Devanagari
इन्द्रं नस्त्वाभिषेक्ष्यामो ब्रह्मणा चोदिता वयम्
अवतीर्णोऽसि विश्वात्मन् भूमेर्भारापनुत्तये ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
indraṁ nas tvābhiṣekṣyāmo
brahmaṇā coditā vayam
avatīrṇo ’si viśvātman
bhūmer bhārāpanuttaye
Synonyms
indram
—
as Indra
;
naḥ
—
our
;
tvā
—
to You
;
abhiṣekṣyāmaḥ
—
we shall perform the bathing ceremony of coronation
;
brahmaṇā
—
by Lord Brahmā
;
coditāḥ
—
ordered
;
vayam
—
we
;
avatīrṇaḥ asi
—
You have descended
;
viśva
—
ātman — O Soul of the universe
;
bhūmeḥ
—
of the earth
;
bhāra
—
the burden
;
apanuttaye
—
in order to alleviate .
Translation
As ordered by Lord Brahmā, we shall perform Your bathing ceremony to coronate You as Indra. O Soul of the universe, You descend to this world to relieve the burden of the earth.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
As ordered by Lord Brahmā, we shall perform Your bathing ceremony to coronate You as Indra. O Soul of the universe, You descend to this world to relieve the burden of the earth.
KB 10.27.21
“O Supersoul of the universe, let us bathe You with our milk, for You are our Indra. O Lord, You appear just to diminish the burden of impure activities on the earth.”
Purport
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.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"As you are Indra, we will install you in the role of Indra with abhiseka."
"By whose order do you want to do this? Is it some independent desire?"
"It has been ordered by Brahma." When Indra was afflicted with fear and went to Brahma and explained everything, Brahma, remembering his previous offense, fearfully thinking, gave me this order. "O surabhi, you are very dear to the Lord, who protects your offspring. Therefore you should go to Krsna, the ocean of mercy and get Indra forgiven for his offense, and perform abhiseka, installing him as Indra for the cows.
What is the benefit of this abhiseka for becoming Indra (king) of the cows to you, whose hard to attain feet are served by siva and brahma and who is the Indra (king) of billions of universes . It is an action only for the purpose of elevating us. You appear to relieve the burden of the earth , though you are the soul of the universe, and therefore invisible. If you did not appear, how could we get good fortune?"
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
With devotion, she informs him confidently of the method of making him king of the cows. You are by your nature our Indra but we will bathe you to preach this to the people of the world. “But Brahmā, who gave the post to Indra, will hold this in contempt.” Brahmā has given this order, but even so, it requires your consent. “Then why has Brahmā not come?” We are qualified for this. I am your intimate associate since I am the mother of your cow families whereas Brahmā is excluded from this intimacy since he deals only with the material world. She speaks in the plural to show her great respect. Or out of affection she speaks in the plural to include Indra who came with her and her other associates. Brahmā did not come when Indra begged forgiveness for his great offense, since he feared committing another offense since he had already committed one offense. “How can a cowherd become Indra?” You have descended from the spiritual world. Or, “How can I, the son of Nanda, be your Lord. Both you and Brahmā are without proper discrimination.” Do not always cheat us. You reside eternally in the highest Goloka as our eternal Lord and have now appeared on earth with Nanda and other of your associates. You do not take birth like a human. “Why should I relieve the earth of its burden?” You are the soul of the universe. The maintenance of the universe depends on you. You should agree to this since you appear on earth to give happiness. This happiness will appear for everyone when you are sprinkled with water, like a root sprinkled with water:
yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena
tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ
prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇāṁ
tathaiva sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā
Just as the branches and twigs are satisfied by watering the root, and just as the senses are satisfied by nourishing the life air, by worshipping the Supreme Lord all are worship is accomplished. SB 4.31.14