250 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 6, Ch. 13

$ri-raja_ uvaca—King Pariksit inquired; indrasya—of King Indra;
anirurteh—of the moroseness; hetum—the reason; Srotum—to hear; ic-
chami—I wish: bhoh—O my lord; mune—O great sage, Sukadeva
Gosvami: yena—by which; dsan—were; sukhinah—very happy;
devah—all the demigods; hareh—of Indra; duhkham—moroseness;
kutah—from where; abhavat—was.

TRANSLATION

Maharaja Pariksit inquired from Sukadeva Gosvami: O great
sage, what was the reason for Indra’s unhappiness? I wish to hear
about this. When he killed Vrtrasura, all the demigods were ex-
tremely happy. Why, then, was Indra himself unhappy?

PURPORT

This, of course, is a very intelligent question. When a demon is killed,
certainly all the demigods are happy. In this case, however, when all the
demigods were happy because of Vrtrasura’s having been killed, Indra
was unhappy. Why? It may be suggested that Indra was unhappy be-
cause he knew that he had killed a great devotee and brahmana.
Vrtrdsura outwardly appeared to be a demon, but inwardly he was a
great devotee and therefore a great brahmana.

Herein it is clearly indicated that a person who is not at all demoniac,
such as Prahlada Maharaja and Bali Maharaja, may outwardly be a
demon or be born in a family of demons. Therefore in terms of real
culture one should not be considered a demigod or demon simply accord-
ing to birth. In his dealings while fighting with Indra, Vrtrasura proved
himself a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Further-
more. as soon as he finished fighting with Indra and was apparently
killed, Vrtrdsura was transferred to Vaikunthaloka to become an asso-
ciate of Sankarsana. Indra knew this, and therefore he was morose at
having killed such a demon, who was actually a Vaisnava or brahmana.

A Vaisnava is already a brahmana, although a brahmana may not be a
Vaisnava. The Padma Purdna says:

sat-karma-nipuno vipro °
mantra-tantra-visaradah
