Text 6
vṛtras tu sa kathaṁ pāpaḥ
sarva-lokopatāpanaḥ
itthaṁ dṛḍha-matiḥ kṛṣṇa
āsīt saṅgrāma ulbaṇe
vṛtraḥ — Vṛtrāsura; tu — but; saḥ — he; katham — how; pāpaḥ — although sinful (getting the body of a demon); sarva-loka — of all the three worlds; upatāpanaḥ — the cause of suffering; ittham — such; dṛḍha-matiḥ — firmly fixed intelligence; kṛṣṇe — in Kṛṣṇa; āsīt — there was; saṅgrāme ulbaṇe — in the great blazing fire of battle.
Vṛtrāsura was situated in the blazing fire of battle and was an infamous, sinful demon, always engaged in giving troubles and anxieties to others. How could such a demon become so greatly Kṛṣṇa conscious?
It has been described that a nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa, a pure devotee, is rarely found even among millions and millions of persons. Therefore Parīkṣit Mahārāja was surprised that Vṛtrāsura, whose purpose was to give trouble and anxiety to others, was one of these devotees, even on a battlefield. What was the reason for Vṛtrāsura’s advancement?