Shloka 47
इन्द्रस्य दुःखप्राप्तिः—त्रिशिरोवधः, वृत्रोत्पत्तिः, जृम्भिकाजननम्
Indra’s Distress: Slaying of Triśiras, Birth of Vṛtra, and the Origin of Yawning
सच पश्यतु देवेन्द्रो दुरात्मा पापचेतन: । उपस्पृश्य ततः क्रुद्धस्तपस्वी सुमहायशा:
sa ca paśyatu devendro durātmā pāpacetanaḥ | upaspṛśya tataḥ kruddhas tapasvī sumahāyaśāḥ ||
“¡Que incluso Indra, señor de los dioses—de alma perversa y mente pecaminosa—contemple mi gran poder ascético!” Dicho esto, el gran asceta Tvaṣṭṛ, de inmensa fama y encendido en ira, realizó el ācamana (la libación ritual de agua) y vertió ofrendas en el fuego. De aquel rito hizo surgir al terrible Vṛtrāsura y le dijo: “¡Oh matador de Indra, por la fuerza de mis austeridades, crece y fortalécete!”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how immense spiritual or ritual power (tapas and yajña) is ethically ambivalent: when driven by anger and vindictiveness, it can be turned toward destructive ends, challenging even divine authority. It implicitly warns that inner intention (cetanā) shapes the moral weight and consequences of powerful actions.
Tvaṣṭṛ, angered, declares that Indra will witness his ascetic might. He performs purification (ācamana), offers oblations into the fire, and produces the terrifying Vṛtrāsura, commanding him—addressed as ‘Indraśatru’—to grow strong through the force of Tvaṣṭṛ’s austerities.