Indra's Govinda Stotra - Vedic People

This is the Govinda Stotra sung by Indra to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa after his defeat in the Govardhana episode. It is found in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, chapter 21. In it Indra praises Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as the Parātpara Brahman (the Supreme above all that is supreme), and through it the name Govinda is proclaimed for him and its meanings are celebrated.

The setting: the Govardhana episode

Nanda had planned a grand Indra-yāga (a yajña for Indra) for the wellbeing of Gokula. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, in a long talk, persuaded him to give these offerings instead to Govardhana mountain and to the brāhmaṇas. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself took a second form at Govardhana. As the deva of the mountain he accepted the offerings, and he gave Nanda the vara (boon) he asked for.

Indra learned that his worship had been stopped and that a cowherd child had caused this “insult”. He came in great anger with his armies of Maruts and sent heavy rain, hail and lightning on Gokula.

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa lifted Govardhana on his left hand. He sheltered the whole community under it for seven days. Every weapon of Indra was made useless. When Indra raised his vajra, his arm was frozen. His armies stood still.

In this helpless state Indra suddenly saw who the child really was. He was not only a cowherd boy but the Parātpara Brahman himself. Indra fell into an inner vision and sang this stotra.

The vision before the stotra

In his bewilderment and stillness, Indra saw a thousand-petalled lotus blazing with strong light. Inside that light he saw a supremely beautiful divine form.

It was dark like a fresh rain-cloud (śyāma), and more beautiful than the beauty of a crore of Manmatha, the deva of love, put together.
It wore blazing makarakuṇḍalas (ear ornaments in the shape of a makara) made of the finest gems.
It was crowned with a maṇi-kirīṭa (jewelled crown) whose face was the form of a makara, shining in all directions.
The Kaustubha gem lit up its throat and chest.
It was adorned with maṇi-keyūras (jewelled armlets), kaṅkaṇas (bracelets) and maṇi-nūpuras (gem anklets).
It had two arms and held the muralī (flute). It smiled gently, and its face was full of compassion for devotees.

This was the form of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as the Parātpara Brahman, showing himself in the mind of the startled Indra. Indra saw the same form everywhere, within and without, in every direction. In this full inner vision he sang the stotra.

The stotra

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as Parātpara Brahman. Indra opens by addressing Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as the Akshara (the imperishable), the Parātpara Brahman, the supreme above all supremes. He praises him as the ātmā of all ātmās, the witness within all beings, and the teja (radiance) that blazes from within all light.

The forms in the four yugas. Like the stotra of Vasudeva, Indra’s stotra praises Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as appearing in four forms across the four yugas.

White in the Kṛta yuga (satya, truth).
Red in the Tretā yuga (tapas, austerity).
Yellow in the Dvāpara yuga (yajña).
Black or dark in the Kali yuga (kṛshṇa, the complete form).

In each yuga he is the same Parātpara Brahman, and only the outer form changes.

The divine couple. Indra’s stotra describes with love the eternal activities of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa with Rādhā in Vṛndāvana. It describes him in the forest with Rādhā in these ways.

Walking with her.
Bathing with her in the river.
Tying her hair.
Decorating her feet with lākshā (red dye).
Exchanging tāmbūla (betel) with her.
Giving her flower garlands that he has woven himself.
Joining her in the rāsa-maṇḍala (the circle of the rāsa dance).
Wearing the flower garlands she has put around his neck.

Each of these loving acts is celebrated as showing the supreme reality. The divine couple at play is not apart from the cosmic reality but is its nearest and most joyful expression.

The scenes among the cowherds. Indra also celebrates the cowherd life of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa.

Eating with the brāhmaṇa women who brought him food.
Eating tāḷa-phala (palm fruits) with the gopa boys.
Playfully stealing the garments of the gopīs.
Calling the cows to come to him.
Dancing on the head of Kāliya.
Playing the flute in the forest.
Singing with the gopa boys.

The name Govinda. The name Govinda is central to Indra’s stotra. It is given three meanings.

Go-vinda as “protector of cows”.
Go also means “the earth”, so Govinda is “protector of the earth”.
Go in its Vedic sense means “speech” or “the Vedas”, so Govinda is “the one known through and by the Vedas”.

All three meanings apply to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa together. He protects the cows of Gokula, as he had just shown at Govardhana. He upholds the earth. He is the supreme reality that all Vedic words point to. Nanda also uses this name in his own stotra, where Bhagavān Kṛshṇa is called the one “who benefits cows and brāhmaṇas“.

Bowing and praise. Indra ends by giving himself up completely. He praises Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as the son of Yaśodā and the only son of Nanda (Yaśodā-nandana, Nanda-ekaputra), and as the one who brings joy to his foster parents. Indra admits that, when he tried to hurt the gopas out of wounded pride, he had without knowing it raised his hand against the Parātpara Brahman himself.

Nanda’s stotra

Indra left. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa then lowered Govardhana, and the community came out. Nanda was moved to sing a stotra of his own, without planning it. His heart overflowed because he knew that the eternal Parātpara Brahman had truly come as his son. This fulfilled the ancient tapas that he and Dharā had done as Droṇa and Dharā on Gandhamādana.

Nanda’s stotra praises Bhagavān Kṛshṇa in these ways.

As Govinda and Brahmaṇya-deva, the benefactor of cows, brāhmaṇas and all that is sacred.
As the one who fills all bodies, from the fish (matsya) onward, as the indwelling ātmā, the witness of all karma.
As sūkshmāt sūkshma (subtler than the subtlest) and sthūlāt sthūla (grosser than the grossest).
As the place of birth (utpatti-sthāna) and the place of dissolution (laya-sthāna) of all that is (sat) and all that is not (asat).
As the one praised by all four Vedas, by Brahmā, Vishṇu and Mahādeva, by Kapila and by Nara-Nārāyaṇa, and yet whom none of them can fully take in.
As beyond Rādhā’s full description, and beyond the full praise of Lakshmī and Sarasvatī.

Nanda’s stotra ends with the prayer that Bhagavān Kṛshṇa give him steady bhakti and dāsya (service). This is the same prayer he had made to the Govardhana form, now made face to face with his own child. It was granted.

The mantra and the kavaca

The text links Indra’s stotra with an eleven-syllable mantra (ekādaśākshara-mantra) and a kavaca (protective armour). Bhagavān Kṛshṇa first taught them to Brahmā at Pushkara-kshetra at the beginning of creation.

Brahmā taught them to the Prajāpati.
The Prajāpati taught them to Āṅgirasa.
Āṅgirasa taught them to Bṛhaspati.
Bṛhaspati taught them to Indra at the time of Indra’s war with the asura Vṛtra.

When Indra was defeated and frozen before Govardhana, he recited this old mantra. It brought on the inner vision and then the stotra. So the Govinda Stotra is joined to a line of teaching that runs from Bhagavān Kṛshṇa through Brahmā to Indra.

Nanda’s set of stotra, mantra and kavaca is linked to a still older handing down. Brahmā gave the same mantra and kavaca to Saubhari Muni at Pushkara, and Saubhari Muni taught them to Nanda.

The phalaśruti

One who recites Indra’s Govinda Stotra every day with devotion receives these results.

Firm bhakti toward Śrī Hari.
At the end, dāsya-mukti, which is mukti in the form of eternal service.
All the bonds of saṃsāra are loosened for the devoted reciter: janma (birth), mṛtyu (death), jarā (old age), vyādhi (disease) and śoka (grief).
The yama-dūtas (Yama’s messengers) and Yamaloka are never seen, even in a dream, by one who recites this stotra.

Sources

Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, chapter 21

Indra’s Stotra to Govinda (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa)