Indra and the Demigods’ Prayers to the Supreme Lord in Crisis

This article presents a thematic survey of Indra and the demigods' prayers offered byduring the Vṛtrāsura narrative. It organizes the verses found in the Vaniquotes category Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Verses Spoken by Lord Indra and the Demigods.

The demigods, or devas, represent the administrative department of the universe. Although they are powerful controllers, they are constantly besieged by demons and their own material attachments. In the Sixth Canto, their prayers evolve from desperate pleas for protection to deep philosophical inquiries into the nature of the Absolute Truth. These verses clarify the distinction between the jīva (who is bound by karma) and the Supreme Lord (who is the controller of karma and time).

Accepting a New Spiritual Master (Viśvarūpa)

After Indra offends his guru, Bṛhaspati, the demigods are defeated by the demons. On the advice of Lord Brahmā, they approach Viśvarūpa, the son of Tvaṣṭā, to accept him as their priest. The demigods humbly submit that although Viśvarūpa is younger, his knowledge makes him superior.

The Etiquette of Age and Knowledge

The demigods explain that while age is respected in social dealings, knowledge of the Vedas is the criteria for spiritual seniority.

  • "The demigods continued (to Viśvarūpa): Although you are junior in relationship to us, you may become our priest without hesitation."
  • "The demigods continued (to Viśvarūpa): Do not fear criticism for being younger than us. Such etiquette does not apply in regard to Vedic mantras."
  • "Except in relationship to Vedic mantras, seniority is determined by age, but one may offer respectful obeisances even to a younger person who is advanced in chanting Vedic mantras."
  • "The demigods said: Beloved Viśvarūpa, may there be all good fortune for you. We, the demigods, have come to your āśrama as your guests. Please try to fulfill our desires according to the time, since we are on the level of your parents."

The Duty of a Son and Guru

Indra and the demigods appeal to Viśvarūpa's sense of duty to help his elders and act as a true brāhmaṇa.

  • "O brāhmaṇa, the highest duty of a son, even though he has sons of his own, is to serve his parents, and what to speak of a son who is a brahmacārī?"
  • "The ācārya, the spiritual master who teaches all the Vedic knowledge and gives initiation by offering the sacred thread, is the personification of all the Vedas."
  • "A father personifies Lord Brahmā; a brother, King Indra; a mother, the planet earth; and a sister, mercy. A guest personifies religious principles, an invited guest personifies the demigod Agni, and all living entities personify Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
  • "Since you are completely aware of the Supreme Brahman, you are a perfect brāhmaṇa, and therefore you are the spiritual master of all orders of life."

Request for Protection

The demigods formally accept him as their guide to defeat their enemies.

  • "We accept you as our spiritual master and director so that by the power of your austerity we may easily defeat the enemies who have conquered us."
  • "Since You are the supreme spiritual master and You know everything, we have sought shelter of Your lotus feet for instruction. Please give us relief by counteracting our present distress."
  • "Dear son, we have been defeated by our enemies, and therefore we are very much aggrieved. Please mercifully fulfill our desires by relieving our distress through the strength of your austerities. Please fulfill our prayers."

The Crisis of Vṛtrāsura (Prayers to the Supreme Lord)

After Indra kills Viśvarūpa, Tvaṣṭā creates the terrible demon Vṛtrāsura. The demon swallows the demigods' weapons, rendering them helpless. Fleeing in terror, the demigods take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, offering prayers that describe His inconceivable potencies.

Fear and Plea for Annihilation

The demigods express their anxiety and beg the Lord to kill the demon.

  • "O Lord, O supreme controller, O Lord Kṛṣṇa, please annihilate this dangerous demon Vṛtrāsura, Tvaṣṭā's son, who has already swallowed all our weapons, our paraphernalia for fighting, and our strength and influence."
  • "By Your love-filled glance, with its cool and pleasing smile of sympathy, and by the sweet, nectarean words emanating from Your beautiful face, free us from the anxiety caused by this Vṛtrāsura, who always pains the cores of our hearts."
  • "Assuming such various forms, You have always punished the demons and Dānavas. We therefore pray that Your Lordship appear today as another incarnation, if You so desire, to kill the great demon Vṛtrāsura."
  • "You are the one who releases the cakra to kill the demons. O Lord, who possess many varieties of names, we offer our respectful obeisances unto You."

Remembering Past Protections

The demigods recall how the Lord saved them in previous incarnations like Matsya, Vāmana, and Nṛsiṁha.

  • "By the grace of the Matsya avatāra, Manu saved himself from the great danger of the flood. May that same fish incarnation save us from the great and fearful danger caused by the son of Tvaṣṭā."
  • "The Manu named King Satyavrata formerly saved himself by tying the small boat of the entire world to the horn of the Matsya avatāra, the fish incarnation."
  • "By His inconceivable internal potency, the Supreme Personality of Godhead expands into various transcendental bodies as Vāmanadeva, the incarnation of strength among the demigods; Paraśurāma, the incarnation among saints; Nṛsiṁhadeva and Varāha."
  • "He accepts various transcendental bodies among all types of living entities, and among human beings He especially appears as Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Rāma. By His causeless mercy, He protects the demigods, who are always harassed by the demons."
  • "Beginning of creation, a tremendous wind caused fierce waves of inundating water. The great waves made such a horrible sound that Brahmā almost fell from his seat on the lotus into the water of devastation, but he was saved with the help of the Lord."
  • "O Lord, O personified three worlds, father of the three worlds! O strength of the three worlds, in the form of the Vāmana incarnation! O three-eyed form of Nṛsiṁhadeva! O most beautiful person within the three worlds."
  • "O supremely powerful one, You have always appeared in Your forms as the various incarnations to punish the demons as soon as they become very powerful. You appear as Lord Vāmanadeva, Lord Rāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa."
  • "You appear sometimes as an animal like Lord Boar, sometimes a mixed incarnation like Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva and Lord Hayagrīva, and sometimes an aquatic like Lord Fish and Lord Tortoise."

The Lord as Time and Controller

The demigods acknowledge that while they are subject to time, the Lord is the controller of time.

  • "Being very much afraid that the time factor will end our existence, we offer presentations unto time by performing our work as time dictates. The time factor himself, however, is afraid of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
  • "The demigods said: O Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are competent to give the results of sacrifice, and You are also the time factor that destroys all such results in due course."
  • "Do You enjoy or suffer the good or bad results of actions under the influence of time, past work and so forth?"

Theological Prayers (The Nature of the Absolute)

The prayers offered by the demigods in Chapter 9 are profound theological statements. They grapple with the Lord's simultaneous transcendence and immanence, His role as the cause of all causes, and His reconciliatory power.

Reconciling Contradictions (Acintya)

The demigods glorify the Lord's ability to hold contradictory qualities, proving His inconceivable potency.

  • "O Supreme Personality of Godhead, all contradictions can be reconciled in You. Since You are the Supreme Person, the reservoir of unlimited spiritual qualities, the supreme controller, Your unlimited glories are inconceivable to the conditioned souls."
  • "You (Lord Nārāyaṇa) are one without a second, and therefore in You contradictions like doing and not doing, happiness and distress, are not contradictory. Your potency is so great that it can do and undo anything as You like."
  • "Although You appear engaged in material activity, You are transcendental to all material qualities. Consequently these transcendental activities of Yours are extremely difficult to understand."
  • "With the help of that potency, what is impossible for You? Since there is no duality in Your constitutional position, You can do everything by the influence of Your energy."
  • "Free from all material conceptions of existence and never wonder-struck by anything, the Lord is always jubilant and fully satisfied by His own spiritual perfection. He has no material designations, and therefore He is steady and unattached."

The Cause of All Causes

Indra and the demigods identify Him as the original source of the material elements and the demigods themselves.

  • "Everything and everyone, including human beings and even the Daitya demons and the Dānavas, is but an expansion of Your energy."
  • "The demigods said: The three worlds are created by the five elements - namely ether, air, fire, water and earth - which are controlled by various demigods, beginning from Lord Brahmā."
  • "Since You are the cause of the cosmic manifestation and You supply its material ingredients without being transformed, You create, maintain and annihilate this cosmic manifestation by Yourself."
  • "The total material energy is the cause of the material manifestation, but the material energy is caused by Him. Therefore He is the cause of all causes, the manifester of intelligence and the senses."
  • "You exist internally as Parabrahman and externally as the ingredients of the material creation. Therefore, although manifested in various stages, at different times and places, and in various bodies, You are the original cause of all causes."
  • "You know everything because You are the original cause of the cosmic manifestation, the maintainer and the annihilator of the entire universal creation."

The Witness and Supersoul

The demigods realize that the Lord is not just a distant force but the witness within.

  • "Are You present here only as a neutral witness who is self-sufficient, free from all material desires, and always full of spiritual potency? We certainly cannot understand Your actual position."
  • "Indeed, You are the original element. You are the witness of all activities, but because You are as great as the sky, You are never touched by any of them. You are the witness of everything as Parabrahman and Paramātmā. O Supreme Personality of Godhead, nothing is unknown to You."
  • "He is perceived as the Supersoul of everything. Without Him, everything would be dead. You, as that Supersoul, the supreme controller, are the only one remaining."
  • "You live within the core of everyone's heart and observe all the desires and activities of the conditioned souls. O Supreme Personality of Godhead known as Lord Kṛṣṇa, Your reputation is bright and illuminating. You have no beginning, for You are the beginning of everything."
  • "You, as the Supersoul in everyone's heart, inspire fear or fearlessness according to one's intelligence, but in You there is no duality."
  • "The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who created us by His external potency and by whose mercy we expand the creation of the universe, is always situated before us as the Supersoul, but we cannot see His form."
  • "We are unable to see Him because all of us think that we are separate and independent gods."

Beyond Material Conception

The demigods admit that speculative philosophy cannot reach the Lord.

  • "Many modern theologians argue about right and wrong without knowing what is actually right. Their arguments are always false and their judgments inconclusive because they have no authorized evidence with which to gain knowledge of You."
  • "They are unable to understand the truth concerning You because their minds are agitated by scriptures containing false conclusions."
  • "Their theories are incapable of revealing You, who are transcendental to their material conceptions because of polluted eagerness to arrive at the right conclusion."
  • "These are our inquiries. The ordinary conditioned soul is subject to the material laws, and he thus receives the fruits of his actions. Do You, like an ordinary human being, exist within this material world in a body produced by the material modes?"
  • "A rope causes fear for a bewildered person who considers it a snake, but not for a person with proper intelligence who knows it to be only a rope."

The Supremacy of Bhakti

Ultimately, the demigods conclude that only through devotion can one understand and please the Lord.

  • "O killer of the Madhu demon, incessant transcendental bliss flows in the minds of those who have even once tasted but a drop of the nectar from the ocean of Your glories."
  • "O Supreme Personality of Godhead, O Nārāyaṇa, O Vāsudeva, original person! O most exalted person, supreme experience, welfare personified! O supreme benediction, supremely merciful and changeless."
  • "Offering their minds unto You and enjoying transcendental bliss, they are expert in achieving the real goal of life. O Lord, You are the soul and dear friend of such devotees, who never need return to this material world."
  • "When the darkness in their hearts is completely eradicated & You are revealed to them, the transcendental bliss they enjoy is the transcendental form of You. No one but such persons can realize You. Therefore we simply offer You our respectful obeisances."
  • "When the conditioned souls are liberated and sheltered at Your (Kṛṣṇa's) lotus feet after roving throughout the material world for many millions of years, they attain the highest success of life."
  • "They can receive the conception of Your personality in their fully purified hearts because their minds are concentrated upon You."
  • "Such exalted devotees forget the tiny reflection of so-called material happiness produced from the material senses of sight and sound. Free from all desires, such devotees are the real friends of all living entities."

Shelter and Surrender

The demigods offer their final surrender, acknowledging that they are merely sparks of the original fire.

  • "O supreme protector, O grandfather, O supreme pure, O Lord! We are all surrendered souls at Your lotus feet. Indeed, our minds are bound to Your lotus feet in meditation by chains of love. Now please manifest Your incarnation."
  • "That Supreme Personality of Godhead is the only shelter of everyone. Anyone desiring to be protected by others is certainly a great fool who desires to cross the sea by holding the tail of a dog."
  • "Your lotus feet are the only shelter for a fully surrendered devotee and are the only means for subduing all the tribulations of this material world."
  • "O Lord, as the small sparks of a fire cannot possibly perform the actions of the whole fire, we sparks of Your Lordship cannot inform You of the necessities of our lives. You are the complete whole. Therefore, of what do we need to inform You?"
  • "Since we appeared after You created this cosmic manifestation, Your activities are impossible for us to understand. We therefore have nothing to offer You but our humble obeisances."
  • "Accepting us as Your own eternal servants and devotees, be pleased with us and sympathetic toward us."
  • "O Supreme Personality of Godhead, You control the three destinations (promotion to the heavenly planets, birth as a human being, and condemnation in hell), yet Your supreme abode is Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma."
  • "Dear Lord, You are omniscient, and therefore You know very well why we have taken shelter at Your lotus feet, which provide shade that gives relief from all material disturbances."

Begging the Sage Dadhīci (Self-Sacrifice)

On the Lord's order, the demigods approach the sage Dadhīci to ask for his body, so that a thunderbolt weapon can be fashioned from his bones to kill Vṛtrāsura. Their arguments appeal to the sage's compassion.

  • "Pious persons like you (Dadhīci, the son of Atharva), whose activities are praiseworthy, are very kind and affectionate to people in general. What can't such pious souls give for the benefit of others? They can give everything, including their bodies."
  • "Those who are too self-interested beg something from others, not knowing of others' pain. But if the beggar knew the difficulty of the giver, he would not ask for anything."
  • "He who is able to give charity does not know the beggar's difficulty, for otherwise he would not refuse to give the beggar anything he might want as charity."

The Universal Form and Oneness

The demigods conclude by meditating on the Lord's presence in all things.

  • "He is the supreme worshipable Deity of all living entities. He is the supreme cause, represented as the male and female creative energies. Although different from this universe, He exists in His universal form (virāṭ-rūpa)."
  • "You always engage in Your pastimes with Your spiritual and material energies, for You are the controller of all these varied energies. You exist within all living entities, within the cosmic manifestation, and also beyond them."
  • "With deliberation, one will see that the Supreme Soul, although manifested in different ways, is actually the basic principle of everything."
  • "O support of the cosmic manifestation, sole proprietor of all planetary systems, master of everything and husband of the goddess of fortune! Your Lordship is realized by the topmost sannyāsīs, who wander about the world to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness."
  • "O Lord, You need no support, and although You have no material body, You do not need cooperation from us."

Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani

This article is a thematic compilation of the teachings presented in the Vaniquotes category Bhagavatam Verses Spoken by Lord Indra and the Demigods. We invite you to visit the link to read the complete collection of verses presented in alphabetical order.

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