Devanagari
गम्यतां शक्र भद्रं व: क्रियतां मेऽनुशासनम्
स्थीयतां स्वाधिकारेषु युक्तैर्व: स्तम्भवर्जितै: ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
gamyatāṁ śakra bhadraṁ vaḥ
kriyatāṁ me ’nuśāsanam
sthīyatāṁ svādhikāreṣu
yuktair vaḥ stambha-varjitaiḥ
Synonyms
gamyatām
—
you may go
;
śakra
—
O Indra
;
bhadram
—
good fortune
;
vaḥ
—
unto you
;
kriyatām
—
you should execute
;
me
—
My
;
anuśāsanam
—
order
;
sthīyatām
—
you may remain
;
sva
—
in your own
;
adhikāreṣu
—
responsibilities
;
yuktaiḥ
—
soberly engaged
;
vaḥ
—
you
;
stambha
—
false pride
;
varjitaiḥ
—
devoid of .
Translation
Indra, you may now go. Execute My order and remain in your appointed position as King of heaven. But be sober, without false pride.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Indra, you may now go. Execute My order and remain in your appointed position as King of heaven. But be sober, without false pride.
KB 10.27.17
After instructing Indra, Lord Kṛṣṇa 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.
Purport
Lord Kṛṣṇa here addresses Indra in the plural form (
vaḥ
) because this grave instruction was meant to be a lesson for all the demigods.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Though Indra was alone, Krsna addresses him in the plural. This indicates other devatas like Varuna (who is mentioned in the twenty eighth chapter) were also included in his orders. "Being sober (yuktah), without pride , be situated in your positions, otherwise I will punish you again." The Lord did not promise here that Indra would not be afflicted by pride again. That is because later Indra would show pride when Krsna stole the parijata flower. Price would be necessary for carrying out that pastime.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
“Then give me mercy so that I may stay in Vraja.” Go to your place. May there be safety for you. He released him from fear. For real devotees however this is not safety. Seeing him reluctant to go, he then said, “Going there, you should follow my order.” Since you are unqualified, your staying here would produce more offense. Going is better. Or “O Lord, even if I go, I will commit offense since that is the nature of having powers.” Do as I have instructed: remain in your qualified position not in that of others ---what to speak of the position of the people of Vraja, my intimate associates. Act with no inattention or with bhakti-yoga (yuktaih) and without pride, or with devotees (stambha-varjitaiḥ). Giving this benediction was not really mercy but merely instruction with logic, since he was not otherwise capable, since he did not have the potential for complete mercy. By not following his instructions, Indra would later again commit offense. That is revealed when Kṛṣṇa took the pārijāta tree.