• viśrambhaḥ — faith, trust
  From vi-√śrabh. Confident trust. Hari speaks of Vṛka's viśrambha in Śiva — a friendly probing, knowing the asura's pride will refuse to disavow trust. Bhagavān handles the asura's vanity with surgical care.
• dānava-indra — O best of demons
  Contiguous (dānava + indra). Vocative flattery. Indra of dānavas — the highest among them. Hari knows that the asuric ear opens to titles; the flattery is fuel.
• jagat-gurau — in the spiritual master of the universe
  Contiguous (jagat + gurau). Hari honors Śiva's actual office (jagad-guru, a real title) even while engineering Vṛka's distrust of him. Gauḍīya reading: Bhagavān never lies; He arranges which truths the listener will weigh.
• sva-śirasi hastam nyasya — placing your own hand on your own head
  Contiguous-join (sva + śirasi + hastam + nyasya). The fatal gesture, narrated as a test. The chapter's symmetry: the asura tried to put his hand on Śiva's head in v.23; here Hari tells him to put it on his own. Same gesture, mirrored.
• pratīyatām — let it be observed
  Causative imperative of prati-√i — to come back, to be confirmed. 'See for yourself.' The empiricist's bait — and Vṛka, who has lived by physical demonstration, takes it.

• When have I followed seemingly logical advice straight into a trap?
• Where do I need to question what looks like reasonable proof?

A trickster persuades a man to test the safety of an experimental sword on his own throat — 'just put it there, you will see.' Once the asura's logic accepts the experimental gesture, the asura's hand does the rest. Hari does not raise the weapon; He convinces Vṛka to raise it himself. This is yoga-māyā as surgery.