TEXT 11
caramenasvamedhena
yajamane yajus-patim
vainye yajna-pasum spardhann
apovaha tirohitah
SYNONYMS
caramenaby the last one; asva-medhenaby the asvamedha sacrifice; yajamanewhen he was performing the sacrifice; yajuh-patimfor satisfaction of the Lord of yajna, Visnu; vainyethe son of King Vena; yajna-pasumthe animal meant to be sacrificed in the yajna; spardhanbeing envious; apovahastole; tirohitahbeing invisible.
TRANSLATION
When Prthu Maharaja was performing the last horse sacrifice [asvamedha-yajna], King Indra, invisible to everyone, stole the horse intended for sacrifice. He did this because of his great envy of King Prthu.
PURPORT
King Indra is known as sata-kratu, which indicates that he has performed one hundred horse sacrifices (asvamedha-yajna). We should know, however, that the animals sacrificed in the yajna were not killed. If the Vedic mantras were properly pronounced during the sacrifice, the animal sacrificed would come out again with a new life. That is the test for a successful yajna. When King Prthu was performing one hundred yajnas, Indra became very envious because he did not want anyone to excel him. Being an ordinary living entity, he became envious of King Prthu, and, making himself invisible, he stole the horse and thus impeded the yajna performance.

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