SB 6.12.35

SB 6.12.35

Devanagari

वृत्रस्य देहान्निष्क्रान्तमात्मज्योतिररिन्दम । पश्यतां सर्वदेवानामलोकं समपद्यत ॥ ३५ ॥

Verse text

vṛtrasya dehān niṣkrāntam ātma-jyotir arindama paśyatāṁ sarva-devānām alokaṁ samapadyata

Synonyms

vṛtrasya of Vṛtrāsura ; dehāt from the body ; niṣkrāntam coming out ; ātma jyotiḥ — the spirit soul, which was as brilliant as the effulgence of Brahman ; arim dama — O King Parīkṣit, subduer of enemies ; paśyatām were watching ; sarva devānām — while all the demigods ; alokam the supreme abode, filled with the Brahman effulgence ; samapadyata achieved .

Translation

O King Parīkṣit, subduer of enemies, the living spark then came forth from Vṛtrāsura’s body and returned home, back to Godhead. While all the demigods looked on, he entered the transcendental world to become an associate of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

O King Parīkṣit, subduer of enemies! As all the devatās watched his spiritual body become separate from the body of Vṛtrāsura, he achieved the spiritual abode of Saṅkarṣaṇa. When Vṛtrāsura swallowed Indra and his elephant, he thought “There is no one else to kill me. Why do I not give up my body by the power of yoga and quickly go to the side of the Lord?” He then entered into samādhi. At that moment Indra tore open the abdomen of Vṛtrāsura who was unconscious, came out, and cut his head off. This should be understood from the comparison of cutting off a mountain peak. His manifested spiritual body (ātmā-jyotiḥ) became separated from his gross body and then attained the Vaikuṇṭha of Saṅkarṣaṇa beyond the material world (ālokam). Thus ends the commentary on the Twelfth Chapter of the Sixth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas. Chapter Thirteen Atonement of Indra

Purport

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. Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Sixth Canto, Twelfth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Vṛtrāsura’s Glorious Death.”