Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.25.17
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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sat - bhāva
—
with the mode of goodness
sat (goodness, being) + bhāva (state, mood). The demigods' constitutional position is sattva-yukta. Kṛṣṇa names what Indra should be — diagnosis by contrast. The Gauḍīya reading: even devatās fall when sattva slips into rajas-tinged self-worship.
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vismayaḥ
—
false identification
From vi + √smṛ — disturbed memory; false self-recognition. The verse's clinical name for īśa-māna: a memory-failure about one's own constitutional position. Bhakti is, in part, the recovery of accurate self-memory.
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māna - bhaṅgaḥ
—
the breaking of false prestige
māna (pride, prestige) + bhaṅga (breaking). The technical name for the surgery Kṛṣṇa is about to perform. In Gauḍīya literature, māna-bhaṅga also names the dramatic moments when the gopīs' pride is broken — the same verb, different rasa.
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praśamāya
—
for relieving them
Dative of praśama — pacification, relief. Kṛṣṇa explicitly states the purpose of breaking pride: not punishment but praśama — the cooling of an inflamed soul. Every Bhāgavata punishment is a benediction.
The demigods are supposed to be sad-bhāva-yukta, endowed with spiritual existence, since they are deputed servants of the Supreme Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā (4.24) it is stated: brahmārpaṇaṁ brahma havir brahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam brahmaiva tena gantavyaṁ brahma-karma-samādhinā “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-bhāva ). 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. Māna, 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, yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ : “I give My blessings to a person by taking away his so-called opulence.” Of course, the advanced stage of devotional service to the Lord, as described by Rūpa Gosvāmī, is yukta-vairāgya, 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.
Out of spite I will not completely crush this weak INdra, but I will correct this fault which has arisen in my devotee. With this intention he speaks this verse.
I will break the pride of those who do evil actions out of pride to create auspiciousness. The devatās, in sattva, should not have great pride in thinking they are lords. Or, because (hi) pride in thinking themselves the lord is not suitable, since they are endowed with respect for me, I will create auspiciousness for them. Breaking their pride I will create auspiciousness-- since they have sentiments for me even though they are intoxicated with pride. No one else can do this. It can be accomplished by a manifestation of my powers.
- Which pride-breaks in my history did I misread as punishment that were actually relief?
- Where would I welcome the next one if I trusted it as relief?
The demigods are sattva-yukta — they should not have caught this disease. When sattva develops the pimple of īśa-māna, Kṛṣṇa lances it not to harm the demigod but to restore the original goodness. The lifting of the hill is, for Indra, a surgery he asked for by getting sick.
Earlier in Canto 10, Brahmā stole the calves and boys to test Kṛṣṇa's identity. Kṛṣṇa replied not by anger but by becoming all the boys and calves Himself for a year; Brahmā, on returning, surrendered in prayer.
Indra's case is the same medicine in a different dose: the demigod's pride is broken precisely so the demigod's sattva can recover. Gauḍīyas read both chapters as Kṛṣṇa's pedagogy for upper-region pride.
My note
Source: vedabase.io