Text 5
vācālaṁ bāliśaṁ stabdham
ajñaṁ paṇḍita-māninam
kṛṣṇaṁ martyam upāśritya
gopā me cakrur apriyam
vācālam — overtalkative; bāliśam — child; stabdham — arrogant; ajñam — foolish; paṇḍita-māninam — thinking Himself wise; kṛṣṇam — Kṛṣṇa; martyam — a human being; upāśritya — taking shelter of; gopāḥ — the cowherds; me — against me; cakruḥ — have acted; apriyam — unfavorably.
These cowherd men have acted inimically toward me by taking shelter of this ordinary human being, Kṛṣṇa, who thinks Himself very wise but who is simply a foolish, arrogant, overtalkative child.
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.