Shloka 35
Vṛtrāsura Instructs Indra on Providence and Devotion; The Slaying of Vṛtrāsura
वृत्रस्य देहान्निष्क्रान्तमात्मज्योतिररिन्दम । पश्यतां सर्वदेवानामलोकं समपद्यत ॥ ३५ ॥
vṛtrasya dehān niṣkrāntam ātma-jyotir arindama paśyatāṁ sarva-devānām alokaṁ samapadyata
ਹੇ ਰਾਜਨ! ਫਿਰ ਵ੍ਰਿਤਰਸੁਰ ਦੇ ਸਰੀਰ ਵਿੱਚੋਂ ਆਤਮ-ਜੋਤੀ ਨਿਕਲੀ ਅਤੇ ਸਾਰੇ ਦੇਵਤਿਆਂ ਦੇ ਦੇਖਦਿਆਂ ਹੀ ਉਹ ਭਗਵਾਨ ਸੰਕਰਸ਼ਨ ਦੇ ਦਿਵਯ ਲੋਕ ਵਿੱਚ ਪ੍ਰਵੇਸ਼ ਕਰ ਗਈ।
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains that Indra, not Vṛtrāsura, was actually killed. He says that when Vṛtrāsura swallowed King Indra and his carrier, the elephant, he thought, “Now I have killed Indra, and therefore there is no more need of fighting. Now let me return home, back to Godhead.” Thus he stopped all his bodily activities and became situated in trance. Taking advantage of the silence of Vṛtrāsura’s body, Indra pierced the demon’s abdomen, and because of Vṛtrāsura’s trance, Indra was able to come out. Now, Vṛtrāsura was in yoga-samadhi, and therefore although King Indra wanted to cut his throat, the demon’s neck was so stiff that Indra’s thunderbolt took 360 days to cut it to pieces. Actually it was the body left by Vṛtrāsura that was cut to pieces by Indra; Vṛtrāsura himself was not killed. In his original consciousness, Vṛtrāsura returned home, back to Godhead, to become an associate of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa. Here the word alokam means the transcendental world, Vaikuṇṭhaloka, where Saṅkarṣaṇa eternally resides.
FAQs
This verse states that Vṛtrāsura’s self-effulgent soul left his body before the eyes of the demigods and attained the transcendental realm, indicating his exalted spiritual destination.
In the narrative of Canto 6, Vṛtrāsura is portrayed as a great devotee with intense God-centered consciousness; this verse highlights the result—his soul attains the realm beyond the material world.
It teaches that inner spiritual consciousness—devotion and remembrance of the Supreme—determines one’s destination, not merely external labels like friend or enemy in worldly conflict.