreme leaders of society,
and after being frustrated in achieving the supreme positions
of leadership, foolish persons claim to be God, the Supreme
Personality. There are many such foolish personalities in this
world, like me, but in due course of time, when they come to
their senses, they surrender unto You and again engage
themselves properly by rendering service unto You. And that is
the purpose of Your chastising persons envious of You.
"My dear Lord, I committed a great offense unto Your lotus feet,
being falsely proud of my material opulences, not knowing Your
unlimited power. Therefore, my Lord, kindly excuse me, because
I am fool number one. Kindly give me Your blessings so that I
may not act so foolishly again. If You think, my Lord, that the
offense is very great and cannot be excused, then I appeal to
You that I am Your eternal servant; Your appearance in this
world is to give protection to Your eternal servants and to
destroy the demons who maintain great military strength just to
burden the very existence of the earth. As I am Your eternal
servant, kindly excuse me.
"My dear Lord, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I
offer my respectful obeisances unto You because You are the
Supreme Person and the Supreme Soul. You are the son of
Vasudeva, and You are the Supreme Lord, Krsna, the master of
all pure devotees. Please accept my prostrated obeisances. You
are the personification of supreme knowledge. You can appear
anywhere according to Your desire in any one of Your eternal
forms. You are the root of all creation and the Supreme Soul of
all living entities. Due to my gross ignorance, I created
great disturbance in Vrndavana by sending torrents of rain and
heavy hailstorm. I acted out of severe anger caused by Your
stopping the sacrifice which was to be held to satisfy me. But
my dear Lord, You are so kind to me that You have bestowed Your
mercy upon me by destroying all my false pride. I therefore
take shelter unto Your lotus feet. My dear Lord, You are not
only the supreme controller, but also the spiritual master of
all living entities."
Thus praised by Indra, Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, smiling beautifully, said,
"My dear Indra, I have stopped
your sacrifice just to show My causeless mercy and to
revive your memory that I am your eternal master. I am not only
your master, but I am the master of all the other demigods
as well. You should always remember that all your material
opulences are due to My mercy.
Everyone should always remember that I am the Supreme Lord. I
can show anyone My favor, and I can chastise anyone, because no
one is superior to Me. If I find someone overpowered by false
pride, in order to show him My causeless mercy, I withdraw all
his opulences."
It is noteworthy that Krsna sometimes removes all
opulences in order to facilitate a rich man's becoming
a surrendered soul to Him. This is a special favor
of the Lord's. Sometimes it is seen that a person is very
opulent materially, but due to his devotional service to the
Lord, he may be reduced to poverty. One should not think,
however, that because he worshiped the Supreme Lord he became
poverty-stricken. The real purport is that when a person is a
pure devotee, but at the same time, by miscalculation, he wants
to lord it over material nature, the Lord shows His special
mercy by taking away all material opulences until at last he
surrenders unto the Supreme Lord.
After instructing Indra, Lord Krsna asked him to return to his
kingdom in the heavenly planet and to remember always that he
is never the supreme but is always subordinate to the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. He also advised him to remain as King
of heaven, but to be careful of false pride.
After this, the transcendental surabhi cow, who also come with
Indra to see Krsna, offered her respectful obeisances unto Him
and worshiped Him. The surabhi offered her prayer as follows. "
My dear Lord Krsna, 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 manifestation 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 anyone
else as the Supreme, nor do we go to any other god or demigods
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. O Lord, You appear just to diminish the burden
of impure activities on the earth."
In this way, Krsna was bathed by the milk of the
surabhi cows, and Indra was bathed by the water of the
celestial Ganges through the trunk of his carrier elephant.
After this, the heavenly king Indra, along with surabhi cows
and all other demigods and their mothers
, worshiped Lord Krsna by bathing Him
with Ganges water and the milk of the surabhis. Thus Govinda,
Lord Krsna, was pleased with all of them. The residents of all
higher planetary systems, such as Gandharvaloka, Pitrloka,
Siddhaloka, and Caranaloka, all combined and began to
glorify the Lord by chanting His holy name. Their wives
and damsels began to dance with great joy. They very much
satisfied the Lord by incessantly pouring flowers from the sky.
When everything was very nicely and joyfully settled, the cows
overflooded the surface of the earth with their milk. The water
of the rivers began to flow and give
nourishment to the trees, producing fruits and flowers of
different colors and tastes. The trees began to pour drops of
honey. The hills and mountains began to produce potent
medicinal plants and valuable stones. Because of Krsna's
presence, all these things happened very nicely, and the lower
animals, who were generally envious, were
envious no longer.
After satisfying Krsna, who is the Lord of all the cows in
Vrndavana, who is known as Govinda, King Indra took His
permission to return to his heavenly kingdom. He
was surrounded by all kinds of
demigods who passed with him through cosmic space. This great
incident is a powerful example of how Krsna consciousness can
benefit the world. Even the lower animals forget their envious
nature and become elevated to the qualities of the demigods.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twenty-seventh
Chapter of Krsna, "Prayers by Indra, the King of Heaven."
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KB 27: Prayers by Indra, the King of Heaven
CHAPTER TWENTY–SEVEN
Prayers by Indra, the King of Heaven
When Krsna saved the inhabitants of Vrndavana from the wrath of
Indra by lifting Govardhana Hill, a surabhi cow from Goloka
Vrndavana, as well as King Indra from the heavenly planets,
appeared before Him. Indra, the King of heaven, was conscious
of his offense before Krsna; therefore he stealthily appeared
before Him in a secluded place. He immediately fell down at
the lotus feet of Krsna, although his own crown was dazzling
like sunshine. Indra knew about the exalted position of Krsna
because Krsna is the master of Indra, but he could not believe
that Krsna could come down and live in Vrndavana among the
cowherd men. When Krsna defied the authority of Indra, Indra
became angry because he thought that he was all in all within
this universe and that no one was as powerful as he. But after
this incident, his false, puffed-up prestige was destroyed.
Being conscious of his subordinate position, he appeared before
Krsna with folded hands and began to offer the following
prayers.
"My dear Lord," Indra said, "being puffed up by my false
prestige, I thought that You had offended me by not allowing
the cowherd men to perform the Indra-yajna, and I thought that
You wanted to enjoy the offerings that were arranged for the
sacrifice. I thought that in the name of a Govardhana
sacrifice You were taking my share of profit, and therefore I
mistook Your position. Now by Your grace I can understand that
You are the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, and that
You are transcendental to all material qualities. Your
transcendental position is visuddha-sattva, which is above the
platform of the material mode of goodness, and Your
transcendental abode is beyond the disturbance of the material
qualities. Your name, fame, form, qualities, paraphernalia and
pastimes are all beyond this material nature, and they are
never disturbed by the three material modes. Your abode is
accessible only for one who undergoes severe austerities and
penances and becomes completely freed from the onslaught of
material qualities like passion and ignorance. If someone
thinks that when You enter within this material world You
accept the modes of material nature, he is mistaken. The waves
of the material qualities are never able to touch You, and You
certainly do not accept them when You are present within this
world. Your Lordship is never conditioned by the laws of
material nature.
"My dear Lord, You are the original father of this cosmic
manifestation. You are the supreme spiritual master of this
cosmic world, and You are the original proprietor of everything.
As eternal time, You are competent to chastise offenders.
Within this material world there are many fools like me who
consider themselves to be the Supreme Lord or the all in all
within the universe. You are so merciful that without accepting
their offenses You devise means so that their false prestige
is subdued and they can know that You, and no one else, are
the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
"My dear Lord, You are the supreme father, the supreme
spiritual master and the supreme king. Therefore, You have the
right to chastise all living entities whenever there is any
discrepancy in their behavior. The father, the spiritual
master and the supreme executive officer of the state are
always well-wishers of their sons, their students and their
citizens respectively. As such, the well-wishers have the right
to chastise their dependents. By Your own desire You appear
auspiciously on the earth in Your eternal varieties of forms;
You come to glorify the earthly planet and specifically to
chastise persons who are falsely claiming to be God. In the
material world there is regular competition between different
types of living entities to become supreme leaders of society,
and after being frustrated in achieving the supreme positions
of leadership, foolish persons claim to be God, the Supreme
Personality. There are many such foolish personalities in this
world, like me, but in due course of time, when they come to
their senses, they surrender unto You and again engage
themselves properly by rendering service unto You. And that is
the purpose of Your chastising persons envious of You.
"My dear Lord, I committed a great offense unto Your lotus feet,
being falsely proud of my material opulences, not knowing Your
unlimited power. Therefore, my Lord, kindly excuse me, because
I am fool number one. Kindly give me Your blessings so that I
may not act so foolishly again. If You think, my Lord, that the
offense is very great and cannot be excused, then I appeal to
You that I am Your eternal servant; You appear in this
world to give protection to Your eternal servants and to
destroy the demons who maintain great military strength just to
burden the very existence of the earth. As I am Your eternal
servant, kindly excuse me.
"My dear Lord, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I
offer my respectful obeisances unto You because You are the
Supreme Person and the Supreme Soul. You are the son of
Vasudeva, and You are the Supreme Lord, Krsna, the master of
all pure devotees. Please accept my prostrated obeisances. You
are the personification of supreme knowledge. You can appear
anywhere, according to Your desire, in any one of Your eternal
forms. You are the root of all creation and the Supreme Soul of
all living entities. Due to my gross ignorance, I created a
great disturbance in Vrndavana by sending torrents of rain and
a heavy hailstorm. I acted out of severe anger caused by Your
stopping the sacrifice which was to be held to satisfy me. But,
my dear Lord, You are so kind to me that You have bestowed Your
mercy upon me by destroying all my false pride. I therefore
take shelter of Your lotus feet. My dear Lord, You are not
only the supreme controller but also the spiritual master of
all living entities."
Thus praised by Indra, Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, smiled beautifully and then replied in a grave
voice like a rumbling cloud: "My dear Indra, I stopped
your sacrifice just to show you My causeless mercy and to
remind you that I am your eternal master. I am the
master not only of you but of all the other demigods
as well. You should always remember that all your material
opulences are due to My mercy. No living entity can
independently become opulent; one must be favored by My mercy.
Everyone should always remember that I am the Supreme Lord. I
can show anyone My favor, and I can chastise anyone, because no
one is superior to Me. If I find someone overpowered by false
pride, in order to show him My causeless mercy I withdraw all
his opulences."
It is noteworthy that Krsna sometimes removes all of a rich man'
s opulences in order to facilitate his becoming a
soul surrendered to Him. This is a special favor of
the Lord's. Sometimes it is seen that a person is very opulent
materially, but due to his devotional service to the Lord he
may be reduced to poverty. One should not think, however, that
because he worshiped the Supreme Lord he became poverty-
stricken. The real purport is that when a person is a pure
devotee but at the same time, by miscalculation, wants to
lord it over material nature, the Lord shows His special mercy
by taking away all material opulences until at last he
surrenders unto the Supreme Lord.
After instructing Indra, Lord Krsna asked him to return to his
kingdom in the heavenly planets and to remember always that he
is never the supreme but is always subordinate to the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. He also advised him to remain as King
of heaven but to be careful of false pride.
After this, the transcendental surabhi cow who had come with
Indra to see Krsna offered her respectful obeisances unto Him
and worshiped Him. The surabhi offered her prayer as follows: "
My dear Lord Krsna, You are the most powerful of all mystic
yogis because You are the soul of the complete universe, and
only from You has all this cosmic manifestation 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 anyone
else as the Supreme, nor do we go to any other god or demigods
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, for You
are our Indra. O Lord, You appear just to diminish the burden
of impure activities on the earth."
Then the surabhi cow bathed Krsna with
her milk, and Indra bathed Him with the water of the
celestial Ganges through the trunk of his carrier elephant.
After this, the surabhi cows
and all the demigods and their mothers joined the heavenly
king, Indra, in worshiping Lord Krsna by bathing Him
with Ganges water and the milk of the surabhis. Thus Govinda,
Lord Krsna, was pleased with all of them. The residents of all
higher planetary systems, such as Gandharvaloka, Vidyadharaloka,
Siddhaloka and Caranaloka, all combined and glorified
the Lord by chanting His holy name as their wives
and damsels danced with great joy. They very much
satisfied the Lord by incessantly pouring flowers from the sky.
When everything was very nicely and joyfully settled, the cows
overflooded the surface of the earth with their milk. The water
of the rivers began to flow with various tasty liquids and give
nourishment to the trees, producing fruits and flowers of
different colors and tastes. The trees began to pour drops of
honey. The hills and mountains began to produce potent
medicinal plants and valuable stones. Because of Krsna's
presence, all these things happened very nicely, and the lower
animals, who were generally envious of one another, were
envious no longer.
After satisfying Krsna, who is the Lord of all the cows in
Vrndavana and who is known as Govinda, King Indra took His
permission to return to his heavenly kingdom. As he passed
through cosmic space, he was surrounded by all kinds of
demigods. This great
incident is a powerful example of how Krsna consciousness can
benefit the world. Even the lower animals forget their envious
nature and become elevated to the qualities of the demigods.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twenty-seventh
Chapter of Krsna, "Prayers by Indra, the King of Heaven."
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