Text 5] The Appearance of the Demon Vrtrasura 103

the demons also); sura-isvarah—the king of the demigods; dlaksya—
observing; tarasa—quickly; bhitah—being afraid (that the demons
would gain strength by being blessed by Visvaripa); tat—his
(Visvaripa’s); Sirsani—heads; acchinat—cut off; rusd—with great
anger.

TRANSLATION

Once upon a time, however, the King of heaven, Indra, under-
stood that Visvaripa was secretly cheating the demigods by offer-
ing oblations on behalf of the demons. He became extremely
afraid of being defeated by the demons, and in great anger at
Visvaripa he cut Visvaripa’s three heads from his shoulders.

TEXT 5

arihig aq7e fax seg Bits: |
putrg: Gaiters qa ferret &

soma-pitham tu yat tasya
Sira Gsit kapinjalah

kalavinkah sura-pitham
annadam yat sa tittirih

soma-pitham—used for drinking soma-rasa; tu—however; yat—
which; tasya—of him (Visvaraipa); sirah—the head; dsit—became;
kapifjalah—a francolin partridge; kalavinkah—a sparrow; surd-
pitham—meant for drinking wine; anna-adam—used for eating food;
yat—which; sah—that; tittirih—a common partridge.

TRANSLATION

Thereafter, the head meant for drinking soma-rasa was
transformed into a kapifijala [francolin partridge]. Similarly, the
head meant for drinking wine was transformed into a kalavinka
[sparrow], and the head meant for eating food became a tittiri
[common partridge].
