Question: How to reconcile the following apparent contradiction?
On the one hand:
SB 3.3.5 – “Just to please His dear wife, the Lord brought back the pärijäta tree from heaven, just as an ordinary husband would do. But Indra, the king of heaven, induced by his wives (henpecked as he was), ran after the Lord with full force to fight Him.”
SB 10.59.38-39 – “The Lord then went to the abode of Indra, the demigods’ king, and gave mother Aditi her earrings; there Indra and his wife worshiped Kåñëa and His beloved consort Satyabhämä. Then, at Satyabhämä’s behest the Lord uprooted the heavenly pärijäta tree and put it on the back of Garuòa. After defeating Indra and all the other demigods, Kåñëa brought the pärijäta to His capital.”
In seeming contradiction:
SB 10.50.54 – “Lord Indra brought Çré Kåñëa the Sudharmä assembly hall, standing within which a mortal man is not subject to the laws of mortality. Indra also gave the pärijäta tree.”
Answer by Romapada Swami:
JG’s commentary to SB 10.50.54 — “Indra brought the pärijäta tree, or rather gave it up when Kåñëa took it. Or, previous to that pastime, Kåñëa arranged for a variety of pärijätas as described in verse 51, different from that stolen from Svarga. These were brought by Indra. The Sudharmä hall however was only one. Indra did not willingly send it. The word hareù indicates the Kåñëa took it by force.”
Çrédhara Svämé: “Indra brought the pärijäta tree, or rather gave it up when Kåñëa took it. Or after it was established by Indra, the Lord himself forcibly brought it again. Hari-vaàça mentions this three times showing the difference in strength between Indra and Kåñëa. Or the issue is resolved by saying that the Lord performed different pastimes in different kalpas.”
VCT’s commentary: “Kåñëa also placed a pärijäta tree in His Dvärakä residence. Here the past tense is used because it occurred prior to the conversation between Çukadeva Gosvämé and Parékñit Mahäräja, even though it happened sometime after the city’s construction.”
