VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Chapter 27
Lord Indra and Mother Surabhi Offer Prayers
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.
10.27.1
go-lokād āvrajat kṛṣṇaḿ
(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'After having held the hill Govardhana to protect Vraja against the rains came from the world of the cows mother Surabhi [the celestial cow] to Krishna. And so did Lord Indra.
The word go-lokāt here indicates the material planet called Goloka which is filled with exceptional cows. Surabhi went joyfully to see Lord Kṛṣṇa, but Indra went fearfully. As indicated by this verse, Lord Kṛṣṇa had to adopt extraordinary measures to protect His Vṛndāvana associates from Indra's obnoxious and offensive attack. Certainly Indra was ashamed, and also nervous about his future. Having acted improperly, he had fearfully gone to seek the shelter of Lord Brahmā, who then ordered him to take along Surabhi from the material Goloka planet and go to see Kṛṣṇa.
10.27.2
kirīṭenārka-varcasā
(2) In a secluded place [*] approached Indra Him ashamed of having been offensive and touched he His feet with his helmet that shone like the sun.
The specific "solitary place" where Indra approached Śrī Kṛṣṇa is mentioned by the sage Śrī Vaiśampāyana in the Hari-vaḿśa (Viṣṇu-parva 19.3): sa dadarśopaviṣṭaḿ vai govardhana-śilā-tale. "He saw Him [Kṛṣṇa] sitting at the base of Govardhana Hill."
From the commentaries of the ācāryas we understand that Lord Kṛṣṇa wanted to provide a solitary meeting for Indra so that he would not be further humiliated. Indra came to surrender and beg forgiveness, and the Lord allowed him to do so privately.
10.27.3
dṛṣṭa-śrutānubhāvo 'sya
kṛṣṇasyāmita-tejasaḥ
(3) Having heard of and having witnessed the power of this Lord Krishna, whose immeasurable potency had put an end to his arrogance of being the lord of the three worlds, spoke he with folded hands as follows.
10.27.4
(4) Indra said: 'Your majesty of transcendental goodness, being of peace and the illumination of penance, destroyed the passion and ignorance born from illusion; in You is this continuous stream not present of the material qualities to which one is bound when one is not in control.
The great Bhāgavatam commentator Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has masterfully explained the Sanskrit elements of this profound verse.
The Sanskrit word dhāma has several meanings: a) dwelling place, house, abode and so on; b) a favorite thing or person; delight; or pleasure; c) form or appearance; d) power, strength, majesty, glory, splendor or light.
Concerning the first set of meanings, the Vedānta-sūtra states that the Absolute Truth is the source and resting place of all existence, and in the first verse of the Bhāgavatam that Absolute Truth is said to be Kṛṣṇa. Although Lord Kṛṣṇa exists in His own dhāma, or abode, called Kṛṣṇaloka, He Himself is the abode of all existence, as Arjuna confirms in the Bhagavad-gītā, where he addresses Kṛṣṇa as paraḿ dhāma, "the supreme abode."
The very name Kṛṣṇa indicates the all-attractive person, and thus Lord Kṛṣṇa, the source of all beauty and pleasure, is certainly "the favorite thing or person; delight; and pleasure." Ultimately these terms can refer only to Kṛṣṇa.
Dhāma also refers to form or appearance, and as Indra offered these prayers he was in fact directly seeing the form of Kṛṣṇa before him.
As clearly explained in the Vedic literature, Lord Kṛṣṇa's power, strength, majesty, splendor and effulgence are all contained within His transcendental body and thus attest to the infinite glories of the Lord.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has brilliantly summarized all these meanings of the word dhāma by giving the Sanskrit term svarūpa as a synonym. The word svarūpa means "one's own form or shape" and also "one's own condition, character or nature." Since Lord Kṛṣṇa, being pure spirit, is nondifferent from His body, there is absolutely no difference between the Lord and His visible form. By contrast, in this material world we conditioned souls are all distinctly different from our bodies, whether those bodies be male, female, black, white or whatever. All of us are eternal souls, different from our temporary, flimsy bodies.
When the word svarūpa is applied to us, it especially indicates our spiritual form, because our "own form" is in fact our "own condition, character or nature" eternally. Thus the liberated condition in which one's outward form is one's deepest spiritual nature is called svarūpa. Primarily, however, this term refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This is all indicated in this verse by the words tava dhāma, as explained by Śrīdhara Svāmī.
Śrīdhara Svāmī has explained that here the word śāntam means "always in the same form." Śāntam can also mean "undisturbed, free from passion, or purified." According to Vedic philosophy, all change in this world is caused by the influence of passion and ignorance. The passionate mode is creative, and the ignorant mode is destructive, whereas the mode of goodness, sattva, is serene and sustaining. In many ways this verse emphasizes that Lord Kṛṣṇa is free from the modes of nature. The words viśuddha-sattvam, śāntam, dhvasta-rajas-tamaskam and guṇa-sampravāho na vidyate te all indicate this. Unlike Kṛṣṇa, we change from one body to another because of our involvement with the modes of nature; the various transformations of material forms are impelled by the modes of nature, which are themselves set in motion by the influence of time. Therefore one who is free from the material modes of nature is changeless and eternally satisfied in blissful spiritual existence. Thus the word śāntam indicates that the Lord is undisturbed by change, since He is free from the material modes of nature.
According to this verse, the powerful flow of the material modes of nature — namely passion, stupidity and mundane piety — are based on agrahaṇa, which Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has translated as "ignorance." Since the Sanskrit root graḥ means "to take, accept, grasp or comprehend," grahaṇa means "grasp" exactly in the sense of "to grasp an idea or fact." Therefore agrahaṇa here means one's failure to understand one's spiritual position, and this failure causes one to fall into the violent currents of material existence.
An additional meaning of the word agrahaṇa is derived when it is divided into the compound agra-haṇa. Agra means "the first, top or best," and hana means "killing." The best part of our existence is the pure soul, which is eternal, in contradistinction to the temporary, material body and mind. Thus one who chooses material existence over Kṛṣṇa consciousness is in fact killing the best part of himself, the soul, which in its pure state can enjoy Kṛṣṇa consciousness unlimitedly.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has translated tapo-mayam as "full of knowledge." The word tapas, generally indicating "austerity," is derived from the Sanskrit verb tap, whose meaning can be summarized as indicating the various functions of the sun. Tap means "to burn, to shine, to heat and so on." The Supreme Lord is eternally perfect, and therefore here tapo-mayam does not indicate that His transcendental body is meant for austerities, since austerities are performed by conditioned souls to purify themselves or to acquire a particular power. An omnipotent, perfect being neither purifies Himself nor acquires power: He is eternally pure and all-powerful. Therefore Śrīdhara Svāmī has intelligently understood that in this case the word tapas refers to the illuminating function of the sun and thus indicates that the Lord's self-effulgent body is omniscient. Light is a common symbol of knowledge. The Lord's spiritual effulgence does not merely illuminate physically, as in the case of a candle or light bulb; more importantly, the Lord's body illuminates our consciousness with perfect knowledge because the Lord's effulgence is itself perfect knowledge.
10.27.5
(5) How, o Lord, would there [in You, as I thought, see 10.25: 3] be the causes of being entangled - the greed and all of that - that symptomize an ignorant person; still You are the Supreme Lord who in defense of the dharma exercises Your authority to chastise the wicked!
This complex philosophical statement by Indra may be analyzed as follows: In the first line of this verse, Indra refers to the main idea expressed at the end of the previous verse — namely, that the great currents of material existence, which are based on ignorance, cannot possibly exist within the Supreme Lord. The words tad-dhetavaḥ and tat-kṛtāḥ indicate that something causes the modes of nature to manifest, and that they in turn become the cause of that which caused them. In the second line of this verse, we find that it is material feelings such as greed, lust, envy and anger that cause the modes of nature to manifest and that are themselves caused by the modes of nature.
The explanation of this seeming paradox is as follows: When the conditioned soul decides to associate with the material qualities, he becomes contaminated by those qualities. As stated in the Gītā (13.22), kāraṇaḿ guṇa-sańgo 'sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu. For example, in the presence of a seductive woman, a man may give in to his lower instincts and try to enjoy sex with her. By his deciding to associate with the lower qualities of nature, those qualities manifest in him very powerfully. He is overwhelmed with lust and driven to try again and again to satisfy his burning desire. Because his mind has been infected by lust, all that he does, thinks and speaks will be influenced by his strong attachment to sex. In other words, by choosing to associate with the lusty qualities of nature, he has caused them to powerfully manifest within himself, and eventually those lusty qualities themselves will cause him to accept another material body suitable for affairs governed by those qualities.
The lower qualities, such as lust, greed, anger and envy, are abudha-lińga-bhāvāḥ, symptoms of ignorance. Indeed, as indicated by Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī in his commentary, the manifestation of the modes of nature is synonymous with the manifestation of a particular material body. It is clearly explained throughout the Vedic literature that the conditioned soul receives a particular body, gives it up and then accepts another simply because of his involvement with the modes of nature(kāraṇaḿ guṇa-sańgo 'sya). Thus to say that one is participating in the modes of nature is to say that one is accepting particular types of bodies suitable for the particular material qualities one is involved with.
An ignorant bystander might have simplistically interpreted Kṛṣṇa's pastime of lifting Govardhana Hill as follows: The residents of Vṛndāvana were obliged by Vedic principles to make certain offerings to the god of heaven, Indra. Child Kṛṣṇa, ignoring the position of Indra, usurped these offerings and took them for His own pleasure. When Indra tried to punish Kṛṣṇa and His associates, the Lord frustrated Indra's attempt, humiliated him, and exhausted his pride and resources.
But this superficial interpretation is refuted in this verse. Here Lord Indra addresses Śrī Kṛṣṇa as bhagavān, indicating that He is not an ordinary child but in fact God. Therefore Kṛṣṇa's punishing Indra was part of His mission of protecting religious principles and curbing down the envious; it was not a display of material anger or of greed for the offerings meant for Indra. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is pure spiritual existence, and His simple, sublime desire is to engage all living beings in the perfect, blissful life of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa's desire to make us Kṛṣṇa conscious is not egotistical, since ultimately Kṛṣṇa is everything and Kṛṣṇa consciousness is objectively the best consciousness. Lord Indra is really the humble servant of Kṛṣṇa, a fact he is now beginning to remember.
10.27.6
(6) The father, the guru, You are of the entire universe, the Original Controller and the insurmountable Time that of service as the authority, with the by You assuming of transcendental forms, is there to eradicate the self-conceit of the ones who imagine themselves to be the lord of the universe.
The word hitāya is significant here. Lord Kṛṣṇa protects religion and chastises the wicked for the benefit of the entire universe. Foolish and faithless pseudopriests criticize God for punishing the living entities through the actions of nature. But whether Lord Kṛṣṇa punishes them indirectly through nature or directly in His incarnations, as mentioned here, He has a perfect right to do so because He is the father, spiritual master and supreme ruler of the entire universe. Another way He curbs down the false attempts of the conditioned souls to establish the kingdom of God without God is through His feature as insurmountable time. It is said, "Spare the rod and spoil the child." That is a fact, and it is actually the Lord's mercy that He takes the trouble to rectify our misbehavior, although faithless persons criticize the Lord's fatherly vigilance.
10.27.7
hitvārya-mārgaḿ prabhajanty apasmayā
(7) Fools like me who think themselves to be the master of the universe do, seeing You fearless at the time [of confrontation], quickly part of their arrogance, when they as a consequence of Your lesson for the wicked being no longer puffed up in every respect take to the path of gentlemen.
History is filled with examples of the supreme authority breaking the conceit of foolish men. Modern world leaders proudly fight one another, placing the common people in unprecedented jeopardy. Similarly Indra, proud of his apparently illustrious position, dared to threaten the lives of the innocent residents of Vṛndāvana with terrible weapons, until his arrogance was curbed by the dynamic response of the Supreme Lord.
Nowadays, governments in the Western countries tend to be elected democratically, and thus the mass of people become identified with the destiny of their leaders. When the proud leaders engage in violence, the people who elected them bear the brunt of such belligerent decisions. Thus the people in the democratic nations of the world should elect Kṛṣṇa conscious leaders, who will establish an administration consonant with the laws of God. If they fail to do so, their materialistic leaders, oblivious of the will of the Supreme Lord, will undoubtedly be chastised by cataclysmic events, and the people who elected such leaders, being responsible for their leaders' acts, will share in the suffering.
It is ironic that in modern democracies not only do the leaders consider themselves universal controllers, but the mass of people, considering the leaders merely their representatives rather than the representatives of God, also consider themselves, as a people, to be the controllers of their nation. Thus the chastisement mentioned in this verse has become unprecedentedly applicable to people in general in the modern world.
Modern man should not simply make himself a lesson of nature by falling down from his proud position; rather he should submissively execute the will of the all-attractive Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and usher in a new era of sanity, tranquillity and widespread enlightenment.
10.27.8
(8) You as such o Master, please therefore forgive me, who, unaware of Your influence, because of his rulership bathed in arrogance and fell in offense with a foolish intelligence; please let my consciousness never be that foul again o Lord.
Although Lord Kṛṣṇa protected the residents of Vraja by lifting Govardhana Hill, He had not yet punished Indra himself, and Indra feared that at any moment Śrī Kṛṣṇa might call the son of Vivasvān, Yamarāja, who punishes impudent persons who defy the laws of God.
Indra was quite fearful and thus begged the Lord's forgiveness on the plea that he could be purified only by Kṛṣṇa's mercy — that he was too stubborn to learn a good lesson through mere punishment.
In fact, despite Indra's humility in this case, his heart was not completely purified. Later on in this canto we find that when Lord Kṛṣṇa once took a pārijāta flower from Indra's kingdom, poor Indra again reacted violently against the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus, we should aspire to go back to our eternal home in the kingdom of Kṛṣṇa, and should not become entangled in the imperfect life of the material gods.
10.27.9
tavāvatāro 'yam adhokṣajeha
bhavāya yuṣmac-caraṇānuvartinām
(9) Your descent into this world, o Lord of the Beyond, is there for the existence of those who serve Your lotus feet o Godhead, and for the nonexistence of warlords who with the many disturbances they give rise to constitute a great burden.
This verse utilizes an attractive poetic device. Lord Kṛṣṇa's descent into the world is said to be for the abhava, literally "nonexistence" or "destruction," of the demoniac warlords, and simultaneously for the bhava, or "existence, prosperity," of those who faithfully serve the Lord's lotus feet.
True existence, indicated here by the word bhava, is sac-cid-ānanda, eternal and full of bliss and knowledge. To an uninformed observer, it may appear that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is simply rewarding His followers and punishing His enemies the way any ordinary person might do. This specific doubt about the Lord is raised extensively in the Sixth Canto in connection with Kṛṣṇa's taking the side of the faithful demigods against the faithless demons in a particular cosmic war. In that canto the Vaiṣṇava authorities clearly explain that in fact Lord Kṛṣṇa is the father and Lord of all living beings and that all His activities are therefore meant for the benefit of all existence. Lord Kṛṣṇa does not really cause the nonexistence of anyone; rather He curbs the foolish, destructive, material ways of those who defy the laws of God. These laws are created to ensure the prosperity, harmony and happiness of the entire creation, and their violation is an unjustifiable disturbance.
Certainly Indra hoped that Lord Kṛṣṇa would count him among the devotees and not the demons, although considering Indra's actions one might doubt where his loyalties actually lay. Indra was aware of this possible doubt and thus, as we find in the next verse, he tried his best to surrender to the Supreme Lord.
10.27.10
puruṣāya mahātmane
(10) My obeisances unto You, the Supreme Lord and Original Personality, the great Soul S'rî Krishna, the son of Vasudeva; my reverence for the Master of the Servants of the Absolute Truth.
10.27.11
svacchandopātta-dehāya
(11) For Him my obeisances who to the desires of the ones belonging to Him assumes bodies, whose form is the purest spiritual knowledge and who is the seed of all and everything and the indwelling Soul of all living beings.
We could hardly construe from the first line of this verse that God is somehow impersonal but assumes a personal material body. It is clearly said here that the Lord assumes different forms according to svacchanda — according to His own desire or according to the desires of His devotees. An impersonal God could hardly reciprocate with the personal desires of Its devotees, nor could an impersonal God Itself have desires, since desire is characteristic of personality. Therefore, the Lord's manifesting different forms in a personal way, responding to personal desires, indicates that He is eternally a person and manifests His different transcendental bodies as an expression of His own eternal nature.
The word viśuddha-jñāna-mūrtaye is most significant. Mūrti means the form of the Deity, and it is specifically stated here that the Lord's form is itself completely pure consciousness. Consciousness is the primary spiritual element, distinct from any of the material elements, and even distinct from the subtle or psychological material elements — mundane mind, intelligence and false ego — which are simply a psychic covering over pure consciousness. Since the Lord's form is made of pure consciousness, it can hardly be understood as a material body like the mortal bags of flesh and bones we carry around in this world.
In the last two lines of this verse, there is poetic emphasis on the word sarva, "everything." The Lord is everything: He is the seed of everything and He is the Soul of every creature. Therefore, let us join with Indra in offering our obeisances to the Lord.
10.27.12
nāśāyāsāra-vāyubhiḥ
(12) O Lord when the sacrifice was frustrated was I fiercely arrogant and angry and wanted I with rain and wind to destroy the cowherd community, o Supreme Lord.
10.27.13
tvayeśānugṛhīto 'smi
dhvasta-stambho vṛthodyamaḥ
(13) You, o Controller showing Your mercy have shattered my rigidity and rendered my attempt fruitless; I came to You, the True Self and spiritual master, in order to take shelter.'
10.27.14
evaḿ sańkīrtitaḥ kṛṣṇo
(14) S'rî S'uka said: 'With Krishna this way glorified by the munificent Indra smiled the Supreme Lord at him and spoke He, as grave as the clouds, the following words.
10.27.15
makha-bhańgo 'nugṛhṇatā
mad-anusmṛtaye nityaḿ
(15) The Supreme Lord said: 'The arresting by Me of your sacrifice I engaged in to show you My mercy so that you, as the king of heaven so greatly intoxicated with the opulence, would remember me forever.
Indra and Lord Kṛṣṇa here exchange a heart-to-heart talk. Indra revealed his mind to the Lord, and now Lord Kṛṣṇa similarly reveals His own intention.
In Text 11 of this chapter, Indra emphatically declared that Lord Kṛṣṇa is in fact everything, and thus, according to Indra's own criteria, forgetting Lord Kṛṣṇa is clearly a state of insanity. When the Supreme Lord reminds us of His supreme existence, He is not proudly advertising Himself like a mundane politician or entertainer. The Lord is self-satisfied in His own infinite existence and is trying, lovingly, to bring us back to our own perfect existence as His eternal associates.
From God's point of view even the mighty King of heaven, Indra, is a mere child — and a naughty child at that — and thus the Lord, being a caring father, punished His child and brought him back to the sanity of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
10.27.16
taḿ bhraḿśayāmi sampadbhyo
(16) Him, who blinded because of his power and wealth is conceited and does not see Me with the rod in My hand, will I, desirous to promote him, prepare a fall from his affluent position [see also B.G. 9: 22].
One may argue, "God should desire everyone's real welfare; therefore why should Lord Kṛṣṇa state in this verse that He removes the intoxicating opulence of one who is about to receive His mercy, rather than simply stating that He will remove everyone's opulence and bless everyone?" On the other hand, we may point out that irrevocable death occurs for everyone, and thus Lord Kṛṣṇa does take away everyone's opulence and everyone's false pride. However, if we apply the Lord's statement to events within one's immediate life, before death, we may refer to Kṛṣṇa's statement in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.11): ye yathā māḿ prapadyante tāḿs tathaiva bhajāmy aham. "As people surrender to Me, I reward them accordingly." Lord Kṛṣṇa desires everyone's welfare, but when He says here yasya cecchāmy anugraham, "for one whose welfare I desire," it is understood that the Lord refers to those who by their own activities and thoughts have manifested a desire to achieve spiritual benefit. Lord Kṛṣṇa wants everyone to be happy in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but when He sees that a specific person also desires spiritual happiness, the Lord especially desires it for that person. This is a natural act of reciprocation consistent with the Lord's statement samo 'haḿ sarva-bhūteṣu: "I am equal in My attitude to all living beings." (Bg. 9.29)
10.27.17
kriyatāḿ me 'nuśāsanam
sthīyatāḿ svādhikāreṣu
yuktair vaḥ stambha-varjitaiḥ
(17) O you all of might, o Indra, all fortune to you, may you, executing My order, void of pretense soberly remain engaged in your responsibilities.'
10.27.18
sva-santānair upāmantrya
(18) Then spoke mother Surabhi to Krishna who, peaceful of mind along with her cows begging His attention, offered her respects to the Lord who had appeared as a cowherd boy.
10.27.19
surabhir uvāca
(19) Surabhi said: 'Krishna, o Krishna, o Greatest Mystic, o Soul and Origin of the Universe, with You, o director of the world, we have found our master, o Infallible One.
10.27.20
(20) You are our Supreme Godhead, You are our Indra, o Lord of the Universe, please be there for the welfare of the cows, the brahmins and those who are godly and saintly.
The Supreme Lord is self-sufficient: He can do everything Himself. The Lord appointed one of His innumerable children to the position of Indra, the lord of the cosmic heaven. But Indra abused his authority, and now Surabhi requests Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Truth, to directly become her Lord, her Indra. We should carefully perform our duties without false pride; thus we will not become obsolete and embarrassed, as in the present case of King Indra, who actually attacked Lord Kṛṣṇa and His Vṛndāvana devotees.
10.27.21
indraḿ nas tvābhiṣekṣyāmo
avatīrṇo 'si viśvātman
bhūmer bhārāpanuttaye
(21) For You as our Indra we shall perform a bathing ceremony to the directions of Lord Brahmâ, o Soul of the Universe who descended to alleviate the burden of the earth.'
Surabhi makes it quite clear in this verse that she has had enough of the leadership of imperfect demigods like Purandara (Indra), and now she is determined to directly serve the Supreme Lord. Since Brahmā has ordered her, her attempt to coronate Lord Kṛṣṇa as her personal Lord is authorized by higher authority. Moreover, Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself comes down to the earth to relieve the burden of self-destructive, mundane administration, and thus it is perfectly consistent with the Lord's own purpose that He become the Lord of Surabhi. Since the Lord rules millions of universes, He can certainly take care of mother Surabhi.
In fact, Surabhi wanted to bathe the Lord for her own purification, and she earnestly makes her proposal to Viśvātmā, the Soul of the universe, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
10.27.22-23
surabhiḥ payasātmanaḥ
airāvata-karoddhṛtaiḥ
codito deva-mātṛbhiḥ
(22-23) S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus pleading was Lord Krishna by Surabhi with her own milk and the Ganges water flowing from heaven as carried by Airâvata's trunk, by Indra bathed in the company of the enlightened and the seers and by the inspired mothers of the gods [the daughters of Aditi] and was the descendent of Das'arha named Lord Govinda.
According to the ācāryas, because Indra was embarrassed by his blunder of attacking Vṛndāvana, he was reluctant to worship the Lord. Therefore the heavenly mothers, such as Aditi, encouraged him to go ahead and do so. Feeling authorized by the encouragement of demigods less offensive than he, Indra then bathed the Lord. Indra discovered that the beautiful cowherd boy named Kṛṣṇa is indeed the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
10.27.24
tatrāgatās tumburu-nāradādayo
surāńganāḥ sannanṛtur mudānvitāḥ
(24) To that place came Tumburu, Nârada and the others, the singers of heaven, the scholars, the perfected and the venerable ones who sang the glories of the Lord that remove the contamination from the world while the wives of the demigods filled with joy danced together.
10.27.25
hy avākiraḿś cādbhuta-puṣpa-vṛṣṭibhiḥ
(25) He as the emblem of all the gods was praised and covered with wonderful showers of flowers, after which the three worlds experienced a supreme satisfaction with the cows overflowing the earth with their milk.
10.27.26
nānā-rasaughāḥ sarito
akṛṣṭa-pacyauṣadhayo
(26) The rivers flooded with all kinds of liquids, the trees exuded honey, the plants ripened without cultivation and the mountains produced jewels
10.27.27
nirvairāṇy abhavaḿs tāta
krūrāṇy api nisargataḥ
(27) O beloved of the Kuru dynasty, when Lord Krishna had been bathed became all those [predators, dishonest people] free from enmity, they, my best, who, be it by nature, were vicious.
Those corrupted by a type of sophisticated cynicism may mock these descriptions of a paradisiacal world situation effected simply by worshiping the Supreme Lord. Unfortunately, modern man has created a hell on earth in his cynical rejection of heaven on earth, which is actually possible through Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The situation described here, created simply by the auspicious bathing ceremony of the Lord, is an authentic historical incident. Since history repeats itself, there is hope that the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement may again bring the world community to the brilliant reality of self-realized existence.
10.27.28
anujñāto yayau śakro
vṛto devādibhir divam
(28) Thus having bathed Govinda, the master of the cows and the cowherd community was he [Indra] permitted to take leave and returned he to heaven surrounded by the gods and the others.'
Thus end of the Tenth Canto, Twenty-seventh Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Lord Indra and Mother Surabhi Offer Prayers."
* The specific "solitary place" where Indra approached S'rî Krishna is mentioned by the sage S'rî Vais'ampâyana in the Hari-vams'a (Vishnu-parva 19.3): sa dadars'opavishtham vai govardhana-s'ilâ-tale. "He saw Him [Krishna] sitting at the base of Govardhana Hill".
Canto 10
Chapter 28
Krishna Rescues Nanda Mahârâja from the Abode of Varuna
10.28 Summary
This chapter describes how Lord Kṛṣṇa brought Nanda Mahārāja back from the abode of Varuṇa and how the cowherd men saw Vaikuṇṭha.The king of the cowherds, Nanda Mahārāja, observed the prescribed fast on the eleventh day of the lunar month and then considered how to break his fast properly on the twelfth day. By circumstance only a few more minutes remained, and so he decided to take his bath at the very end of the night, although astrologically that was an inauspicious time. Thus he entered the water of the Yamunā. A servant of Varuṇa, the demigod of the ocean, noticed Nanda Mahārāja entering the water at a time forbidden by scripture and took him away to the demigod's abode. In the early morning the cowherd men unsuccessfully searched for Nanda, but Lord Kṛṣṇa immediately understood the situation and went to see Varuṇa. Varuṇa worshiped Kṛṣṇa with great and variegated festivity. Afterwards he begged the Lord to forgive his servant for having foolishly arrested the king of the cowherds.
Nanda was amazed to see the influence Śrī Kṛṣṇa exerted in the court of Varuṇadeva, and after returning home he described his experiences to his friends and relatives. They all thought Kṛṣṇa must be the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself and wanted to see His supreme abode. Thereupon the omniscient Personality of Godhead arranged for them to bathe in the same lake where Akrūra would have his vision of the Absolute Truth. There the Lord revealed to them Brahmaloka, which is realized by great sages in their mystic trance.
10.28.1
snātuḿ nandas tu kālindyāḿ
(1) The son of Vyâsa said: 'Having fasted the eleventh day [of the lunar fortnight] and worshiped the Maintainer of All [Janârdana], entered Nanda the twelfth day the water of the Yamunâ for a bath.
10.28.2
taḿ gṛhītvānayad bhṛtyo
varuṇasyāsuro 'ntikam
avajñāyāsurīḿ velāḿ
(2) A darkminded servant of Varuna seized him and lead him away who had neglected the rule that to enter the water during the night was of a godless timing.
Nanda Mahārāja was intent on breaking his fast during the Dvādaśī day, of which there remained only a few minutes. Thus he entered the water to bathe at an inauspicious time, before the first dawn light.
The servant of Varuṇa who arrested Nanda Mahārāja is stated here to be an asura, or demon, for obvious reasons. First, the servant was foolishly ignorant of Nanda Mahārāja's position as the pastime father of the Supreme Absolute Truth. Also, Nanda Mahārāja's intention was to carry out the injunctions of scripture; therefore Varuṇa's servant should not have arrested Nanda on the technical grounds that he bathed in the Yamunā at an inauspicious time. Later in this chapter Varuṇa himself will say, ajānatā māmakena mūḍhena: "This was done by my ignorant servant, who is a fool." This foolish servant did not understand the position of Kṛṣṇa or Nanda Mahārāja or devotional service to the Lord.
In conclusion, it is clear that Lord Kṛṣṇa wanted to give His personal audience to Varuṇa and simultaneously accomplish other didactic purposes. Thus this wonderful pastime will now unfold.
10.28.3
cukruśus tam apaśyantaḥ
pitaraḿ varuṇāhṛtam
(3) O King, not seeing him called the gopas out loudly 'o Krishna, o Râma!' upon which the Supreme Lord finding out that the father had been taken away of Him, the Almighty who makes His people fearless, following went to where Varuna was.
that when Nanda Mahārāja went to bathe in the river, he was accompanied by several cowherd men. When Nanda did not come out of the water, they began to cry out, and Lord Kṛṣṇa immediately came there. Understanding the situation, Śrī Kṛṣṇa entered the water and went to the court of the demigod Varuṇa, determined to free His father and the other cowherd men from fear of a mere demigod.
10.28.4
mahatyā pūjayitvāha
(4) When he saw that the Lord of the Senses had arrived did he, the presiding godhead of that region [of the waters], elaborately honor Him greatly being pleased to have Him present.
10.28.5
adya me nibhṛto deho
'dyaivārtho 'dhigataḥ prabho
(5) S'rî Varuna said: 'Today I may experience the true wealth of the success of my physical presence, o Lord, since those who earned the privilige to serve Your lotusfeet have achieved the transcendence of their material life.
Varuṇa ecstatically exclaims here that since he has now seen the infinitely gorgeous body of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the trouble of assuming a material body has now been supremely justified. Indeed, the artha, the goal or real value of Varuṇa's life, has now been achieved. Because Lord Kṛṣṇa's form is transcendental, those who accept His lotus feet go beyond the boundary of material existence, and thus only the spiritually unaware would presume that the Lord's lotus feet are material.
10.28.6
(6) My obeisances unto You the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth and Soul Supreme who brought about the creation of this world and upon whom mâyâ has no influence.
The word śrūyate is significant here. Śruti, or Vedic literature, consists of authorized statements made by the Lord Himself or His enlightened representatives. Thus neither the Lord nor recognized spiritual authorities would ever say that within the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, there is the fault of illusion. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī points out that the word brahmaṇe here indicates the Lord is full in Himself, and that the term paramātmane indicates He is the controller of all living entities.
Thus within the supreme being, complete in Himself and omnipotent, we do not find any jurisdiction of the material, illusory energy.
10.28.7
mūḍhenākārya-vedinā
(7) That ignorant servant of mine was a fool not knowing his duty [*] when he brought to me this one who is Your father, I beg Your pardon, Your goodness.
The word ayam, "this one here," clearly indicates that Kṛṣṇa's father, Nanda Mahārāja, was present as Varuṇa was speaking. In fact, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura states that Varuṇa had seated Śrī Nanda on a jeweled throne and had personally worshiped him out of respect.
Technically, Nanda Mahārāja was correct in entering the water just before sunrise. The following explanation is given by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī in his commentary on the first verse of this chapter: After an especially short Ekādaśī, measuring only eighteen hours, about six hours of the lunar day in which the fast had to be broken, namely the Dvādaśī, had already expired before the dawn. Since at sunrise the proper time for breaking the fast would have passed, Nanda Mahārāja decided to enter the water at an otherwise inauspicious time.
Of course, Varuṇa's servant should have been aware of these technical details, which are meant for strict followers of the Vedic rituals. Above and beyond that, Nanda Mahārāja was acting as the Supreme Lord's father and was therefore a most sacred person, beyond the touch of insignificant cosmic bureaucrats like the foolish servant of Varuṇa.
10.28.8
mamāpy anugrahaḿ kṛṣṇa
(8) Even to me o Krishna, o You who sees everything, please, be of mercy, o Govinda; to You, so full of care for Your parents, belongs definitely this one that is Your father.'
10.28.9
evaḿ prasāditaḥ kṛṣṇo
bhagavān īśvareśvaraḥ
bandhūnāḿ cāvahan mudam
(9) S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus satisfied took Krishna, the Supreme Lord and Controller of all Controllers, His father with Him and went He to His relatives whom He brought great pleasure.
10.28.10
nandas tv atīndriyaḿ dṛṣṭvā
jñātibhyo vismito 'bravīt
(10) Nanda who had never before met with the mighty opulence of the lord of the realm [of the waters] or witnessed the obeisances they [Varuna and his followers] offered Krishna, spoke amazed to his friends and relatives.
10.28.11
upādhāsyad adhīśvaraḥ
(11) They, the gopas, listening eagerly, o King, with Him as their Controller thought: 'Maybe He's preparing us the grace of taking us to His transcendental abode!'
The cowherd men were filled with excitement upon hearing how Kṛṣṇa had gone to the abode of Varuṇa to rescue His father. Suddenly realizing that they were in fact dealing with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they joyfully conjectured among themselves about their auspicious destination after finishing their present life.
10.28.12
kṛpayaitad acintayat
(12) He, the Supreme Lord from His side, as the Seer of All understanding their dream of perfection, compassionately thought this:
10.28.13
uccāvacāsu gatiṣu
(13) 'For certain are the people in this world, who in oblivion with the desire of their activities wander between higher and lower ends, not aware of their proper destination.'
this verse applies to the eternally liberated residents of Śrī Vṛndāvana, the Lord's abode. One of the fundamental philosophical principles of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the distinction between two types of illusion, Yoga-māyā and Mahā-māyā, the spiritual and material states of existence, respectively. Although Kṛṣṇa is God, the omnipotent, omniscient Supreme Being, His intimate associates in the spiritual world love Him so much that they see Him as their beloved child, friend, lover and so on. So that their ecstatic love can transcend the boundaries of mere reverence, they forget that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme God of all the universes, and thus their pure, intimate love expands unlimitedly. One may consider their activities of treating Kṛṣṇa as a helpless child, a handsome boyfriend, or a playmate to be a manifestation of avidyā, ignorance of Lord Kṛṣṇa's position as God, but the residents of Vṛndāvana are in fact ignoring the secondary majesty of Kṛṣṇa and focusing intensely on His infinite beauty, which is the essence of His existence.
In fact, describing Lord Kṛṣṇa as the supreme controller and God is almost a type of political analysis, referring as it does to a hierarchy of power and control. Such analysis of levels of power and hierarchies of rule is significant in a context in which one entity is not fully surrendered, in love, to a higher entity. In other words, control becomes visible, or is consciously felt as control, when there is resistance to that control. To cite a simple example: A pious, law-abiding citizen sees a policeman as a friend and well-wisher, whereas a criminal sees him as a threatening symbol of punishment. Those who are enthusiastic about government policies feel not that the government is controlling them but rather that it is helping them.
Thus Lord Kṛṣṇa is seen as a "controller," and hence as "the Supreme God," by those who are not fully enchanted by His beauty and pastimes. Those fully in love with Lord Kṛṣṇa focus on His sublime, attractive features and, because of the nature of their relationship with Him, do not much notice His controlling power.
A simple proof that the residents of Vraja have transcended lower states of God consciousness rather than failed to attain them is the fact that throughout the pastimes of the Lord they often "remember" that Kṛṣṇa is God. Usually they are astonished at this remembrance, having been fully absorbed in seeing Kṛṣṇa as their friend, lover and so on.
The word kāma is conventionally used to indicate a material desire, or else a spiritual desire so intense that it becomes somehow analogous to intense material desires. Still, the fundamental distinction remains: material desire is selfish and self-gratificatory; spiritual desire is free of selfishness, being wholly for the pleasure of the other, the Lord. Thus the residents of Vṛndāvana executed their daily activities solely for the pleasure of their beloved Kṛṣṇa.
It should be remembered that the entire purpose of Kṛṣṇa's descent into this world is to attract living beings back home, back to Godhead. Two things are required for this: that His pastimes display the beauty of spiritual perfection, and that they somehow seem relevant and hence interesting to the conditioned souls of this world. The Bhāgavatam often states that Lord Kṛṣṇa plays just like a youthful actor, and He undoubtedly engages His eternal devotees in the dramatic presentation. Thus Lord Kṛṣṇa here muses to Himself that people in this world certainly do not know their ultimate destination, and with an obvious touch of the facetious He also thinks in this way about His own eternally liberated associates, who were playing in this world like ordinary members of a cowherd village.
Apart from the double meaning obviously present in this verse when it is applied to Kṛṣṇa's liberated associates, Kṛṣṇa here makes an entirely direct and pointedly critical observation about ordinary people. When applied to conditioned souls who are actually wandering throughout the universe, His statement that people are acting out of ignorance and lust is not mitigated by any deeper, spiritual meaning. People in general are simply ignorant, and they do not seriously consider their ultimate destination. As usual, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is able to say many profound and complex things in a few simple words. How fortunate we are that God is not a dry field of energy, a transcendent, effulgent blob, or nothing at all — as various people would have it. In fact, He is the most wonderful Personality of Godhead, full of absolute personal qualities, and certainly whatever we can do, He can do better, as evidenced by His brilliant way of speaking.
10.28.14
10.28.15
guṇāpāye samāhitāḥ
(14-15) With this consideration showed the Supreme Lord Hari in great compassion the gopas His own abode beyond the darkness of matter: the true unlimited spiritual knowing that is the light [see brahma-jyoti] of the eternal absolute which indeed is seen by the sages who in trance are removed from the material qualities.
It is clear from this verse that the Absolute Truth dwells in His own eternal abode. Everyone of us tries to live as comfortably as possible, surrounding ourselves with peace and beauty. How can we, in the name of "logic," begrudge the Supreme Lord, our creator, the supremely beautiful and comfortable abode known by people in general as the kingdom of God?
In Text 14 Lord Kṛṣṇa revealed to the residents of Vṛndāvana His own abode, the spiritual planet of Kṛṣṇaloka. This and innumerable other Vaikuṇṭha planets float in an infinite ocean of spiritual light called the brahmajyoti. That spiritual light is in fact the spiritual sky, which Kṛṣṇa also, quite naturally, revealed to the residents of Vṛndāvana. For example, if we want to show the moon to a child, we say, "Look up in the sky. See the moon over there in the sky." Similarly, Lord Kṛṣṇa revealed the vast spiritual sky to the residents of Vṛndāvana, but as emphasized in Text 14 and in the following text, 16, the actual destination of the Lord's associates was His own spiritual planet.
10.28.16
magnāḥ kṛṣṇena coddhṛtāḥ
dadṛśur brahmaṇo lokaḿ
yatrākrūro 'dhyagāt purā
(16) They were by Krishna brought to and submerged in the lake of the One Spirit [brahma-hrada] and lifted out saw they the abode of the Absolute Truth the way it before was seen by Akrûra [3.1: 32, 10.38 & 10.40].
The unlimited extension of spiritual light, called the brahmajyoti in Text 15, is compared to a lake called Brahma-hrada. Lord Kṛṣṇa submerged the cowherd men in that lake in the sense that He submerged them in the awareness of the impersonal Brahman. But then, as indicated by the word uddhṛtāḥ, He lifted them up to a higher understanding, that of the Personality of Godhead in His own planet. As clearly stated here, dadṛśur brahmaṇo lokam: They saw, just as Akrūra did, the transcendental abode of the Absolute Truth.
The evolution of consciousness may be briefly summarized as follows: In ordinary consciousness we perceive and are attracted to the variety of material things. Rising to the first stage of spiritual consciousness, we transcend material variety and focus instead on the undifferentiated One, which lies behind and gives existence to the many. Finally, rising to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we find that the absolute, spiritual One contains its own eternal variety. In fact, since this world is a mere shadow of eternal existence, we would expect to find spiritual variety within the One, and indeed we do find it in the sacred text of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Astute readers may note that the pastime involving Akrūra takes place later in the Bhāgavatam, after the present affair with the cowherd men. The reason Śukadeva Gosvāmī says Akrūra saw Vaikuṇṭha purā, "previously," is that all these incidents took place many years before the conversation between Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Mahārāja Parīkṣit.
10.28.17
kṛṣṇaḿ ca tatra cchandobhiḥ
(17) Nanda and the rest were upon that vision overwhelmed by supreme bliss and were most suprised to see Krishna there being praised with vedic hymns.'
Although the residents of Vṛndāvana considered themselves ordinary persons, Lord Kṛṣṇa wanted them to know of their extraordinary good fortune. Thus, within a lake in the Yamunā River the Lord showed them His personal abode. The cowherd men were amazed to see that the kingdom of God had exactly the same spiritual atmosphere as their own earthly Vṛndāvana and that, just as in their Vṛndāvana Lord Kṛṣṇa was personally present, in their unique vision He was present as the Lord of the spiritual world.
As Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura points out, these verses emphasize that Lord Kṛṣṇa did not merely show the cowherd men a sample Vaikuṇṭha planet but that He specifically revealed His Kṛṣṇaloka, the greatest of eternal abodes and the natural home of the residents of Vṛndāvana, who loved Kṛṣṇa more than anyone else did.
Thus end of the Tenth Canto, Twenty-eighth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Kṛṣṇa Rescues Nanda Mahārāja from the Abode of Varuṇa."
Footnote:
The great devotees comment to the precise execution of ekâdas'î fasting matters and auspicious times of bathing: 'Of course, Varuna's servant should have been aware of these technical details, which are meant for strict followers of the Vedic rituals.'
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