Devanagari
न हि सद्भावयुक्तानां सुराणामीशविस्मय:
मत्तोऽसतां मानभङ्ग: प्रशमायोपकल्पते ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
na hi sad-bhāva-yuktānāṁ
surāṇām īśa-vismayaḥ
matto ’satāṁ māna-bhaṅgaḥ
praśamāyopakalpate
Synonyms
na
—
not
;
hi
—
certainly
;
sat
—
bhāva — with the mode of goodness
;
yuktānām
—
who are endowed
;
surāṇām
—
of the demigods
;
īśa
—
as controlling lords
;
vismayaḥ
—
false identification
;
mattaḥ
—
by Me
;
asatām
—
of the impure
;
māna
—
of the false prestige
;
bhaṅgaḥ
—
the eradication
;
praśamāya
—
for relieving them
;
upakalpate
—
is intended .
Translation
Since the demigods are endowed with the mode of goodness, the false pride of considering oneself the Lord should certainly not affect them. When I break the false prestige of those bereft of goodness, My purpose is to bring them relief.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Since the demigods are endowed with the mode of goodness, the false pride of considering oneself the Lord should certainly not affect them. When I break the false prestige of those bereft of goodness, My purpose is to bring them relief.
KB 10.25.17
The demigods are My devotees, and therefore it is not possible for them to forget My supremacy, but somehow or other he has become puffed up with material power and thus is now maddened. I shall act in such a way as to relieve him of this false prestige.
Purport
The demigods are supposed to be
sad-bhāva-yukta,
endowed with spiritual existence, since they are deputed servants of the Supreme Lord. In the
Bhagavad-gītā
(4.24)
it is stated:
brahmārpaṇaṁ brahma havir
brahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam
brahmaiva tena gantavyaṁ
brahma-karma-samādhinā
“That which is duly offered to the Lord becomes spiritualized.” The demigods engage in the devotional service of the Lord by managing various departments of cosmic administration. Therefore as demigods, or as servants of the Lord, their existence is pure (
sad-bhāva
). When the demigods fail to live up to the high position given them by the Lord and deviate from proper behavior, they are not acting as demigods but rather as conditioned souls.
Māna,
or false prestige, is certainly an anxiety-ridden burden for the conditioned soul. A falsely proud person is not truly peaceful or satisfied, because his understanding of himself is false and inflated. When a servant of the Lord becomes
asat,
or irreligious, the Lord saves him from impiety by breaking the false prestige that has led him to be offensive or sinful. As stated by the Lord Himself,
yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ
: “I give My blessings to a person by taking away his so-called opulence.”
Of course, the advanced stage of devotional service to the Lord, as described by Rūpa Gosvāmī, is
yukta-vairāgya,
utilizing the opulence of this world to execute the Lord’s mission. Obviously the things of this world can be used wonderfully to spread the glories of God and to create a godly society, and a more advanced devotee will not be seduced by material paraphernalia but will dutifully and honestly engage it solely for the pleasure of the Lord. In this particular case, Lord Indra forgot that he was a humble servant of God, and Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore arranged to bring this bewildered demigod to his senses.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Out of spite I will not completely crush this weak INdra, but I will correct this fault which has arisen in my devotee. With this intention he speaks this verse.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
I will break the pride of those who do evil actions out of pride to create auspiciousness. The devatās, in sattva, should not have great pride in thinking they are lords. Or, because (hi) pride in thinking themselves the lord is not suitable, since they are endowed with respect for me, I will create auspiciousness for them. Breaking their pride I will create auspiciousness-- since they have sentiments for me even though they are intoxicated with pride. No one else can do this. It can be accomplished by a manifestation of my powers.