Shloka 46
Vṛtra’s Cosmic Threat, Viṣṇu’s Upāya, and the Conditional Vulnerability
Udyoga-parva 10
प्रतिच्छन्नो 5वसच्चाप्सु चेष्टमान इवोरग: । ततः प्रणष्टे देवेन्द्रे ब्रह्महत्याभयार्दिते
praticchanno ’vasac cāpsu ceṣṭamāna ivoragaḥ | tataḥ praṇaṣṭe devendre brahmahatyābhayārdit(e) ||
Śalya said: “Concealed, he stayed within the waters, moving like a serpent beneath the surface. Then, when Indra, the lord of the gods, vanished—tormented by the fear of the sin of brahma-hatyā (the killing of a brāhmaṇa)—the world seemed to fall into ruin: trees were uprooted, forests withered, the sources of rivers were disrupted, and the waters of lakes dried up.”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores that grave adharma (here, brahma-hatyā) brings fear, concealment, and destabilization; when the rightful upholder of order (Indra) is shaken or absent, the natural and social world reflects that disorder.
Śalya describes someone hiding in water like a serpent; then he narrates that Indra, afflicted by fear of brahma-hatyā, becomes invisible/vanishes, and as a result the earth appears devastated—forests dry, trees are ruined, river-sources break, and lakes dry up.