Yadhavabhyudhaya-chapter17

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Krishna subdues Indra

 

Hearing that Krishna is carrying off the parijatha tree on Garuda, which was something unheard of earlier, Indra was overwhelmed by both fear and anger. Indra, without realizing that he could do nothing against the will of the Lord, got angry. The chamatkara of Desika is seen in saying `manyureva sathamanyunA mahAn Agrheetha manasA abhyamanyatha.' The mind of Indra chose only anger (and not fear) The word Sathamanyu denotes Indra because the post of Indra could be attained by performing 100 Asvamedhayagas. There is a pun on the word manyu to mean anger as well as sacrifice, thus implying that one who is called sathamanyu naturally got anger only.

 

Indra facing Krishna in battle is described by Desika as `bheeshaNapraLayameghasannibham krishnamegham aTha megha vAhanah.' Indra who had clouds as his vehicle faced Krishnamebha, the cloud called Krishna, who was more formidable that the clouds at deluge.

 

The arrows of Indra fell on Garuda and were reduced to ashes with the fire of glory, tejas, of Garuda, and were like the ghee poured on the sacrificial fire because Garuda appeared to shine more with them.

 

Desika describes Garuda fighting with the devas thus:

 

thungapakshathiSathAngaSAlinah

bheemanAgaghatithAkrtheh abhooth

vAhathAm cha vahathah sapatthithAm

sainyathA asya surasainya yoDhinah

 

Garuda, was himself the four kinds of army, his wings containing hundreds of feathers, thunga pakshathi SathAnga, the serpents which formed his ornaments, bheemanAga, his stature as the vehicle of the Lord, vAhathAm vahathah and the gait of him, sapatthithA. The four kinds of army, namely ratha, gaja thuraga padhAthi, are implied with the pun on the words, SathAnga, which also means ratha, chariot, nAga meaning the elephant, vAha denotes cavalry and patthi is the infantry.

 

The army of the devas were overpowerd with the poison of the serpents and the outgoing breath of Garuda was so strong that they scattered the winds that formed the armour of Indra and made the arrows of Indra recoil on the army of devas.

 

How ever Krishna did not want to destroy the devas because even though they were under delusion at that time, they were his dependents.The devas faced extinction of their valour as the planets and stars lose their luster going near the Sun. Desika says that they attained dhurdhaSA like the planets, meaning that as the evil planets rahu and kethu are not visible, the devas also reached a state when they appeared to be extinct even though they were alive.Indra being defeated, again started attacking Krishna with the desire to retrieve the parijatha tree and wielded his vajra when Krishna took his chakra. All beings waited with trepidation to see the effect of this act. Krishna appropriated the vajra with the intention of returning it to Indra later.

Indra became ashamed of his helplessness and Sathyabhama looked at him in derision.

 

Desika explains the result of the battle thus:

 

yAdhavendhra vibudhendhrayoh thadhA

rathnayoriva thulADhirooDayoh

gouraveNa dhadhrSe samunnathih

lAghavena cha nathih thadhadhbhutham

 

Krishna and Indra looked like gems of equal weight placed on the balance and Krishna gained more weight by his victory and reached high while Indra became lighter with his defeat and went down. Desika calls it a wonder because it is usually the object with more weight goes down and the lighter one rises above. This is an insatance of the chamathkAra of the kavi.

 

Indra realized his mistake of fighting for a tree with the Lord of the universe and derided himself that he was lost due to his forgetfulness (as to the real identity of Krishna), his attachment to his possessions and arrogance of power. Then he started praising Krishna with folded hands.