Shloka 24
इन्द्रस्य दुःखप्राप्तिः—त्रिशिरोवधः, वृत्रोत्पत्तिः, जृम्भिकाजननम्
Indra’s Distress: Slaying of Triśiras, Birth of Vṛtra, and the Origin of Yawning
स पपात हतस्तेन वज्नेण दृढ्माहत:ः । पर्वतस्येव शिखर प्रणुन्नं मेदिनीतले,शास्त्रयुक्त बुद्धिसे त्रिशिराके वधका दृढ़ निश्चय करके क्रोधमें भरे हुए इन्द्रने अग्निके समान तेजस्वी, घोर एवं भयंकर वज्रको त्रेशिराकी ओर चला दिया। उस वज्रकी गहरी चोट खाकर त्रिशिरा मरकर पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़े, मानो वज्जके आघातसे टूटा हुआ पर्वतका शिखर भूतलपर पड़ा हो
sa papāta hatas tena vajreṇa dṛḍham āhataḥ | parvatasyeva śikharaṃ praṇunnaṃ medinītale ||
Struck down by that thunderbolt and grievously wounded, he fell dead upon the earth—like a mountain peak shattered by a lightning-like blow and hurled down onto the ground. The episode underscores how overwhelming force, when driven by wrath and firm resolve, can annihilate even the mighty, turning power into a morally charged instrument of retribution.
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the destructive certainty of a divinely empowered weapon and, ethically, the peril of wrath-backed resolve: when power is unleashed with uncompromising intent, even the strongest can be reduced to ruin, like a mountain peak brought down.
A powerful figure is struck by a thunderbolt (vajra) and collapses dead onto the earth; the fall is compared to a mountain summit shattered and cast down—an image used to convey the magnitude and finality of the blow.