Text 18]
Vṛtrāsura's Glorious Death
233
TRANSLATION
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
श्रीशुक उवाच
इन्द्रो वृत्रवचः श्रुत्वा गतालीकमपूजयत् ।
गृहीतवज्रः प्रहसंस्तमाह गतत्रिस्मयः ॥१८॥
śrī-śuka uvāca
indro vṛtra-vacaḥ śrutvā
gatālīkam apūjayat
gṛhīta-vajraḥ prahasams
tam āha gata-vismayaḥ
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca—Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; indraḥ—King Indra; vṛtra-vacaḥ—the words of Vṛtrāsura; śrutvā—hearing; gata-alīkam—without duplicity; apūjayat—worshiped; gṛhīta-vajraḥ—taking up the thunderbolt; prahasan—smiling; tam—unto Vṛtrāsura; āha—said; gata-vismayaḥ—giving up his wonder.
TRANSLATION
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.
PURPORT
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