Shloka 5
Uddhava Recalls Kṛṣṇa’s Mission: Earth’s Burden, Royal Dharma, and the Prelude to Dvārakā’s Withdrawal
प्रियं प्रभुर्ग्राम्य इव प्रियाया विधित्सुरार्च्छद् द्युतरुं यदर्थे । वज्र्याद्रवत्तं सगणो रुषान्ध: क्रीडामृगो नूनमयं वधूनाम् ॥ ५ ॥
priyaṁ prabhur grāmya iva priyāyā vidhitsur ārcchad dyutaruṁ yad-arthe vajry ādravat taṁ sa-gaṇo ruṣāndhaḥ krīḍā-mṛgo nūnam ayaṁ vadhūnām
To please His beloved wife, the Lord brought the pārijāta tree down from heaven, as an ordinary husband might. For this, Indra, king of the gods—spurred on by his wives—became blinded by wrath and, vajra in hand with his hosts, rushed after the Lord to fight, like a plaything beast of women.
The Lord once went to the heavenly planet to present an earring to Aditi, the mother of the demigods, and His wife Satyabhāmā also went with Him. There is a special flowering tree called the pārijāta, which grows only in the heavenly planets, and Satyabhāmā wanted this tree. Just to please His wife, like an ordinary husband, the Lord brought back the tree, and this enraged Vajrī, or the controller of the thunderbolt. Indra’s wives inspired him to run after the Lord to fight, and Indra, because he was a henpecked husband and also a fool, listened to them and dared to fight with Kṛṣṇa. He was a fool on this occasion because he forgot that everything belongs to the Lord.
FAQs
This verse shows Indra becoming ruṣāndha—blinded by anger—when Kṛṣṇa goes for the Pārijāta tree, illustrating how even exalted beings can fall into pride when possessiveness arises.
Because Kṛṣṇa went to obtain the divine Pārijāta to please His beloved (Satyabhāmā), and Indra, attached to his heavenly possession and status, reacted with anger and confronted Him with his followers.
Do not let entitlement over “my” position or “my” possessions turn into anger; cultivate humility by remembering all opulence is ultimately under the Supreme Lord’s control.