246 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 6, Ch. 12

pasyatam sarva-devandm
alokam samapadyata

urtrasya—of Vrtrasura; dehat—from the body; niskrantam—coming
out; dtma-jyotih—the spirit soul, which was as brilliant as the effulgence
of Brahman; arim-dama—O King Pariksit, subduer of enemies;
pasyatam—were watching; sarva-devénam—while all the demigods;
alokam—the supreme abode, filled with the Brahman effulgence;
samapadyata —achieved.

TRANSLATION

O King Pariksit, subduer of enemies, the living spark then came
forth from Vrtrasura’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 Sankarsana.

PURPORT

Srila Vigvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains that Indra, not
Vrtrdsura, was actually killed. He says that when Vrtrasura 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
Vrtrasura’s body, Indra pierced the demon’s abdomen, and because of
Vrtradsura’s trance, Indra was able to come out. Now, Vrtrasura was in
yoga-samédhi, 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 Vrtrasura that was
cut to pieces by Indra; Vrtrasura himself was not killed. In his original
consciousness, Vrtrasura returned home, back to Godhead, to become an
associate of Lord Sankarsana. Here the word alokam means the transcen-
dental world, Vaikunthaloka, where Sankarsana eternally resides.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Sixth Canto, Twelfth
Chapter, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled “Vrtrdsura’s Glorious
Death.”
