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: |
wary: TaMaTATe Aq aT feet: 4 1
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].
