वृत्रवधः इन्द्रस्य ब्रह्महत्या च

Hearing Lakṣmaṇa's words, Rāma, destroyer of foes, said, "Tell me the whole story of the slaying of Vṛtra, you who keep your vows." So bidden by Rāghava, Lakṣmaṇa, the delight of Sumitrā, went on with the divine tale. "When Viṣṇu had heard the words of the thousand-eyed Indra and of all the dwellers in heaven, he said to the gods gathered behind Indra: 'Long ago I was bound in friendship with the great-souled Vṛtra, and so, even to please you, I will not kill that great asura myself. Yet your highest happiness must be secured, and so I will tell you a way by which the thousand-eyed one shall kill him. I shall divide myself into three, best of gods, and by that means the thousand-eyed one will kill Vṛtra, have no doubt. Let one part of me enter Vāsava, the second the thunderbolt itself, and the third the earth; then he will kill Vṛtra.' When the lord of the gods had spoken, the gods replied: 'It is just as you say, slayer of Daityas, there is no doubt of it. Blessings on you. We shall go now, bent on the death of the asura Vṛtra; and you, noble one, uphold Vāsava with your own splendour.'" Viṣṇu is caught in a conflict of duties, friendship on one side and the welfare of the gods on the other. He does not kill Vṛtra himself but places his own power in Indra, in the thunderbolt and in the earth, so that the slayer is Indra, not Viṣṇu. Rāma asks for the whole story because his decision about the sacrifice depends on it. Lakṣmaṇa is called "the delight of Sumitrā", as Bharata was called "the delight of Kaikeyī" in the previous sarga; the poet recalls the brothers by their mothers' names. Viṣṇu's threefold division is well known from the Vedas too, where he is Indra's helper in the slaying of Vṛtra. The gods accept his plan at once, trusting his wisdom; and so Viṣṇu keeps faith with his friend and still protects the gods, resolving his dilemma.

"Then all the great-souled gods, led by the thousand-eyed one, went to the forest where the great asura Vṛtra was. They saw that best of asuras practising austerity, blazing with power, as though he were drinking up the three worlds and burning the sky. At the mere sight of him the gods were seized with terror. 'How shall we kill him?' they wondered. 'How can we escape defeat?' While they were still pondering, Purandara, the thousand-eyed, took the thunderbolt in both hands and hurled it at Vṛtra's head. As Vṛtra's head fell, dreadful as the fire at the end of time and blazing with great flames, the whole world was struck with terror." Vṛtra's radiance from his penance was so great that the gods were afraid merely to look at him. Indra kills him in the very act of penance, without battle and without challenge, and that is the fault in the killing: the slaying of a blameless ascetic. The world itself shakes at the blow, for the death of a righteous soul is an evil omen for all. The gods' fear shows in their question, "How can we escape defeat?"; they dread defeat before any fight has begun. Indra's stroke is swift and unconsidered, and so remorse will follow. "As though drinking up the three worlds" is the poet's hyperbole for the fire of Vṛtra's austerity.

"Brooding on that killing, which should never have been done, the famous lord of the gods fled swiftly to the end of the world. But the sin of slaying a brahmin followed Indra as he fled, fell upon his limbs, and sorrow entered into him." Indra knows his deed was wrong; he calls it something that should never have been. He runs to the end of the world, but the sin does not let him go: it chases him and enters his body. Vṛtra was no brahmin, yet the point of the story is that killing a righteous ascetic is equal to killing a brahmin. The sin takes shape as a woman who pursues him, a picture well known from the old tales, and in the next sarga she will speak for herself. "He fled to the end of the world" suggests both shame and fear; he could not bear to stay among the gods. So even the king of the gods is not spared the fruit of his deeds.

"Their enemy was slain, but their Indra was lost, and the gods, with Agni at their head, worshipped Viṣṇu, lord of the three worlds, again and again: 'You are our refuge, supreme lord, the firstborn, the father of the world; you took the form of Viṣṇu to protect all beings. It was you who killed this Vṛtra, and now the sin of slaying a brahmin torments Vāsava. Tiger among gods, show us the way to free him.' Hearing the gods, Viṣṇu said: 'Let Śakra sacrifice to me alone, and I will purify the wielder of the thunderbolt. When he has worshipped me with the holy horse-sacrifice, the chastiser of Pāka will once more become lord of the gods, free of all fear.' Having given the gods this message, sweet as nectar, Viṣṇu, lord of the gods, went back to heaven while all sang his praise." The gods speak truly when they say "it was you who killed him", since it was Viṣṇu's power that was in the thunderbolt; and so it is Viṣṇu who prescribes the atonement, the horse-sacrifice. Here is the root of Lakṣmaṇa's proposal: as Indra was purified by the horse-sacrifice, so Rāma too may be. "Let him sacrifice to me alone" makes Viṣṇu the deity of the horse-sacrifice, and there is a hidden hint in this: Rāma is himself Viṣṇu, so Rāma's horse-sacrifice will be worship of himself. The gods' hymn names Viṣṇu as creator, father and protector. Indra will regain his lordship "free of all fear", for once freed from sin he will be without dread.