Never Fear Part II

This is part of my ongoing series on the Mahabharat, an epic poem of ancient India. For links to all previous Mahabharat posts go here. Or you can simply click on the Mahabharat page link above.


This is the second part of my Never Fear series. To read the first part go here.

We saw last week that Krishna taught the people never to worship from fear. In particular, he discouraged them from worshipping Lord Indra, whose wrath was well known when thwarted. Krishna encouraged the people to worship the Almighty instead by caring for the land around them, giving back to the land that gave them so much.

This is what happened next:


Above the land of Vraj, far away in the celestial realm, Lord Indra was lounging in his palace, surrounded by nymphs as they fed him grapes and nectar. His wife Indrani sat beside him and they shared a cup of sweet wine together. A messenger came to the door and bowed.

"My Lord, there is news from Vraj."

Indra waved his hand in a languid fashion. "Yes?"

The messenger bowed again. "The humans there have not performed this year's worship ceremony to you."

Indra lost his languid mood in a moment. He glared at his messenger. "What did you say?"

The messenger stumbled over his words. "They-they were going to but then they worshipped Govardhan instead." He bowed yet again.

"Insolent humans!" Indra threw his cup of wine across the room, startling his nymphs so that they jumped and fled. Indra didn't care. He stalked across the room to stand before the messenger. "They think they can get away with offering me nothing? They think I will not show my wrath?"

The messenger was bowed so low that his head was almost on the fine marble flooring of Indra's palace. "It was Krishna who persuaded them not to worship you, Lord."

Indra had already opened his mouth to snarl something but at this news he halted. He blinked. "Krishna?"

"Yes, Lord."

"Krishna?"

"Yes, Lord."

"Krishna?"

The messenger realised at this point that Indra wasn't talking to him. He shut his mouth.

Indra turned towards his queen. "Did you hear that?"

Indrani still sat upon their throne, her delicate form glittering in the golden light of their realm. She watched her husband with a grave expression. "I heard."

"But isn't Krishna the Almighty?" He sounded bewildered.

Indrani took a deep breath. "That's what Father Brahma told us."

"But why would Krishna tell the humans not to worship me? I am King of the celestial realm. Of course they should worship me."

She moved off the throne and towards him, gently putting her hand on his shoulder. "He must have a reason, my lord. Let us trust in him to know what is right."

"But I'm entitled to worship from the mortals!" Indra said. "I regulate the weather. I control the elements. Everything that they have they have because of me."

She looked down. "The powers you have were granted to you by the Almighty. You are his servant. I have mentioned before that-"

"Maybe Father Brahma was wrong," Indra interrupted. "Maybe Krishna isn't the Almighty. The Almighty wouldn't stop the humans from worshipping me."

"Father Brahma couldn't possibly be wrong," Indrani said. "Let us watch and see what Krishna is doing. He must be teaching the humans, showing them a path that will lead to a greater society."

Indra had a faraway expression on his face. "It must be another Krishna that Father Brahma mentioned. It can't be this one. This one is an insolent pup."

"My lord-"

He moved away. "I'll summon my men. I'll go to Vraj and show them what it means to ignore my power."

"But, lord-"

Indra was gone already, shouting for his servants. Indrani watched helplessly, knowing that he was walking into trouble. His arrogance was beyond all reason. She only hoped Krishna would have mercy on him.

Far below in Vraj, Krishna was sitting on the swing in his front porch, enjoying the breeze in the noon heat. Many people were resting in their houses after the excitement of the Govardhan worship they had completed earlier in the day.

As Krishna swung he noticed that the wind was starting to pick up. It was warm and strong and gaining in strength. His hair whipped around his face. He looked up and saw dark purple clouds beginning to gather in the sky that had just a few minutes before been clear and blue.

A woman coming out of her house just across the street spotted the clouds. She screamed.

The noise brought people out of their homes, including Krishna's parents. "What's the matter? What's the matter?"

She pointed. They all tilted their heads up and stared at the darkening sky.

The clouds were now so dense they blocked the sunlight. A gloom settled over the village. There was a crack of thunder, shaking the earth beneath their feet. Everyone jumped. Lightning spiralled down and hit a house which burst into flames. The family inside screamed and ran out.

Before any of the villagers could react to the disaster thunder rolled once more. And again. Lightning struck three more houses.

Then the rain broke.

But this was no ordinary rain. The water pounded down with such force that roofs caved in on first contact. The streets were flooded in seconds. The houses set on fire by the lightning turned to smoke and ruin.

The people scrambled, desperate to hide from the storm. They ran to Krishna.

"Look what you have done," an old man cried over the pour of torrential rain. "This is Indra's anger."

"We should never have listened to you!" a lady said.

"Calm down," Nanda said, "we will find somewhere safe."

"Where?" another man shouted as the people huddled together. "All Vraj will be swept away."

Krishna was still sitting on the swing, watching what happened around him. He looked up at the sky and smiled.

His own friend, Shyamsaka, swashed through the street and came to him. "How can you smile?" Shyamsaka cried. "Do something, Krishna, or we are all doomed."

"Yes!" The old man said. "Ask Indra for forgiveness."

Krishna stood.

The people watched, their hands to their mouths as they prayed he would ask for forgiveness. But he didn't. He did something else entirely.


One thing about this episode is that it delves into the aspect of Hindu philosophy which is that of the demigods and their role in the world. The demigods, in the Hindu scriptures, are personalities that represent the natural forces around us - the balance of nature. They in fact are highly elevated souls who through service to the Lord have gained powers. They are the forces that the Almighty has put in place to regulate nature and ensure the balance of life.

They are not meant to be tyrants. They are not meant to terrorise the people. They are not meant to expect worship.

They are not God. They only represent certain aspects of his power, which is why sometimes the Lord is referred to by the names of the demigods. But they are not God. They are his servants. Like a king has ministers he delegates work to, the Lord has demigods that he delegates the maintainance of the world to.

Knowing this, we are able to percieve and understand the many layers within this story. We see that conflict arose between Krishna and Indra because Indra's power went to his head. He allowed his ego to get in the way of his job. Indra forgot his true purpose.

We are all just like Indra. As humans we have great power within us. We have the potential to do wonderful things. But in the arrogance of our human capabilities, we bring pain to others instead of joy. We disrupt balance when we should protect it. Just as Indra saw the humans on earth as beneath him and there to bring him pleasure, we see other life-forms (as well as the earth and her resources) as below us, there to be exploited and dominated, because they do not have our intelligence or our strength.

And as a result the world is suffering.

God help us all.


To be continued...
Go here to read the next part of this series.
Go here to read the previous part of this series.