TEXT 11
hata-putras tatas tvasta
juhavendraya satrave
indra-satro vivardhasva
ma ciram jahi vidvisam
SYNONYMS
hata-putrahwho lost his son; tatahthereafter; tvastaTvasta; juhavaperformed a sacrifice; indrayaof Indra; satravefor creating an enemy; indra-satroO enemy of Indra; vivardhasvaincrease; manot; ciramafter a long time; jahikill; vidvisamyour enemy.
TRANSLATION
After Visvarupa was killed, his father, Tvasta, performed ritualistic ceremonies to kill Indra. He offered oblations in the sacrificial fire, saying, O enemy of Indra, flourish to kill your enemy without delay.
PURPORT
There was some defect in Tvastas chanting of the mantra because he chanted it long instead of short, and therefore the meaning changed. Tvasta intended to chant the word indra-satro, meaning, O enemy of Indra. In this mantra, the word indra is in the possessive case (sasthi), and the word indra-satro is called a tat-purusa compound (tatpurusa-samasa). Unfortunately, instead of chanting the mantra short, Tvasta chanted it long, and its meaning changed from the enemy of Indra to Indra, who is an enemy. Consequently instead of an enemy of Indras, there emerged the body of Vrtrasura, of whom Indra was the enemy.

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