The battle of Indra, the King of heaven, with Vṛtrāsura
Vṛtrāsura, bleeding profusely, his two arms cut off at their roots, looked very
beautiful, like a flying mountain whose wings have been cut to pieces by Indra.
Indra praises Vṛtrāsura for his great devotion to Lord Vāsudeva.
This chapter describes how Indra, the King of heaven, killed Vṛtrāsura despite great reluctance. Desiring to give up his body, Vṛtrāsura considered death in the battle preferable to victory. Although Vṛtrāsura repeatedly encouraged Indra to kill him with the thunderbolt, King Indra was morose at having to kill such a great devotee and was hesitant to throw it. Thus Indra and Vṛtrāsura not only fought, but also engaged in philosophical discourses. Vṛtrāsura, disappointed that King Indra was reluctant despite his encouragement, took the initiative very forcefully by throwing his trident at Indra. Vṛtrāsura was not at all interested in victory; he was interested in being killed so that he could immediately return home, back to Godhead. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9), tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti: after giving up his body, a devotee immediately returns to Lord Kṛṣṇa and never returns to accept another body. This was Vṛtrāsura’s interest. (SB/6/12)
SUMMARY – Vṛtrāsura was a great devotee of Lord Viṣṇu. He reminded Indra of his heinous activity of killing Viśvarūpa due to enviousness. He also spoke to Indra about how the Supreme Lord favors his devotee by not awarding him the opulence but the bhakti or devotional service. After speaking this, Vṛtrāsura attacked Indra with his trident, but Indra broke it into pieces using his thunderbolt and cut off Vṛtrāsura’s arm. This did not stop Vṛtrāsura. He re-attacked Indra with his iron mace, making the thunderbolt fall from his hand. This ashamed Indra, who did not pick up the weapon from the ground, but Vṛtrāsura encouraged him to pick it up and fight. Vṛtrāsura and Indra not only fought but also engaged in philosophical discussion during their fight. Both of them were great fighters and equally powerful. Indra picked up his weapon and fought with Vṛtrāsura with all his power. This time he severed his other arm. Vṛtrāsura then grew in size and swallowed Indra with Airāvata. Indra was being protected by Nārāyaṇa – kavacha and did not die in his belly. He pierced his abdomen and emerged out. He then severed the head of Vṛtrāsura from the body with his thunderbolt. It took one complete year for Indra to cut the head of Vṛtrāsura. After his death, Vṛtrāsura achieved liberation. He returned to the spiritual sky to become the associate of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa.
Indra said: O Vṛtrāsura, I see by your discrimination and endurance in devotional service, despite your dangerous position, that you are a perfect devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul and friend of everyone. What a great wonder it is that although you are a demon, you have adopted the mentality of a devotee and have fixed your mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, who is always situated in pure goodness.
TEXT 6 – Having dropped the thunderbolt from his hand in the presence of his enemy, Indra was practically defeated and was very much ashamed. He dared not pick up his weapon again. Vṛtrāsura, however, encouraged him, saying, “Take up your thunderbolt and kill your enemy. This is not the time to lament your fate.”
TEXT 7 – Vṛtrāsura continued: O Indra, no one is guaranteed of being always victorious but the original enjoyer, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavān. He is the cause of creation, maintenance and annihilation, and He knows everything. Being dependent and being obliged to accept material bodies, belligerent subordinates are sometimes victorious and sometimes defeated.
Vṛtrāsura encouraged Indra, saying, “Don’t be morose because of my victory. There is no need to stop fighting. Instead, you should go on with your duty. When Kṛṣṇa desires, you will certainly be victorious.” This verse is very instructive for sincere workers in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We should not be jubilant in victory or morose in defeat. We should make a sincere effort to implement the will of Kṛṣṇa, or Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and we should not be concerned with victory and defeat. Our only duty is to work sincerely, so that our activities may be recognized by Kṛṣṇa.
Victory is always with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As for the subordinate living entities, they fight under the arrangement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Victory or defeat is not actually theirs; it is an arrangement by the Lord through the agency of material nature. Pride in victory, or moroseness in defeat, is useless. One should fully depend on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is responsible for the victory and defeat of all living entities. The Lord advises, niyataṁ kuru karma tvaṁ karma jyāyo hy akarmaṇaḥ: “Perform your prescribed duty, for action is better than inaction.” The living entity is ordered to act according to his position. Victory or defeat depends on the Supreme Lord. Karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana: “You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of actions.” One must act sincerely, according to his position. Victory or defeat depends on the Lord.
TEXT 8 – All living beings in all the planets of this universe, including the presiding deities of all the planets, are fully under the control of the Lord. They work like birds caught in a net, who cannot move independently.
The difference between the suras and the asuras is that the suras know that nothing can happen without the desire of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas the asuras cannot understand the supreme will of the Lord. In this fight, Vṛtrāsura is actually the sura, whereas Indra is the asura. No one can act independently; rather, everyone acts under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore victory and defeat come according to the results of one’s karma, and the judgment is given by the Supreme Lord (karmaṇā-daiva-netreṇa). Since we act under the control of the Supreme according to our karma, no one is independent, from Brahmā down to the insignificant ant. Whether we are defeated or victorious, the Supreme Lord is always victorious because everyone acts under His directions.
TEXT 9 – Our sensory prowess, mental power, bodily strength, living force, immortality and mortality are all subject to the superintendence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Not knowing this, foolish people think the dull material body to be the cause of their activities.
TEXT 10 – O King Indra, as a wooden doll that looks like a woman or as an animal made of grass and leaves cannot move or dance independently, but depends fully on the person who handles it, all of us dance according to the desire of the supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead. No one is independent.
TEXT 12 – A foolish, senseless person cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although always dependent, he falsely thinks himself the Supreme. If one thinks, “According to one’s previous fruitive actions, one’s material body is created by the father and mother, and the same body is annihilated by another agent, as another animal is devoured by a tiger,” this is not proper understanding. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself creates and devours the living beings through other living beings.
According to the conclusion of the philosophy known as karma-mīmāṁsā, one’s karma, or previous fruitive activity, is the cause of everything, and therefore there is no need to work. Those who arrive at this conclusion are foolish. When a father creates a child, he does not do so independently; he is induced to do so by the Supreme Lord. As the Lord Himself says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: “I am in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.” Unless one receives dictation from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who sits within everyone’s heart, one cannot be induced to create anything. Therefore the father and mother are not the creators of the living entity. According to the living entity’s karma, fruitive activities, he is put into the semen of the father, who injects the living entity into the womb of the mother. Then according to the body of the mother and father (yathā-yoni yathā-bījam), the living entity accepts a body and takes birth to suffer or enjoy. Therefore the Supreme Lord is the original cause of one’s birth. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the cause of one’s being killed. No one is independent; everyone is dependent. The true conclusion is that the only independent person is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TEXT 13 – Just as a person not inclined to die must nonetheless give up his longevity, opulence, fame and everything else at the time of death, so, at the appointed time of victory, one can gain all these when the Supreme Lord awards them by His mercy.
TEXT 14 – Since everything is dependent on the supreme will of the Personality of Godhead, one should be equipoised in fame and defamation, victory and defeat, life and death. In their effects, represented as happiness and distress, one should maintain oneself in equilibrium, without anxiety.
TEXT 16 – O my enemy, just look at me. I have already been defeated, for my weapon and arm have been cut to pieces. You have already overwhelmed me, but nonetheless, with a desire to kill you, I am trying my best to fight. I am not at all morose, even under such adverse conditions. Therefore you should give up your moroseness and continue fighting.
Vṛtrāsura was so great and powerful that in effect he was acting as the spiritual master of Indra. Although Vṛtrāsura was on the verge of defeat, he was not at all affected. He knew that he was going to be defeated by Indra, and he voluntarily accepted that, but since he was supposed to be Indra’s enemy, he tried his best to kill Indra. Thus he performed his duty. One should perform his duty under all circumstances, even though one may know what the result will be.
TEXT 17 – O my enemy, consider this battle a gambling match in which our lives are the stakes, the arrows are the dice, and the animals acting as carriers are the game board. No one can understand who will be defeated and who will be victorious. It all depends on providence.
TEXT 18 – Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Hearing the straightforward, instructive words of Vṛtrāsura, King Indra praised him and again took the thunderbolt in his hand. Without bewilderment or duplicity, he then smiled and spoke to Vṛtrāsura as follows.
King Indra, the greatest of the demigods, was astonished to hear the instructions of Vṛtrāsura, who was supposed to be a demon. He was struck with wonder that a demon could speak so intelligently. Then he remembered great devotees like Prahlāda Mahārāja and Bali Mahārāja, who had been born in the families of demons, and thus he came to his senses. Even so-called demons sometimes have exalted devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore Indra smiled reassuringly at Vṛtrāsura.
TEXT 19-21 – Indra said: O great demon, I see by your discrimination and endurance in devotional service, despite your dangerous position, that you are a perfect devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul and friend of everyone. You have surmounted the illusory energy of Lord Viṣṇu, and because of this liberation, you have given up the demoniac mentality and have attained the position of an exalted devotee. O Vṛtrāsura, demons are generally conducted by the mode of passion. Therefore, what a great wonder it is that although you are a demon, you have adopted the mentality of a devotee and have fixed your mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, who is always situated in pure goodness.
King Indra wondered how Vṛtrāsura could have been elevated to the position of an exalted devotee. As for Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was initiated by Nārada Muni, and therefore it was possible for him to become a great devotee, although he was born in a family of demons. For Vṛtrāsura, however, Indra could not detect such causes. Therefore he was struck with wonder that Vṛtrāsura was such an exalted devotee that he could fix his mind without deviation upon the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva.
As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (6.22): “Established in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of the greatest difficulty.” An unalloyed devotee is never disturbed by any kind of trying circumstance. Indra was surprised to see that Vṛtrāsura, undisturbed, was fixed in devotional service to the Lord, for such a mentality is impossible for a demon. However, by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, anyone can become an exalted devotee (striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās te ’pi yānti parāṁ gatim). An unalloyed devotee is sure to return home, back to Godhead.
The Devotional Prayers of Vṛtrāsura
The Seventeenth Chapter of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam describes Citraketu’s receiving the body of an asura, or demon, because of joking with Lord Śiva and Pārvatī. Having been cursed by Goddess Pārvatī, Citraketu became Vṛtrāsura, manifesting from the yajña performed by sage Tvaṣṭā. Tvaṣṭā had a son named Viśvarūpa who was killed by Indra while he was functioning as Indra’s priest. To take revenge, Tvastha performed a yajña to create a being who would kill Indra. Vṛtrāsura was born from the sacrificial fire, as a result. However, the priests made a mistake in chanting the mantra, and thus Vṛtrāsura was to be killed by Indra.
Vṛtrāsura was ordered to go and kill Indra. He went with a host, and there was fierce battle between the asuras, headed by Vṛtrāsura and the devas, headed by Indra. Vṛtrāsura fought so hard that Indra’s life was in danger. Śrī Viṣṇu advised him to make a thunderbolt from the bones of sage Dadhīci.
Indra begged Dadhīci to give up his life to save his own life, and Dadhīci happily left his body by sitting in samādhi. Indra used his bones to fashion a thunderbolt, which he used to cut off both of Vṛtrāsura’s arms. Although he was on the battlefield facing his enemy, Vṛtrāsura turned inwards and prayed to Bhagavān. In fact, he was eager to die, for then he would attain the feet of Bhagavān. Just before dying, he recited beautiful prayers to Śrī Saṅkarṣaṇa which reveal his pure heart and describe pure devotion.
ahaṁ hare tavapādaika-mūla-
dāsānudāsobhavitāsmibhūyaḥ
manaḥsmaretāsu-pater guṇāṁste
gṛṇītavāk karma karotukāyaḥ
“O Śrī Hari, please be gracious on me so that in my next life again, I get the opportunity to serve the servants who take exclusive shelter of your lotus feet. O Master of my life, may my mind always remember Your auspicious qualities, my words always recite them and my body always engage in your service.” (SB 6.11.24)
nanāka-pṛṣṭhaṁna ca pārameṣṭhyaṁ
nasārva-bhaumaṁnarasādhipatyam
na yoga-siddhīrapunar-bhavaṁvā
samañjasatvāvirahayyakāṅkṣe
“O Ocean of all good fortune, without Your service I do not desire residence in heaven or in Satyaloka, nor the kingdom of the whole earth, sovereignty over the lower planets, or the various yogic perfections. I do not want even liberation.” (SB 6.11.25)
ajāta-pakṣāivamātaraṁkhagāḥ
stanyaṁyathāvatsatarāḥkṣudh-ārtāḥ
priyaṁpriyevavyuṣitaṁviṣaṇṇā
mano ‘ravindākṣadidṛkṣatetvām
“Just as baby birds who cannot yet fly eagerly wait for their mother to bring them food, as hungry calves anxiously hanker for the milk from the udder of their mother, and as a beloved wife earnestly waits for the return of her husband who has gone to a foreign land, O lotus-eyed Bhagavān, my mind intensely desires to see You.” (SB 6.11.26)
mamottamaśloka-janeṣusakhyaṁ
saṁsāra-cakrebhramataḥsva-karmabhiḥ
tvan-māyayātmātmaja-dāra-geheṣv
āsakta-cittasyananāthabhūyāt
“O Bhagavān, I do not desire liberation and I do not mind if I have to take many births as an outcome of my karma, but I pray that in whichever species of life I am born, may I have friendship with Your devotees. O Master, let me not have any relation with people under the influence of Your māyā who are attached to their bodies, children, spouses and homes.” (SB 6.11.27)
Before reciting these prayers, Vṛtrāsura had asked Indra to kill him with his thunderbolt. He had also told Indra that Bhagavān gives opulence to those whom he does not want to truly bless. Since Viṣṇu had guided Indra to preserve his opulence by making a thunderbolt weapon, Vṛtrāsura indirectly indicated that Indra does not have the true blessings of Bhagavān Viṣṇu.
Unconcerned with death, ignoring Indra’s thunderbolt, Vṛtrāsura began praying to Bhagavān to give him association of His devotees – a benediction he considered to be the Bhagavān’s true grace. He did not desire anything material, not even Lord Brahmā’s supreme post, indeed not even freedom from the cycle of birth and death if that would not give him the opportunity to Bhagavān and His devotees. Feeling intense separation from Bhagavān, nothing else but service to Him could satisfy his heart.
Three Metaphors for the Mood of Devotion
In the third verse, Vṛtrāsura expresses these feelings of separation, using three metaphors. The first is that of newborn baby birds who are not yet able to fly and are completely dependent on their mother for protection and food. When the mother bird goes away in search of food, they sit in the nest eagerly awaiting her return. If even the leaves of their tree rustle in the breeze, they think their mother has returned and start chirping and open their little beaks. However, Vṛtrāsura was not happy with this example, because the baby birds really only wait for the food and not for their mother. Once the mother gives them food, they sit quietly and don’t care much about their mother anymore.
He therefore uses a second metaphor that describes a calf tied by a rope while his mother has gone out to the field for grazing. The calf very anxiously waits for the mother’s arrival. When the mother cows return from pasture, the calf is untied and immediately runs to his mother with raised tail. But again, the calf’s hankering is not exactly for his mother, it is mainly for her udder. Once it has drunk the milk, the calf’s eager longing for his mother disappears.
In his third metaphor, he describes a beloved wife burning in the heat of separation from her husband. She hankers to see her husband and make every effort to please him. This metaphor satisfied Vṛtrāsura and accurately expressed his mood of devotion in which he prayed to Bhagavān.
The Humility of a Vaiṣṇava
Devotion naturally manifests humility. Thus, Vṛtrāsura considers himself utterly unqualified to have the direct association of Bhagavān. Therefore in the last verse, he prays only for the association Bhagavān’s devotees in every birth. In humility, he accepts the view that he may not even be qualified to be born as a human being! As Vṛtrāsura, he has experienced the pain of associating with non-devotees, so he concludes by begging that even if he is not blessed with the association of devotees, he may be spared the company of materialistic people.
These prayers are a very important part of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam because they depict the mind of a pure devotee. They have been put in the center of Bhāgavatam, the Sixth Canto. Their importance is understood from the fact that the killing of Vṛtrāsura has been mentioned in other Puranas as one of the distinct features identifying Srimad Bhagavatam: “The Bhagavatam is known as the book that contains 18.000 verses divided into twelve Cantos, contains the instructions of brahma-vidyā taught by sage Dadhīci, describes the killing of Vṛtrāsura, and begins with Gayatri-mantra.” (Bhāvārtha-dīpikā 1.1.1)
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