Srimad Bhagavatam — Shashtha Skandha, Shloka 11
Viśvarūpa’s Death, Vṛtrāsura’s Manifestation, and the Devas’ Surrender to Nārāyaṇa
हतपुत्रस्ततस्त्वष्टा जुहावेन्द्राय शत्रवे । इन्द्रशत्रो विवर्धस्व मा चिरं जहि विद्विषम् ॥ ११ ॥
hata-putras tatas tvaṣṭā juhāvendrāya śatrave indra-śatro vivardhasva mā ciraṁ jahi vidviṣam
Sau khi Viśvarūpa bị giết, cha ông là Tvaṣṭā cử hành nghi lễ tế tự để diệt Indra. Ông dâng lễ vật vào lửa và nói: “Hỡi kẻ thù của Indra, hãy lớn mạnh; đừng chậm trễ mà hãy giết kẻ thù của ngươi.”
There was some defect in Tvaṣṭā’s chanting of the mantra because he chanted it long instead of short, and therefore the meaning changed. Tvaṣṭā intended to chant the word indra-śatro, meaning, “O enemy of Indra.” In this mantra, the word indra is in the possessive case ( ṣaṣṭhī ), and the word indra-śatro is called a tat-puruṣa compound ( tatpuruṣa-samāsa ). Unfortunately, instead of chanting the mantra short, Tvaṣṭā chanted it long, and its meaning changed from “the enemy of Indra” to “Indra, who is an enemy.” Consequently instead of an enemy of Indra’s, there emerged the body of Vṛtrāsura, of whom Indra was the enemy.
FAQs
This verse states that Tvaṣṭā, grieving his slain son, performed a sacrifice and invoked “Indraśatru” to grow strong and quickly kill Indra—setting the stage for Vṛtrāsura’s appearance.
Because Indra was responsible for the death of Tvaṣṭā’s son, Tvaṣṭā acted from sorrow and anger and thus undertook a sacrificial rite to generate an adversary powerful enough to destroy Indra.
It warns that grief-driven anger can lead to destructive intentions and karmic entanglement; spiritual discernment and devotion are meant to restrain vengeance and redirect suffering toward higher purpose.