Verse 1.2.14

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.2.14:

अस्य न स्वर्ग-राज्यस्य वृत्तं वेत्सि त्वम् एव किम् ।
कति वारान् इतो दैत्य-भीत्यास्माभिर् न निर्गतम् ॥ १४ ॥

asya na svarga-rājyasya vṛttaṃ vetsi tvam eva kim |
kati vārān ito daitya-bhītyāsmābhir na nirgatam || 14 ||

Do you not know the elaborate history of Svargaloka, the celestial plane? Haven’t we the demigods, out of fear of the demons, abandoned this heavenly abode many times and fled away?

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

“If I assert this is either overblown praise or derision, then what is the actual truth? Do you not know the historical account of svargaloka? It insinuates that you know everything. How many times did the demons remove us from this svargaloka? I, myself, have fled away from here many times, hiding in the guise of an ascetic mendicant, residing in martyaloka, the world of mortals.”

By these words, Indra refutes the superiority of svargaloka, the celestial plane, over martyaloka, the mortal plane. The reason being that in svarga there is repeated disturbance by the demons. Therefore, the supremacy of the residents of the celestial planets in their enjoyment of freedom from limitations is not true.