Text 25
deve varṣati yajña-viplava-ruṣā vajrāsma-varṣānilaiḥ
sīdat-pāla-paśu-striy ātma-śaraṇaṁ dṛṣṭvānukampy utsmayan
utpāṭyaika-kareṇa śailam abalo līlocchilīndhraṁ yathā
bibhrad goṣṭham apān mahendra-mada-bhit prīyān na indro gavām
deve — when the demigod Indra; varṣati — caused rain; yajña — of his sacrifice; viplava — due to the disturbances; ruṣā — out of anger; vajra — with lightning bolts; aśma-varṣa — hail; anilaiḥ — and winds; sīdat — suffering; pāla — the cowherds; paśu — animals; stri — and women; ātma — Himself; śaraṇam — being their only shelter; dṛṣṭvā — seeing; anukampī — very compassionate by nature; utsmayan — smiling broadly; utpāṭya — picking up; eka-kareṇa — in one hand; śailam — the hill, Govardhana; abalaḥ — a small child; līlā — in play; ucchilīndhram — a mushroom; yathā — just as; bibhrat — He held; goṣṭham — the cowherd community; apāt — He protected; mahā-indra — of King Indra; mada — of the false pride; bhit — the destroyer; prīyāt — may He be satisfied; naḥ — with us; indraḥ — the Lord; gavām — of the cows.
Indra became angry when his sacrifice was disrupted, and thus he caused rain and hail to fall on Gokula, accompanied by lightning and powerful winds, all of which brought great suffering to the cowherds, animals and women there. When Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is by nature always compassionate, saw the condition of those who had only Him as their shelter, He smiled broadly and lifted Govardhana Hill with one hand, just as a small child picks up a mushroom to play with it. Holding up the hill, He protected the cowherd community. May He, Govinda, the Lord of the cows and the destroyer of Indra’s false pride, be pleased with us.
The word indra means “lord” or “king.” Thus in this verse Kṛṣṇa is pointedly called indro gavām, “the Lord of the cows.” In fact, He is the real Indra, the real ruler, of everyone, and the demigods are merely His servants, representing His supreme will.
It is apparent from this and the previous verses in this chapter that Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lifting of Govardhana Hill made quite an impression on the simple cowherd men of Vṛndāvana, and they repeatedly remembered this feat. Certainly anyone who soberly and objectively considers the activities of young Kṛṣṇa will surrender to Him and become His eternal devotee in loving devotional service. That is the rational conclusion one should come to after reading this chapter.
Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Tenth Canto, Twenty-sixth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Wonderful Kṛṣṇa.”