na hi sad-bhÄva-yuktÄnÄá¹
surÄṇÄm Ä«Å›a-vismayaḥ
matto 'satÄá¹ mÄna-bhaá¹…gaḥ
praÅ›amÄyopakalpate
na - not; hi - certainly; sat-bhÄva - with the mode of goodness; yuktÄnÄm - who are endowed; surÄṇÄm - of the demigods; Ä«Å›a - as controlling lords; vismayaḥ - false identification; mattaḥ - by Me; asatÄm - of the impure; mÄna - of the false prestige; bhaá¹…gaḥ - the eradication; praÅ›amÄya - for relieving them; upakalpate - is intended.
Since the demigods are endowed with the mode of goodness, the false pride of considering oneself the Lord should certainly not affect them. When I break the false prestige of those bereft of goodness, My purpose is to bring them relief.
The demigods are supposed to be sad-bhÄva-yukta, endowed with spiritual existence, since they are deputed servants of the Supreme Lord. In the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.24) it is stated:
brahmÄrpaṇaá¹ brahma havir
brahmÄgnau brahmaá¹‡Ä hutam
brahmaiva tena gantavyaá¹
brahma-karma-samÄdhinÄ
“That which is duly offered to the Lord becomes spiritualized.†The demigods engage in the devotional service of the Lord by managing various departments of cosmic administration. Therefore as demigods, or as servants of the Lord, their existence is pure (sad-bhÄva). When the demigods fail to live up to the high position given them by the Lord and deviate from proper behavior, they are not acting as demigods but rather as conditioned souls.
MÄna, or false prestige, is certainly an anxiety-ridden burden for the conditioned soul. A falsely proud person is not truly peaceful or satisfied, because his understanding of himself is false and inflated. When a servant of the Lord becomes asat, or irreligious, the Lord saves him from impiety by breaking the false prestige that has led him to be offensive or sinful. As stated by the Lord Himself, yasyÄham anugá¹›hṇÄmi hariá¹£ye tad-dhanaá¹ Å›anaiḥ: “I give My blessings to a person by taking away his so-called opulence.â€
Of course, the advanced stage of devotional service to the Lord, as described by RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ«, is yukta-vairÄgya, utilizing the opulence of this world to execute the Lord’s mission. Obviously the things of this world can be used wonderfully to spread the glories of God and to create a godly society, and a more advanced devotee will not be seduced by material paraphernalia but will dutifully and honestly engage it solely for the pleasure of the Lord. In this particular case, Lord Indra forgot that he was a humble servant of God, and Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore arranged to bring this bewildered demigod to his senses.
