Text 15
sa āvasat puṣkara-nāla-tantūn
alabdha-bhogo yad ihāgni-dūtaḥ
varṣāṇi sāhasram alakṣito ’ntaḥ
sañcintayan brahma-vadhād vimokṣam
saḥ — he (Indra); āvasat — lived; puṣkara-nāla-tantūn — in the network of the fibers of a lotus stem; alabdha-bhogaḥ — not getting any material comfort (practically starving for all material needs); yat — which; iha — here; agni-dūtaḥ — the fire-god messenger; varṣāṇi — celestial years; sāhasram — one thousand; alakṣitaḥ — invisible; antaḥ — within his heart; sañcintayan — always thinking of; brahma-vadhāt — from the killing of a brāhmaṇa; vimokṣam — liberation.
Always thinking of how he could be relieved from the sinful reaction for killing a brāhmaṇa, King Indra, invisible to everyone, lived in the lake for one thousand years in the subtle fibers of the stem of a lotus. The fire-god used to bring him his share of all yajñas, but because the fire-god was afraid to enter the water, Indra was practically starving.