Indra’s Stotra to Śrī Kṛshṇa after the Pārijāta Battle (Brahma Purāṇa)
Indra Kṛta Viśvasvarūpa Stuti · indra kṛta viśva-svarūpa stuti, “Indra’s praise of the one whose form is the universe”
Indra‘s stotra to Śrī Kṛshṇa after the Pārijāta battle is the praise that Indra, king of the devas, spoke after he had fought Bhagavān Kṛshṇa for the divine Pārijāta tree and Kṛshṇa had caught his vajra in his hand. It is found in the Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 203 and 204, in Vyāsa‘s telling to the munis. It has two parts. First, answering Satyabhāmā, Indra says he feels no shame at being defeated by the Viśvasvarūpa, the one whose form is the universe, the maker of creation, preservation and dissolution, in whom the world dwells, from whom it arises and into whom it dissolves; no one can conquer that Aja, Īśvara, the eternal. Then, when Kṛshṇa calls himself a mere human and returns the tree and the vajra, Indra answers that those who have tasted his endless bliss know him: in nivṛtti he is only the witness, the kūṭastha, and in pravṛtti he has come to uproot the thorns of the world. He gives Kṛshṇa the Pārijāta to take to Dvāravatī.
The setting
After slaying Naraka and returning Aditi’s kuṇḍalas, Kṛshṇa walked with Satyabhāmā through the gardens of the devas and saw the divine Pārijāta, born at the churning for amṛta, golden, fragrant and cool. Satyabhāmā asked him to take it to Dvārakā for her garden, and Kṛshṇa smiled and set it on Garuḍa. The guards of Nandana warned that the tree was the property of Śacī Devī, Indra‘s chief queen, and that Indra would follow with the vajra. In fierce anger Satyabhāmā sent word to Śacī: “If you have your husband in your power, let him stop mine. I, a woman of the human world, am carrying off my Pārijāta.” Śacī urged on Indra, and he set out with all the armies of the devas.
Govinda blew his conch so that the quarters resounded and loosed arrows by thousands and lakhs; Madhusūdana split every astra and śastra of the devas into a thousand pieces. Garuḍa tore the noose of Varuṇa like the body of a young snake. Kṛshṇa broke the daṇḍa of Yama with his gadā, cut Kubera‘s palanquin to pieces no bigger than sesame seeds with the cakra, made Sūrya and Candra lustreless with his gaze, struck Agni with hundreds of arrows, drove the Vasus to the four quarters and threw the Rudras to the earth with their śūla-tips cut off. Śārṅgī blew the Sādhyas, the Viśvedevas, the Maruts and the Gandharvas into the sky like silk-cotton fluff. Garuḍa fought Airāvata, and Indra and Upendra rained arrows on each other like two clouds. At last Indra seized the vajra and Kṛshṇa raised the Sudarśana cakra, and the three worlds cried out “hā, hā”. Kṛshṇa caught the vajra Indra threw and called out, “Stop, stop!”
As Indra, without his vajra and with his vāhana hurt, was about to flee, Satyabhāmā said to him: “It is not fitting for Śacī’s husband to flee. Let the devas take the Pārijāta. Proud through her husband, Śacī did not receive me with honour; being a woman, I quarrelled with you. Enough. I want nothing of another’s property.” Indra, his agitation calmed, answered her.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 203
The stotra
To Satyabhāmā. “O friend, fierce one, do not grieve so much. I am not ashamed to be defeated by the Viśvasvarūpa, the maker of creation, preservation and dissolution. Why should one defeated by that Prabhu Hari, in whom this whole world dwells, from whom it arises and into whom it dissolves, feel shame? His form, which is all the worlds, subtler than the subtlest, known through all the injunctions of the Veda: how could others know it? Who is able to conquer that Aja, the unborn, Īśvara, Śāśvata, the eternal, the first one who of himself does good to the world?”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 203
Kṛshṇa‘s answer. Thus praised by Devendra, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa laughed with deep meaning and said: “Jagannātha, you are the ruler of the devas, Indra; we are humans. Forgive this offence I have done. Take this Pārijāta tree back to its place; I brought it at Satyabhāmā’s word. This vajra you threw is worthy of pūjā; take it back. This weapon that splits enemies is yours.”
To Kṛshṇa. “Svāmī, why bewilder me by saying ‘I am a mortal’? We who have tasted the endless bliss that comes from you, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, know you. Jagannātha, whoever you are, be that. In nivṛtti you are only the witness, the kūṭastha Brahman; yet you are in pravṛtti, and you are uprooting the thorns of the world, for you have descended to destroy the wicked. So take this Pārijāta to Dvāravatī. After you leave the mortal world, this tree will not remain there.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 204
What followed
Hari said to Indra, “So be it.” Praised by the siddhas, gandharvas and ṛshis who were with Indra, he came down to the earth, blew his conch over Dvārakā and gave joy to its citizens. He came down from Garuḍa with Satyabhāmā and had the Pārijāta planted in her garden. The people of the city, seeing the tree of svarga, gained the memory of their former births; its flowers spread fragrance for three yojanas; and the Yādavas saw in it, as in a mirror, not only their own faces but all the devas, gandharvas and humans.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 204
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 203–204