Srihari Krishna

Indra continued,

“Namas tubhyaḿ bhagavate puruṣāya mahātmane

Vāsudevāya kṛṣṇāya sātvatāḿ pataye namaḥ

O Srikrishna! You are none other than the Supreme Lord. You, the son of Vasudeva, are the protector of the Yadavas and of the devotees. To You, I offer obeisance.

You, who are an embodiment of complete knowledge, playfully take on incarnations as per Your free will. You, who are the cause for every existence, are also every existence. To You, who resides as the Self with every living entity, I offer obeisance.

O Lord, being self-conceited I am filled with extreme anger. As the worship due to me was disrupted, I decided to destroy the entire hamlet of Brindavan and hence showered torrential rains accompanied by tempestuous winds. O Iśwara, my efforts were all rendered futile. My arrogance has been shattered completely. Thus, You have favoured me O Lord.

**īśvaraḿ gurum ātmānaḿ tvām ahaḿ śaraṇaḿ gataḥ-**You are the Supreme Lord. You are my father and my original Self. I seek refuge under You’.

Hearing these prayers offered by Indra, the Supreme Lord Krishna laughed heartily and then, in a deep thunderous voice, said,

‘O Indra, you became intoxicated due to your position in heaven’.”

Indra is the position of Lord of heaven. The rule of each Indra spans many Yugas. Among the many Indras who have held this position, he is one.

“Purely with the intent of blessing you, who had become conceited, I created obstacles in the Yagna being offered to you”.

Even when I have incarnated here in human form, you continued to remain haughty. I had to punish and reform you.

“Pride of wealth and power causes living entities to be deprived of their intellect and wisdom. You too were trapped by this pride. Those who are blinded due to power and wealth can never recognize Me, the Lord who holds the rod to impose punishments.”

Swamiji explains: ‘My flute, which at times is used for playing music, becomes my rod using which I inflict punishments. I eternally hold this rod in my hand, nevertheless those blinded by pride fail to notice it’- implied Krishna.

“taḿ bhraḿśayāmi sampadbhyo yasya cecchāmy anugraham - I destroy the wealth of those upon whom I decide to shower My blessings”.

As the first step He destroys the wealth of those upon whom He decides to shower complete blessings. With it, their arrogance is shattered.

“O Indra, return to heaven and obey My commands. You will be blessed with auspiciousness. O Guardian-deities! Discard your pride and with single-focussed concentration abide by your assigned duties’- commanded the Lord.

Thereafter, Kamadhenu, the celestial cow, along with her progeny addressed Srikrishna and said,

‘Kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa mahā-yogin viśvātman viśva-sambhava

Bhavatā loka-nāthena sa-nāthā vayam acyuta

O Krishna Krishna! O Maha-yogi! This entire world has emerged from You, who are the Self within every existence. The question of slipping from Your original state can never exist in You. O Lord, You who are the protector of all the worlds, are alone our protector. You alone are our worshipful Lord.

O Lord of the universe! You are our Supreme Lord. Please cause prosperity to the cows, Vedic Brahmin scholars, noble saints and the Devatas. O Lord who are the Self for this universe! As commanded by Brahma, we shall worship You as Indra (ruler). You have incarnated solely to reduce the burden of Earth’- having offered these prayers, Kāmadhenu worshipped Srikrishna, who was born in the Yadava clan, with milk from her udder.

Under the guidance of Aditi and other celestial mothers, Indra, together with Narada and other celestial sages, bathed Srikrishna with the waters from the celestial Ganga which were fetched by his elephant Airavata. From the skies, the waters of the celestial Ganga were poured on Srikrishna.

abhyasiñcata dāśārhaṁ govinda iti cābhyadhāt - Indra bestowed upon Krishna the title ‘Govinda’.

At that moment, the celestial sages Narada, Tumbura, Chitraratha and other Gandharvas, other celestials such as Vidyadharas, accomplished Siddhas and Cāraṇas, sang the glories of Srikrishna, the destroyer of the sins of the people. Celestial damsels known as Apsaras danced in joy. The prominent chiefs of Gods worshipfully prayed to Him. There was an extra-ordinary shower of flowers from the heavens. All the three worlds reverberated with joy.

Milk began to flow freely from the udders of the cows, which drenched the Earth as they flowed in full force. Rivers flowed with different varieties of delicious fluids. Honey began to flow freely from all the trees. Nature was dancing in happiness on this occasion.

All the trees bore plentiful fruit. Flowers and fruits fell from the branches of the trees covering the Earth. The untilled fields were filled with ready crops and were begging the people to come and harvest. The reason for this celebration was that celestial cow Kamadhenu, accompanied by Indra, the other sages and other Gods had worshipped Krishna with milk and with the pure waters of the celestial Ganga”.

How sacred is this land called Bharata! This infinite energy has enabled it to withstand all the calamities. This is the land of Krishna.

“Mountains shone brightly as all their hidden gems became visible. O descendant of the Kuru lineage, O Emperor Parikshit! At that moment when Krishna was bathed with the sacred waters and with milk, even the ferocious carnivorous animals discarded feelings of enmity. They attained dispassion.

Thus, in the presence of all the celestials and other Gods, Indra crowned Krishna, the ruler of Gokula and of the cows, as Govinda (the protector of cows). Thereafter with the permission of Krishna, he returned to heaven”.

With this the twenty-seventh chapter of the tenth canto comes to an end.

Narayana Srihari