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----- bhagap156.html
And who is this Vritra? The Veclas say: "Sa iman lokdn
Avrinot etat Vritrasya Vritratvam"
He spread over (vri) all these Lokas, this is the Vritra-
ship of Vritra.
The Bhagavata says: "These Lokas are spread over by him
in the form of Tvashtri's Tapas. Hence he is called Vritra." VI.
9-xviii.
The invocation of Tvashtri is thus described in the Bhagavata:
"Rise up, O Indra Shatru, never give up enmity." VI 9-xii.
The word shattu means enemy. Tvastri meant to say " he who
is to become the enemy of Indra." But by proper grammatical con-
struction, the expression means, he of whom Indra is to become the
enemy. The invocation was therefore defective and it produced a
contrary result. Panini points this out as an apt illustration of what
bad grammar^leads to.
The Vedas thus speak of the invocation: "As hesald-Svd/ia!
O Indra-Shatru! rise up so Indra became the enemy of Vritra."
Notwithstanding his wisdom, Chitra-ketu was anxious to have a son.
He wept bitterly, when the son was lost. He was a votary of Sanka-
rshana, who presides over Ahankara or Egoism. So by devotion
he became the king of the Vidyadharas. This selfish devotion, the
worship of Gods for the gratification of selfish aspiration, which is
so universal, is Vritra.
Vritra was killed by a weapon made of the bones of Dadhichi
the Rishi of self-sacrifice. We want to kill thee for thy bones, for
they will be of service to the universe, so said the Devas. And
Dadhichi felt the height of pleasure in giving himself completely up,
that the universe might prosper.
We are told that the fight with Vritra took place in the
Vaivasvata Manvantara. The readers will easily understand why
this is so.
The fight between the Devas and the Asuras is only a counter-
part of struggles on our earth between the forces of materiality and
spirituality. With the appearance of Lord Krishna, the ascendency
of the Asuras is virtually over, and however self-seeking we may be
by our nature, we bow down before the ideal of unselfishness, of One
Life pervading all beings, so prominently held before us by that
greatest of all Avataras, and the circle of those that follow this ideal
is daily increasing.
But why is Atharva Veda spoken of as the Veda of unselfish-
ness? The popular idea about that Veda is quite the contrary.
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