At the very beginning of this chapter Śukadeva Gosvāmī reveals the foolishness of Indra and the absurdity of his anger. Indra was frustrated because the residents of Vṛndāvana accepted Śrī Kṛṣṇa as their Lord. But the simple fact is that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Lord, not only of the residents of Vṛndāvana but of all that exists, including Indra himself. Thus Indra’s petulant reaction was ridiculous. As the common saying goes, “Pride goes before a fall.”

The word īśa-mānī here is very significant. Indra arrogantly considered himself to be the Lord, and thus he exhibited the typical attitude of a conditioned soul. Many thinkers in the twentieth century have noted the exaggerated sense of individual prestige characteristic of our culture; indeed, writers have even coined the phrase “the me generation.” Everyone in this world is more or less guilty of the syndrome called īśa-māna, or proudly considering oneself the Lord.

Of course, Indra was really saying that the cowherd men had offended him, Indra, by taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa, whom Indra considered to be martya, a mortal. This was certainly a gross miscalculation on Indra’s part.

According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, through the insults of Indra Goddess Sarasvatī is actually praising Kṛṣṇa. The ācārya explains: “Vācālam means ‘one who can speak according to Vedic authority.’ Bāliśam means ‘free from pretension, just like a child.’ Stabdham means that He bows down to no one because there is no one for Him to offer homage to, ajñam means that there is nothing more for Him to know because He is omniscient, paṇḍita-māninam means that He is highly honored by the knowers of the Absolute Truth, and kṛṣṇam means He is the Supreme Absolute Truth, whose transcendental form is full of eternity and ecstasy. Martyam means that although He is the Absolute Truth, He nevertheless appears in this world as a human being out of affection for His devotees.”

Indra wanted to rebuke Kṛṣṇa as vācālam because the Lord had presented many audacious arguments in the line of Karma-mīmāṁsā and Sāṅkhya philosophy even though He did not accept these arguments; thus Indra called the Lord bāliśa, “foolish.” Indra called Him stabdha because He had spoken boldly even in the presence of His own father. Thus although Indra attempted to criticize Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Lord’s transcendental character is in fact impeccable, and this chapter will demonstrate how Indra came to recognize the position of the Lord.

It is clear from this verse that the residents of Vṛndāvana had become highly prosperous simply by protecting cows, since Indra wanted to destroy their so-called pride based on wealth by killing their animals. Well-tended cows produce large quantities of milk, from which come cheese, butter, yogurt, ghee and so on. These foods are delicious by themselves and also enhance other foods, such as fruits, vegetables and grains. Bread and vegetables are delicious with butter, and fruit is especially appetizing when mixed with cream or yogurt. Dairy products are always desirable in civilized society, and the surplus can be traded for many valuable commodities. Thus, simply by a Vedic dairy enterprise, the residents of Vṛndāvana were wealthy, healthy and happy, even in the material sense, and most of all they were eternal associates of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa.

The Sāṁvartaka clouds were frightened by Indra’s powerful mood and thus carried out his order, as described in the following verse.

The Sāṁvartaka clouds could cover the entire earth with a single vast ocean. With great strength, these clouds began flooding the simple land of Vraja.

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that the word marud-gaṇaiḥ indicates the seven great winds, such as Āvaha, who presides over the region of Bhuvarloka, and Pravaha, who holds the planets in their places.

At the time of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s birth, Garga Muni had predicted, anena sarva-durgāṇi yūyam añjas tariṣyathā (Bhāg. 10.8.16): “By His grace you will easily cross beyond all difficulties.” The residents of Vṛndāvana were confident that in such a great emergency Lord Śrī Nārāyaṇa would empower Kṛṣṇa to protect them. They accepted Kṛṣṇa as everything, and Kṛṣṇa reciprocated their love.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains that the severe distress Indra apparently inflicted upon the residents of Vṛndāvana was an arrangement made by Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastime potency to enhance the loving dealings between the residents and the Lord. The ācārya gives the analogy that for a hungry person, the pain of hunger increases the happiness he feels when he finally eats excellent food, and thus hunger can be said to enhance the pleasure of eating. Similarly, the residents of Vṛndāvana, although not experiencing ordinary, material anxiety, felt a type of distress at the activities of Indra and thus intensified their meditation on Kṛṣṇa. When the Lord finally acted, the result was wonderful.

The demigods are supposed to be sad-bhāva-yukta, endowed with spiritual existence, since they are deputed servants of the Supreme Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā (4.24) it is stated:

“That which is duly offered to the Lord becomes spiritualized.” The demigods engage in the devotional service of the Lord by managing various departments of cosmic administration. Therefore as demigods, or as servants of the Lord, their existence is pure (sad-bhāva). When the demigods fail to live up to the high position given them by the Lord and deviate from proper behavior, they are not acting as demigods but rather as conditioned souls.

Māna, or false prestige, is certainly an anxiety-ridden burden for the conditioned soul. A falsely proud person is not truly peaceful or satisfied, because his understanding of himself is false and inflated. When a servant of the Lord becomes asat, or irreligious, the Lord saves him from impiety by breaking the false prestige that has led him to be offensive or sinful. As stated by the Lord Himself, yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ: “I give My blessings to a person by taking away his so-called opulence.”

Of course, the advanced stage of devotional service to the Lord, as described by Rūpa Gosvāmī, is yukta-vairāgya, utilizing the opulence of this world to execute the Lord’s mission. Obviously the things of this world can be used wonderfully to spread the glories of God and to create a godly society, and a more advanced devotee will not be seduced by material paraphernalia but will dutifully and honestly engage it solely for the pleasure of the Lord. In this particular case, Lord Indra forgot that he was a humble servant of God, and Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore arranged to bring this bewildered demigod to his senses.

The word mac-charaṇam indicates not only that Lord Kṛṣṇa was the sole shelter for the vraja-jana, the people of Vṛndāvana, but also that Lord Kṛṣṇa had established His home among them. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura quotes from the Anekārtha-varga dictionary, śaraṇaṁ gṛha-rakṣitroḥ: “The word śaraṇam can represent either home or protector.” The residents of Vṛndāvana adopted Kṛṣṇa as their beloved child, friend, lover and life itself, and the Lord reciprocated their feelings. Thus Śrī Kṛṣṇa lived among these fortunate people, moving in their houses and fields; naturally He would protect such intimate devotees from all types of danger.

It is confirmed in the Hari-vaṁśa that Śrī Kṛṣṇa picked up the Govardhana Mountain with His left hand: sa dhṛtaḥ saṅgato meghair giriḥ savyena pāṇinā. “With His left hand He picked up that mountain, which was touching the clouds.” According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, when Lord Kṛṣṇa was preparing to lift Govardhana Hill, a partial expansion of His Yoga-māyā potency named Saṁhārikī temporarily removed all the rain from the sky so that as He ran very swiftly from the porch of His house to the mountain, neither His turban nor other garments became wet.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura provides the following insight in this regard: Ordinarily a large cowherd community, which included many thousands of cows, calves, bulls and so on, could not fit under the base of a medium-sized hill like Śrī Govardhana. However, because the hill was in ecstasy, being touched by the hand of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it acquired inconceivable power and even felt the hundreds of deadly thunderbolts thrown upon its back by angry Indra to be offerings of soft, fragrant flowers. At times Śrī Govardhana was not even aware that the thunderbolts were striking. From the Hari-vaṁśa the ācārya has also quoted Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself as saying, trai-lokyam apy utsahate rakṣituṁ kiṁ punar vrajam: “Śrī Govardhana can give shelter to all the three worlds, what to speak of the simple land of Vraja.”

When Indra’s attack began and Kṛṣṇa lifted the hill, the deer, wild hogs, and other animals and birds standing on the hill’s flanks climbed up to its peaks, and even they did not experience the slightest distress.

All the domestic animals of Vṛndāvana were brought beneath Govardhana Hill for shelter.

According to the Viṣṇu Purāṇa:

“Lord Kṛṣṇa held up the mountain while His praises were chanted by the residents of Vraja, all of whom now had the opportunity to dwell together with Him, and who glanced at Him with joyful and amazed eyes. Thus the cowherd men and women were all elated, and out of loving affection they opened their eyes wide.”

By continuously drinking the nectar of the beauty and sweetness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the residents of Vṛndāvana felt no hunger, thirst or fatigue, and Lord Kṛṣṇa, by seeing their beautiful forms, also forgot about eating, drinking and sleeping. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura points out that seven days of continuous rain from the Sāṁvartaka clouds failed to flood the district of Mathurā because the Supreme Lord, simply by His potency, immediately dried up the water as it fell to the ground. Thus Kṛṣṇa’s lifting of Govardhana Hill is full of fascinating details and has for thousands of years remained one of His most famous pastimes.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains that each of the residents of Vṛndāvana regarded Kṛṣṇa in his own way — as an inferior, younger member of the community; as an equal; or as a superior — and they dealt with Him accordingly. Kṛṣṇa’s superiors offered auspicious benedictions, lovingly smelled His head, kissed Him, rubbed His arms and fingers, and inquired with parental affection as to whether He was tired or pained. Kṛṣṇa’s equals laughed or joked with Him, and those who were younger fell at His feet, massaged His feet, and so on.

The word ca in this verse indicates that the wives of the brāhmaṇas joined with the cowherd ladies to offer auspicious items like yogurt and unbroken grains. Lord Kṛṣṇa received benedictions such as this: “May You subdue the wicked, protect the decent people, give pleasure to Your parents and be enriched with all wealth and opulence.”

The demigods in heaven were just as jubilant as the residents of Vṛndāvana, and thus a great universal festival took place.

Before returning to their homes, the gopīs shared intimate association with their lover, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, by exchanging secret glances. Ordinarily they could not publicly talk about Kṛṣṇa, since they were chaste young girls in a religious village, but now they took advantage of this wonderful exhibition by the Lord and freely sang of His beautiful qualities. It is natural that a young man wants to do something wonderful in the presence of a beautiful young girl. The gopīs were the most beautiful and pure-hearted young girls, and Śrī Kṛṣṇa performed the most wonderful activities in their presence. Thus He entered deep within their tender hearts, enlivening their eternal devotion to Him.