Texts 22-23
śṛī-śuka uvāca
evaṁ kṛṣṇam upāmantrya
surabhiḥ payasātmanaḥ
jalair ākāśa-gaṅgāyā
airāvata-karoddhṛtaiḥ
indraḥ surarṣibhiḥ sākaṁ
codito deva-mātṛbhiḥ
abhyasiñcata dāśārhaṁ
govinda iti cābhyadhāt
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; evam — thus; kṛṣṇam — Lord Kṛṣṇa; upāmantrya — requesting; surabhiḥ — mother Surabhi; payasā — with milk; ātmanaḥ — her own; jalaiḥ — with the water; ākāśa-gaṅgāyāḥ — of the Ganges flowing through the heavenly region (known as the Mandākinī); airāvata — of Indra’s carrier, the elephant Airāvata; kara — by the trunk; uddhṛtaiḥ — carried; indraḥ — Lord Indra; sura — by the demigods; ṛṣibhiḥ — and the great sages; sākam — accompanied; coditaḥ — inspired; deva — of the demigods; mātṛbhiḥ — by the mothers (headed by Aditi); abhyasiñcata — he bathed; dāśārham — Lord Kṛṣṇa, the descendant of King Daśārha; govindaḥ iti — as Govinda; ca — and; abhyadhāt — he named the Lord.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Having thus appealed to Lord Kṛṣṇa, mother Surabhi performed His bathing ceremony with her own milk, and Indra, ordered by Aditi and other mothers of the demigods, anointed the Lord with heavenly Gaṅgā water from the trunk of Indra’s elephant carrier, Airāvata. Thus, in the company of the demigods and great sages, Indra coronated Lord Kṛṣṇa, the descendant of Daśārha, and gave Him the name Govinda.
According to the ācāryas, because Indra was embarrassed by his blunder of attacking Vṛndāvana, he was reluctant to worship the Lord. Therefore the heavenly mothers, such as Aditi, encouraged him to go ahead and do so. Feeling authorized by the encouragement of demigods less offensive than he, Indra then bathed the Lord. Indra discovered that the beautiful cowherd boy named Kṛṣṇa is indeed the Supreme Personality of Godhead.