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:,उस समय अत्यन्त दारुण संध्याकालका मुहूर्त उपस्थित था। भगवान् इन्द्रने परमात्मा श्रीविष्णुके वरदानका विचार करके सोचा--'यह भयंकर संध्या उपस्थित है, इस समय न रात है, न दिन है, अतः अभी इस वृत्रासुरका अवश्य वध कर देना चाहिये; क्योंकि यह मेरा सर्वस्व हर लेनेवाला शत्रु है। यदि इस महाबली, महाकाय और महान् असुर वृत्रको धोखा देकर मैं अभी नहीं मार डालता हूँ, तो मेरा भला न होगा'
sandhyeyaṁ vartate raudrā na rātridivasaṁ na ca | vṛtraś cāvaśyavadhyo 'yaṁ mama sarvaharo ripuḥ ||
Disse Śalya: “Chegou uma hora de crepúsculo feroz — não é noite nem é dia. E este Vṛtra deve, sem falta, ser morto agora, pois é meu inimigo, aquele que pretende tomar tudo o que é meu.”
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.