SB 10.24.12 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

श्रीशुक उवाच वचो निशम्य नन्दस्य तथान्येषां व्रजौकसाम् । इन्द्राय मन्युं जनयन् पितरं प्राह केशव: ॥ १२ ॥

Verse text

śrī-śuka uvāca vaco niśamya nandasya tathānyeṣāṁ vrajaukasām indrāya manyuṁ janayan pitaraṁ prāha keśavaḥ

Synonyms

śrī śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said ; vacaḥ — the words ; niśamya — hearing ; nandasya — of Mahārāja Nanda ; tathā — and also ; anyeṣām — of the others ; vraja — okasām — the residents of Vraja ; indrāya — in Lord Indra ; manyum — anger ; janayan — generating ; pitaram — to His father ; prāha — spoke ; keśavaḥ — Lord Keśava .

Translation

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When Lord Keśava [Kṛṣṇa] heard the statements of His father, Nanda, and other senior residents of Vraja, He addressed His father as follows, to arouse anger in Lord Indra.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When Lord Keśava [Kṛṣṇa]heard the statements of His father, Nanda, and other senior residents of Vraja, He addressed His father as follows, to arouse anger in Lord Indra. KB 10.24.12 After hearing this, Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the presence of His father and all the elder cowherd men of Vṛndāvana, spoke in such a way as to make the heavenly king, Indra, very angry. He suggested that they forgo the sacrifice. His reasons for discouraging the sacrifice performed to please Indra were twofold. First, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, there is no need to worship the demigods for any material advancement; all results derived from worshiping the demigods are simply temporary, and only those who are less intelligent are interested in temporary results. Second, whatever temporary result one derives from worshiping the demigods is actually granted by the permission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: mayaiva vihitān hi tān. Whatever benefit is supposed to be derived from the demigods is actually bestowed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Without the permission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one cannot bestow any benefit upon others. But sometimes the demigods become puffed up by the influence of material nature; thinking themselves all in all, they forget the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is clearly stated that in this instance Kṛṣṇa wanted to make King Indra angry. Kṛṣṇa’s advent was especially meant for the annihilation of the demons and protection of the devotees. King Indra was certainly a devotee, not a demon, but because he was puffed up, Kṛṣṇa wanted to teach him a lesson. He first made Indra angry by stopping the Indra-pūjā, which had been arranged by the cowherd men in Vṛndāvana.

Purport

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that Lord Kṛṣṇa’s intention was not simply to insult a demigod, but rather to knock down the great mountain of false pride that had arisen within the Lord’s tiny servant, who was supposed to represent the Lord as Indra. By lifting Govardhana Hill Lord Kṛṣṇa would thus initiate a blissful annual festival called Govardhana-pūjā, and He would further enjoy the pleasant pastime of dwelling for several days beneath the hill with all His loving devotees.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The aim of inciting Indra’s anger was to break his pride, to start the annual festival of Govardhana worship, and to live together with his dear devotees for seven days. These are successive reasons for Krsna’s words.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

He heard from Nanda and from others, who spoke themselves voluntarily or authorized by Nanda. He wanted to anger Indra to show that Indra was material and should not be revered. On the other hand Nanda will be shown to be most spiritual and most worthy of respect. Keśava means he who subordinates Brahmā (ka) and Śiva (īśa) by his glory. Thus how low must Indra be!

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Tathā means “and others.” Others accepted or agreed with him. Or Nanda had the others also hear the answers to the questions in order to that all inhabitants of Vraja understand his conclusion. Or Kṛṣṇa with his the assistants had gone off the forest since they always followed him. In the afternoon, the Lord returned to Vraja and saw the activity and asked. Vimalāmbara-nakṣatre kale cābhyāgato vrajam Dadarśendra-mahārambhāyodyatāṁs tān vrajaukasaḥ He returned to Vraja during an auspicious constellation and saw the people of Vraja arranging for worship of Indra. Viṣṇu Purāṇa Vrajam ājagmatus tau tu vraje śuśruvatus tadā Prāptaṁ śakra-mahaṁ vīrau gopāṁś cotsava-lālasān Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma returned to Vraja and learned that the cowherds were eager to worship of Indra. Hari-vāṁśa Kṛṣṇa spoke to make Indra angry, by speaking karma-vāda, making devaṭās useless, or by stopping the sacrifice. He spoke to his father since he had asked him. Or it was proper to give benefit to him. He spoke excellently, showing many strong points of logic. Keśava means he who gives life (vāti) to Brahmā and Ṣiva or he who predominates over (covers) Brahmā and Śiva (vayate) by his glory or he for whom Brahmā and Śiva stand (vah) as servants. Since unlimited devatās depend on Kṛṣṇa, his making them useless is only an act of his play. Or he broke the pride of Indra by stopping his sacrifice in order to please Brahmā and Śiva. Or Keśava is the presiding deity of Mathurā. He performed this pastime to spread the glory of Mathurā and Govardhana.