TEXT 5
antardhano nabhasvatyam
havirdhanam avindata
ya indram asva-hartaram
vidvan api na jaghnivan
SYNONYMS
antardhanahthe king of the name Antardhana; nabhasvatyamunto his wife Nabhasvati; havirdhanamof the name Havirdhana; avindataobtained; yahwho; indramKing Indra; asva-hartaramwho was stealing the horse of his father; vidvan apialthough he knew it; na jaghnivandid not kill.
TRANSLATION
Maharaja Antardhana had another wife, named Nabhasvati, and by her he was happy to beget another son, named Havirdhana. Since Maharaja Antardhana was very liberal, he did not kill Indra while the demigod was stealing his fathers horse at the sacrifice.
PURPORT
It is understood from various scriptures and puranas that the King of heaven, Indra, was very expert in stealing and kidnapping. He could steal anything without being visible to the proprietor, and he could kidnap anyones wife without being detected. Once he raped the wife of Gautama Muni by using his disappearing art, and similarly by becoming invisible he stole the horse of Maharaja Prthu. Although in human society such activities are considered abominable, the demigod Indra was not considered to be degraded by them. Although Antardhana could understand that King Indra was stealing the horse from his father, he did not kill Indra, for he knew that if one who is very powerful sometimes commits an abominable act, it should be disregarded. In Bhagavad-gita (9.30) it is clearly stated:
api cet su-duracaro
bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah
samyag vyavasito hi sah
Thus the Lord says that even if a devotee commits an abominable act, he should be considered a sadhu, or a pious man, because of his unflinching devotion to the Lord. The devotees of the Lord never willingly commit any sinful act, but sometimes they commit something abominable due to their previous habits. Such acts should not be taken very seriously, however, because the devotees of the Lord are very powerful, whether they are on the heavenly planets or on this planet. If by chance they commit something abominable, it should not be taken into account, but should be overlooked.

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