Why didn’t Indra become sober even after Govardhana lila?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
After this incident Indra became sober, really become good.
Actually the nature of the heavenly opulence is that it is so intoxicating that Indra keeps forgetting. So Indra is depicted in a particular way in the Bhagavatam. If you look at the Rig Veda, Indra is depicted as a very very great god.
And even that understanding of Indra’s greatness is there even in the Bhagavatam to some extent. When Arjuna is remembering what all Krishna did for me, he remembers that how in this very body I was able to go to the heavens and Mahata Sanartham, I got to sit on the same throne as Indra. Indra shared his throne with me.
Because Arjuna was Indra’s son. So he recognizes that Indra’s position is very venerable. So that understanding is there that Indra’s position is very great.
But the Bhagavatam has a particular purpose. The Bhagavatam’s purpose is to raise us from aparadharma to paradharma. Parikshit Maharaj, the student of Bhagavatam, is already very religious and virtuous.
But now he has to become completely spiritual, totally devoted. So time and time again, the Bhagavatam contrasts aparadharma. Aparadharma means dharma artha kama moksha.
That you do religious activities, by that you become materially powerful, you get material enjoyment. And the supreme success of this idea of dharma is Indra. Indra is said to have done 100 yajnas, by which he becomes the post of Indra.
So, what the Bhagavatam demonstrates is that the one who is the supreme success in the trajectory or in the path of aparadharma, of material religiosity, that person is used by the Bhagavatam to demonstrate the inadequacy of aparadharma. So in that sense, Indra time and time again commits mistakes, but Indra’s mistakes are not like our mistakes. Indra is also a great devotee.
And his mistakes are a part of the Lord’s plan to teach us some things. So it’s like, suppose, somebody jumps from a 100 story building. They jump, as they jump, you know, they’ll not count out their bones also.
They’ll die. Terrible death. But suppose there is some movie star, who, a movie is being shot and he jumps from a 100 story building.
There is a safety net below. It’s a stunt that will be shot and that will be depicted and watched by thousands or millions of people all over the world. So, the act of jumping is the same.
But who is doing it and in what context, that makes it very different. For an ordinary person it’s just another suicide incident. For a superstar, it’s a stunt that is admired by everyone.
So similarly, when Indra, if we become defiant, if we become arrogant, we’ll just be crushed by him. That’s just a part of our own false ego, which will be crushed. But Indra does like this.
It is Krishna who intervenes and corrects him personally. And Indra’s actions get recorded in the Bhagavatam for people to read and understand. So in that sense, Indra is not, sometimes we may treat Indra like a cartoon character.
The kind of mistakes he keeps committing. But it’s not like that. He is a part of Krishna’s plan or he gets deluded as a part of Krishna’s plan to demonstrate the inadequacy of aparadharma and the supremacy of paradharma.
Thank you. Thank you.