Vasudevaya namah

Sixth Canto Chapter Nine

In this chapter Indra killing Vishwaroopa, the birth of Vṛttasura, the defeat of the Devatas in hands of Vŗttasura, Devatas worshipping Lord Srihari, and they approaching Maharishi Dadhichi at the Lord’s behest are covered.

Maharishi Śuka continued, “O emperor! Vishwaroopa had three heads. With one mouth he would drink soma-rasa, with another he would consume liquor and with the third he would eat. Devatas were his fathers. Hence when performing Yagnas, he would loudly chant mantras while offering ghee and other ingredients to the Devatas.

Simultaneously he would secretively make offerings to the demons. As his mother belonged to the demon-clan, demons were his maternal relatives and he had deep affection towards them.

Days passed. One day, Indra came to know that Vishwaroopa was cheating them by secretively helping the demons. He was terrified and yet, at the same time uncontrollably furious. In that mad fury, he chopped off all the three heads of Vishwaroopa.

The head through which he would drink soma-rasa transformed into a francolin partridge. The head through which he would drink liquor transformed into a sparrow. The head through which he would eat transformed into a partridge.

Indra, the Lord of heaven, was now tainted with the sin of killing a Brahmin. With cupped hands he accepted this sin and underwent the resultant sufferings for a year. Thereafter unable to withstand the suffering and for the purity of the elements within him he divided the sin into four divisions and distributed it among earth, water, trees and women.

The earth which accepted this share of sin requested as follows, “Whenever pits are formed on earth, they should close automatically”. This was granted. Deserts and barren land seen on earth reflect the portion of Indra’s sin taken up by earth. Such places remain useless for cultivation and other purposes.

In return for taking up1/4th share of Indra’s sin, trees requested that their branches and twigs should regrow after pruning. The sap that emerges when a branch is chopped off represents the portion of the sin taken up by the tree.

Women obtained the boon of excessive lustful desires in return for taking up 1/4th of Indra’s sin which they experience in the form of their monthly menstrual cycle.

In return for the boon that water will flow plentifully in wells and other water bodies, water accepted 1/4th of Indra’s sin. Water discharges this sin in the form of bubbles and foam. When fetching water bubbles and foam are pushed aside.

Father Tvaṣṭa Prajāpati was deeply aggrieved upon hearing about the death of his son Vishwaroopa. He firmly decided to destroy Indra, hence he performed a homa uttering powerful mantras which said- ‘O destroyer of Indra! May you flourish! May you kill your enemy Indra at the earliest!’

From the Dakshināgni (southern) portion of the homa flames a fearsome man emerged. In appearance, he resembled the Rudra, who is dreadfully fearful at the time of annihilation. With every passing day the demon began to grow approximately the length of an arrow. He was growing in every direction. Like a burnt mountain he was black in complexion. He shone like the sunset clouds. His mustache and beard were copper coloured. His sharp powerful eyes that glowed like the mid-day Sun, pierced and tormented others. Glowing with infinite radiance, holding a sharp trident in his hand, screaming horrendously and dancing violently he caused the Earth to tremble in fright. It appeared as if he was holding the entire space at the tip of his trident.

Within his mouth, which resembled a deep gigantic cave, there were sharp, long, fearful teeth. Yawning continuously he appeared to be swallowing the entire space. It appeared as if he was licking the stars with his tongue and swallowing the three worlds with his mouth. Petrified of him people ran hither and tither.

With his humungous body and unthinkable prowess, this son of Tvaṣṭa enveloped all the planets covering them with darkness. Hence this terrible sinner was titled Vṛtta.

The army of Devatas attacked demon Vṛtta and hurled upon him all their divine powerful weapons. To their shock, Vṛtta was simply gulping them down. The Devatas were in a state of shock. Seeing their radiance fade before him they were distraught.

That very instant the Devatas stood and with absolute concentration meditated upon the Lord who is the cause for the entire universe and who resides as the Self. They prayed, “The three worlds are created with the five elements of earth, water, fire, wind and space. Fearing the might of time, all the Devatas, including Lord Brahma, worship Lord Srihari. Even ‘time’ which we fear is afraid of Lord Srihari. Such Lord Srihari is our sole refuge.

Although being the cause for the entire creation, feelings of doership and feelings of likes-dislikes do not exist in Lord Srihari. In His form of unending bliss and complete contentment, He makes himself visible equally everywhere. The person who worships a demi-god instead of worshipping such all-pervading Supreme Lord can be compared to a foolish man who tries to cross the ocean holding on to the dog’s tail for support.

In the previous period, Manu tied the boat called Earth to the long tusk of the gigantic fish and easily saved himself. He easily escaped from great fear. May the Supreme Lord who incarnated as that gigantic fish now rescue us from the great danger caused by demon Vṛtta, the son of Tvaṣṭa”.