Å›rÄ«-nanda uvÄca
parjanyo bhagavÄn indro
meghÄs tasyÄtma-mÅ«rtayaḥ
te 'bhivará¹£anti bhÅ«tÄnÄá¹
prīṇanaṠjīvanaṠpayaḥ

 Å›rÄ«-nandaḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« Nanda MahÄrÄja said; parjanyaḥ - the rain; bhagavÄn - the great lord; indraḥ - Indra; meghÄḥ - the clouds; tasya - his; Ätma-mÅ«rtayaḥ - personal representatives; te - they; abhivará¹£anti - directly give rain; bhÅ«tÄnÄm - for all living entities; prīṇanam - the gratification; jÄ«vanam - the life-giving force; payaḥ - (like) milk.


Text

Nanda MahÄrÄja replied: The great Lord Indra is the controller of the rain. The clouds are his personal representatives, and they directly provide rainwater, which gives happiness and sustenance to all creatures.

Purport

Without clean rainwater, the earth could not possibly provide food or drink for anyone, nor could there be cleanliness. Thus it would be difficult to overestimate the value of rain.