Shloka 35
Vṛtra’s Cosmic Threat, Viṣṇu’s Upāya, and the Conditional Vulnerability
Udyoga-parva 10
संध्येयं वर्तते रौद्रा न रात्रिदिवसं न च । वृत्रश्चावश्यवध्यो5यं मम सर्वहरो रिपु:
sandhyeyaṁ vartate raudrā na rātridivasaṁ na ca | vṛtraś cāvaśyavadhyo 'yaṁ mama sarvaharo ripuḥ ||
Śalya said: “A fierce twilight hour has arrived—neither properly night nor day. And this Vṛtra must certainly be slain now, for he is my enemy who would seize away all that is mine.”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how moral reasoning in epic narrative can hinge on liminal conditions (sandhyā—neither day nor night). It shows the tension between dharma as rule-bound conduct and dharma as situational judgment, where an enemy framed as ‘all-destroying’ is used to justify decisive action at an exceptional time.
Śalya recounts the moment of a dreadful twilight when Vṛtra is considered vulnerable because the time is neither day nor night. The speaker presents the logic that this is the opportune moment to kill Vṛtra, described as a foe who would take everything away.