Radha Krishna - Chapter 27: Lord Indra and Mother Surabhi Offer Prayers

(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'After having held the hill Govardhana to protect Vraja against the rains came from the world of the cows mother Surabhi [the celestial cow] to Krishna. And so did Lord Indra. (2) In a secluded place [*] approached Indra Him ashamed of having been offensive and touched he His feet with his helmet that shone like the sun. (3) Having heard of and having witnessed the power of this Lord Krishna, whose immeasurable potency had put an end to his arrogance of being the lord of the three worlds, spoke he with folded hands as follows.

(4) Indra said: 'Your majesty of transcendental goodness, being of peace and the illumination of penance, destroyed the passion and ignorance born from illusion; in You is this continuous stream not present of the material qualities to which one is bound when one is not in control. (5) How, o Lord, would there [in You, as I thought, see 10.25: 3] be the causes of being entangled - the greed and all of that - that symptomize an ignorant person; still You are the Supreme Lord who in defense of the dharma exercises Your authority to chastise the wicked! (6) The father, the guru, You are of the entire universe, the Original Controller and the insurmountable Time that of service as the authority, with the by You assuming of transcendental forms, is there to eradicate the self-conceit of the ones who imagine themselves to be the lord of the universe. (7) Fools like me who think themselves to be the master of the universe do, seeing You fearless at the time [of confrontation], quickly part of their arrogance, when they as a consequence of Your lesson for the wicked being no longer puffed up in every respect take to the path of gentlemen. (8) You as such o Master, please therefore forgive me, who, unaware of Your influence, because of his rulership bathed in arrogance and fell in offense with a foolish intelligence; please let my consciousness never be that foul again o Lord. (9) Your descent into this world, o Lord of the Beyond, is there for the existence of those who serve Your lotus feet o Godhead, and for the nonexistence of warlords who with the many disturbances they give rise to constitute a great burden. (10) My obeisances unto You, the Supreme Lord and Original Personality, the great Soul S'rî Krishna, the son of Vasudeva; my reverence for the Master of the Servants of the Absolute Truth. (11) For Him my obeisances who to the desires of the ones belonging to Him assumes bodies, whose form is the purest spiritual knowledge and who is the seed of all and everything and the indwelling Soul of all living beings. (12) O Lord when the sacrifice was frustrated was I fiercely arrogant and angry and wanted I with rain and wind to destroy the cowherd community, o Supreme Lord. (13) You, o Controller showing Your mercy have shattered my rigidity and rendered my attempt fruitless; I came to You, the True Self and spiritual master, in order to take shelter.'

(14) S'rî S'uka said: 'With Krishna this way glorified by the munificent Indra smiled the Supreme Lord at him and spoke He, as grave as the clouds, the following words. (15) The Supreme Lord said: 'The arresting by Me of your sacrifice I engaged in to show you My mercy so that you, as the king of heaven so greatly intoxicated with the opulence, would remember me forever. (16) Him, who blinded because of his power and wealth is conceited and does not see Me with the rod in My hand, will I, desirous to promote him, prepare a fall from his affluent position [see also B.G. 9: 22]. (17) O you all of might, o Indra, all fortune to you, may you, executing My order, void of pretense soberly remain engaged in your responsibilities.

(18) Then spoke mother Surabhi to Krishna who, peaceful of mind along with her cows begging His attention, offered her respects to the Lord who had appeared as a cowherd boy. (19) Surabhi said: 'Krishna, o Krishna, o Greatest Mystic, o Soul and Origin of the Universe, with You, o director of the world, we have found our master, o Infallible One. (20) You are our Supreme Godhead, You are our Indra, o Lord of the Universe, please be there for the welfare of the cows, the brahmins and those who are godly and saintly. (21) For You as our Indra we shall perform a bathing ceremony to the directions of Lord Brahmâ, o Soul of the Universe who descended to alleviate the burden of the earth.'

(22-23) S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus pleading was Lord Krishna by Surabhi with her own milk and the Ganges water flowing from heaven as carried by Airâvata's trunk, by Indra bathed in the company of the enlightened and the seers and by the inspired mothers of the gods [the daughters of Aditi] and was the descendent of Das'arha named Lord Govinda. (24) To that place came Tumburu, Nârada and the others, the singers of heaven, the scholars, the perfected and the venerable ones who sang the glories of the Lord that remove the contamination from the world while the wives of the demigods filled with joy danced together. (25) He as the emblem of all the gods was praised and covered with wonderful showers of flowers, after which the three worlds experienced a supreme satisfaction with the cows overflowing the earth with their milk. (26) The rivers flooded with all kinds of liquids, the trees exuded honey, the plants ripened without cultivation and the mountains produced jewels. (27) O beloved of the Kuru dynasty, when Lord Krishna had been bathed became all those [predators, dishonest people] free from enmity, they, my best, who, be it by nature, were vicious. (28) Thus having bathed Govinda, the master of the cows and the cowherd community was he [Indra] permitted to take leave and returned he to heaven surrounded by the gods and the others.'