Indra’s Stotra to Govinda (Bhāgavata Purāṇa)
This is the stotra of surrender that Indra sang to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa after the seven days of Govardhana. It is found in the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skandha, chapter 27. Indra came down from his chariot and gave himself to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as the supreme ruler. On this occasion Bhagavān Kṛshṇa received the surrender of the king of the devas.
This is a different stotra from Indra’s Govinda Stotra in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa.
The setting
Indra was angry that his yearly worship had been stopped. He sent the Sāṃvartaka clouds of dissolution and storm winds against Gokula. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa answered by lifting Govardhana mountain on his left hand and holding it for seven days as a shelter.
On the seventh day the storm stopped and the sky cleared. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa put the mountain back in its place.
Every weapon of Indra had failed. The mountain turned aside his storms, it took in his lightning, and his armies were worn out. Indra was bewildered. In the ease with which the child held the mountain, he saw the Paramātmā shown openly. He remembered the earlier warning of Brahmā that a divine being of the highest nature had been born in Gokula.
Indra was deeply ashamed. He came down to the earth with his divine elephant Airāvata and stood before Bhagavān Kṛshṇa.
The stotra
Indra came to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa with joined palms and a bowed head. In his stotra he said these things.
- Bhagavān Kṛshṇa is beyond the three guṇas. He is the very ground in which the guṇas rise and dissolve.
- Indra’s office, as lord of the devas and controller of the rains, works only within the will of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and not by itself.
- The pride of rule (aiśvarya-mada) is the greatest enemy of knowledge. Out of grace, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa had used this episode to destroy the mada in Indra’s heart.
- Indra now understood his true place. He was not an independent ruler but an instrument of the supreme will.
- The gopas, gopīs and cows of Gokula are supremely blessed, because Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself chose to be born and to live among them.
- Indra made a formal surrender to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as Govinda. The name is used in the stotra to acknowledge his protection of all cows and his upholding of the earth.
The reply of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa
Bhagavān Kṛshṇa received Indra calmly, with no sign of triumph or ill will. He explained why the Govardhana pūjā had been done. It was not disrespect to Indra but a teaching for people: one should worship what truly sustains one’s own life and dharma.
He reminded Indra that when mada (pride) grows in a being whom he loves, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa clears it away through such experiences of defeat, not through punishment. He urged Indra to go back to his realm and rule rightly, knowing that all power comes from the Supreme.
Indra left with his armies. His pride had turned into bhakti.
Sources
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skandha, chapter 27