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Indra and Vrtrasura (इन्द्रः वृत्रासुरः च) (view source)

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Vrttrasura (Samskrit : वृत्रासुरः) the son of Tvastr Prajapati, is an important asuric force about whom mantras are mentioned extensively in the Rig Veda. Indra, slays Vrttra with his Vajraayudha and is greatly praised for his valor and deeds in many suktas of Rig Veda. Indra as a lokapalaka and devaloka rakshaka plays a very important role in protection of Dharma and its followers such as other devatas, rishis and pious people. It is to be noted here that Vrttra came into being with the sole aim of killing Indra.

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== Introduction ==

The most important work of Indra is to stop those energies and powers which are against the flow of life or creation. There is no other personality who is given more importance than Vrttra in the Vedas and there is no other symbolic story as is Vrttraasura vadha or killing of Vrttra.

Vedas describe a continuous battle between Asuras (demons) and suras (devas). Every moments result of the battle decides whether there will be flow of life or a regression. There are varieties in the asuric powers or asuric energy. Amongst them Vritra is most important.

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== Etymology ==

Vritra has been defined by Yaska as follows <blockquote>तत्को वृत्रः। मेघ इति नैरुक्ताः । त्वाष्ट्रोऽसुर इत्यैतिहासिकाः । अपां च ज्योतिषश्च मिश्रीभावकर्मणो वर्षकर्म जायते । तत्रोपमार्थेन युद्धवर्णा भवन्ति । (Nirukta 2.16)</blockquote><blockquote>tatkō vr̥traḥ। mēgha iti nairuktāḥ । tvāṣṭrō'sura ityaitihāsikāḥ । apāṁ ca jyōtiṣaśca miśrībhāvakarmaṇō varṣakarma jāyatē । tatrōpamārthēna yuddhavarṇā bhavanti । (Nirukta 2.16)</blockquote>Meaning : Nirukta defines Vrttra as the cloud, which is a water body. From the historical perspective Vrttra is Tvaashtra (the son of Tvashtra). A combination of water and lightning (electricity) gives rise to the process of rain and this process is used as a simili to describe a war.

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== Symbolism of Vrttra and Indra Battle ==

In Taitreya Samhita and Satapata Brahamana the fight between Indra and Vritra and the cause and the consequences of the have been described.

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Indra is most amazing power and energy assuming different kinds of forms for the sake of well-being of the universe, is an aspect mentioned in many places of the Vedas. Therefore the battle between Indra and Vritra is symbolically very significant and has to be seen from this perspective and not a historic view.

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== Vrttrasura Vadha as in Taitreya Samhita ==

In '''Taitreya Samhita 2.4.1 (cant find the same description in this reference)''' the story is mentioned in this way: Trashtra prajapathi had a son named Vishwarupa. Once the purohit of the devathas: Brihaspati, being angry, he left his priestly work and so the devathas invited Vishwarupa as their priest and Vishwarupa had some inclination towards the demons. Therefore without the devathas noticing, he would offer some of the oblations to the asuras, which was arranged by, devas.

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Instantly, Vritra was born. Indra by knowing that-- if the Yajna gets complete and if he stays there and devathas would be defeated by Vritra forever, Indra he disappeared from that place meanwhile Vritra started growing like the bow or the as the arrow leaves, he started growing to such an extent and started covering the entire universe. ishumatra mishumatra avardhatha sa vishwajana iman lokan avranoth lokan yadiman avranoth tadvra trasya vritratvam that means Vrithra means one who getows or in circles. This meaning has come in Vedas.

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त्वष्टा॑ ह॒तपु॑त्रो॒ वीन्द्र॒॒ सोम॒माह॑र॒त्तस्मि॒न्निन्द्र॑ उपह॒वमैच्छत॒ तं नोपाह्वयत पु॒त्रम्मे॑ऽवधी॒रिति॒ स य॑ज्ञवेश॒सं कृ॒त्वा प्रा॒सहा॒ सोम॑मपिब॒त्तस्य॒ यद॒त्यशि॑ष्यत॒ तत्त्वष्टा॑हव॒नीय॒मुप॒ प्राव॑र्तय॒त्स्वाहेन्द्र॑शत्रुर्वर्ध॒स्वेति॒ स याव॑दू॒र्ध्वः प॑रा॒विध्य॑ति॒ ताव॑ति स्व॒यमे॒व व्य॑रमत॒ यदि॑ वा॒ ताव॑त्प्रव॒णम् [36] Arsheya System 4.5.36.1 and Saraswat system 1.2.4.12.1)

Indra seeing this got afraid. He was finding some means and ways to control Vritra. Meanwhile Vritra’s father, Trashtra became repentant and became fearful and he gave a special thunderbolt and made it powerful by invoking certain mantras and offered it to Indra.

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== Vajrayudha ==

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इ॒माल्लोँ॒कान॑वृणो॒द्यदि॒माल्लोँ॒कानवृ॑णो॒त्तद्वृ॒त्रस्य॑ वृत्र॒त्वन्तस्मा॒दिन्द्रो॑ऽबिभे॒दपि॒ त्वष्टा॒ तस्मै॒ त्वष्टा॒ वज्र॑मसिञ्च॒त्तपो॒ वै स वज्र॑ आसी॒त्तमुद्य॑न्तुं॒ नाश॑क्नो॒दथ॒ वै तऱ्हि॒ विष्णुः॑ [37] Arsheya system 4.5.36.2 and Saraswat System 1.2.4.12.2)

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~~== Vajrayudha ==~~

Vedas describe Vajrayudha as "tapovysa vajra asit" meaning "tapasaya itself is the Vajrayudha (thunderbolt).

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Indra could not lift Vajrayudha and prayed to Visnu. Mahavisnu pleased with Indra's prayer, divided himself into 3 parts: Vishnu tridha atmaanam. It indicates the trivikrama tattva of the lord. One third part of Vishnu's energy was placed in the earth, another one third in devaloka and the last third was placed in the Antariksha or Space. Indra then merged himself with Visnu's energy of prithvi and with that strength was able to lift the vajrayudha.

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Indra could not lift Vajrayudha and prayed to Visnu.

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अ॒न्या दे॒वता॑सी॒त्सोऽब्रवी॒द्विष्ण॒वेही॒दमा ह॑रिष्यावो॒ येना॒यमि॒दमिति॒ स विष्णु॑स्त्रे॒धात्मानं॒ वि न्य॑धत्त पृथि॒व्यां तृती॑यम॒न्तरि॑ख्षे॒ तृती॑यं दि॒वि तृती॑यमभिपर्याव॒र्ताद्ध्यबि॑भे॒द्यत्पृ॑थि॒व्यां तृती॑य॒मासी॒त्तेनेन्द्रो॒ वज्र॒मुद॑यच्छ॒द्विष्ण्व॑नुस्थितः॒ सोऽब्रवी॒न्मा मे॒ प्र हा॒रस्ति॒ वा इ॒दम् [38] (Arsheya system 4.5.36.3 and Saraswat System 1.2.4.12.3)

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Mahavisnu pleased with Indra's prayer, divided himself into 3 parts:Vishnu tridha atmaanam. It indicates the trivikrama tattva of the lord. One third part of Vishnu's energy was placed in the earth, another one third in devaloka and the last third was placed in the Antariksha or Space.

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मयि॑ वी॒र्यं॑ तत्ते॒ प्र दास्या॒मीति॒ तद॑स्मै॒ प्राय॑च्छ॒त्तत्प्रत्य॑गृह्णा॒दधा॒ मेति॒ तद्विष्ण॒वेति॒ प्राय॑च्छ॒त्तद्विष्णुः॒ प्रत्य॑गृह्णाद॒स्मास्विन्द्र॑ इन्द्रि॒यं द॑धा॒त्विति॒ यद॒न्तरि॑ख्षे॒ तृती॑य॒मासी॒त्तेनेन्द्रो॒ वज्र॒मुद॑यच्छ॒द्विष्ण्व॑नुस्थितः॒ सोऽब्रवी॒न्मा मे॒ प्र हा॒रस्ति॒ वा इ॒दम् [39] (Arsheya system 4.5.36.4 and Saraswat System 1.2.4.12.4)

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मयि॑ वी॒र्यं॑ तत्ते॒ प्र दास्या॒मीति॒ तद॑स्मै॒ प्राय॑च्छ॒त्तत्प्रत्य॑गृह्णा॒द्द्विर्मा॑धा॒ इति॒ तद्विष्ण॒वेति॒ प्राय॑च्छ॒त्तद्विष्णुः॒ प्रत्य॑गृह्णाद॒स्मास्विन्द्र॑ इन्द्रि॒यं द॑धा॒त्विति॒ यद्दि॒वि तृती॑य॒मासी॒त्तेनेन्द्रो॒ वज्र॒मुद॑यच्छ॒द्विष्ण्व॑नुस्थितः॒ सोऽब्रवी॒न्मा मे॒ प्र हा॒र्येना॒हम् [40] (Arsheya system 4.5.36.5 and Saraswat System 1.2.4.12.5)

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Indra then merged himself with Visnu's energy of prithvi and with that strength was able to lift the vajrayudha.

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Seeing this Vrttra removed himself from the earth and continued the battle in space and in heavenly planets. Indra with the blessing of Mahavishnu then defeated Vritra who entered into a truce with indra.

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इ॒दमस्मि॒ तत्ते॒ प्र दास्या॒मीति॒ त्वी (३) इत्य॑ब्रवीत्स॒न्धान्तु सं द॑धावहै॒ त्वामे॒व प्र वि॑शा॒नीति॒ यन्माम्प्र॑वि॒शेः किम्मा॑ भुञ्ज्या॒ इत्य॑ब्रवी॒त्त्वामे॒वेन्धी॑य॒ तव॒ भोगा॑य॒ त्वाम्प्र वि॑शेय॒मित्य॑ब्रवी॒त्तव्वृँ॒त्रः प्रावि॑शदु॒दरं॒ वै वृ॒त्रः ख्षुत्खलु॒ वै म॑नु॒ष्य॑स्य॒ भ्रातृ॑व्यो॒ यः [41] (Arsheya system 4.5.36.6 and Saraswat System 1.2.4.12.6)

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Vritrasura said allow me to enter into your body.

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tvame va pravishami

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Indra asked him what will you do with me? Will you eat me?

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yanma pravishya kim ma bhunja itya bravith

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Seeing this Vrttra removed himself from the earth and continued the battle in space and in heavenly planets. Indra with the blessing of Mahavishnu then defeated Vritra who entered into a truce with indra, Vritrasura said allow me to enter into your body. tvame va pravishami Indra asked him what will you do with me? Will you eat me? yanma pravishya kim ma bhunja itya bravith that time Vritra said, not like that, I’ll become the fire in our belly jataragni and I’ll be favorable to you and for your pleasure to help you digest grain and will continue to render service to you

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that time Vritra said, not like that, I’ll become the fire in our belly jataragni and I’ll be favorable to you and for your pleasure to help you digest grain and will continue to render service to you

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~~tvameva indiya tava bhogaya tvam pravisheyam itya bravith~~

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vritraha pravishath udaram vy vritaha shuth khalu vai manushyasya brathravyo ya

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~~== Vritra in the body of Indra ==~~

In this way when Vritra entered into the body of Indra he extended himself and stayed in the bodies of all living entities and he stays in the form of hunger and keeps on troubling them and in this way because Vritra is staying in the belly of human being, and that hunger itself is Vritraha. He is called: brathravya and those who understand this, they will conquer hunger certainly. That’s what Vedas offer benefits.

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वा आ॑र॒ण्यमि॑न्द्रि॒यमे॒वाऽऽत्मन् ध॑त्ते॒ यदनाश्वानुप॒वसे॒त् क्षोधु॑कः स्या॒द्यद॑श्ञी॒याद्रु॒द्रोऽस्य प॒शून॒भिम॑न्येता॒पोऽश्ञाति॒ तन्नेवा॑शि॒तं नेवान॑शितं॒ न क्षोधु॑को॒ भव॑ति॒ नास्य॑ रु॒द्रः प॒शून॒भि म॑न्यते॒ वज्रो॒ वै य॒ज्ञः क्षुत्खलु॒ वै म॑नु॒ष्य॑स्य॒ भ्रातृ॑व्यो॒ यदनाश्वानुप॒वस॑ति॒ वज्रे॑णै॒व सा॒क्षात्क्षुधं॒ भ्रातृ॑व्यँ् हन्ति ।। (~~Taittriya Samhita 1~~.4.1.~~4 (Arsheya~~ System~~) Kandam~~ 1 ~~(Prajapatya) , Vishya 4 (Yajamana Brahmanam), Anuvaka 1, Panchati~~ 4)

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ए॒वं वेद॒ हन्ति॒ ख्षुध॒म्भ्रातृ॑व्य॒न्तद॑स्मै॒ प्राय॑च्छ॒त्तत्प्रत्य॑गृह्णा॒त्त्रिर्मा॑धा॒ इति॒ तद्विष्ण॒वेति॒ [42] (Arsheya system 4.5.36.7 and Saraswat System 1.2.4.12.7)

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~~vritraha pravishath udaram vy vritaha shuth khalu vai manushyasya brathravyo ya~~ ya evam vedahanthi kshudam brathavyam

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ya evam vedahanthi kshudam brathavyam

In this way because accepting 3 times, the valor of Vritra through Indra, Vsnu is called Tridatu.

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indrasya yajna yajja satha In the Vsnu Sukta, part of Rk Samhita Sri Sayana Acarya he gives Taitreya Samhita as the example: the Rk Bhaga is 1.22.19

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== Some Explanation or Esoteric Meaning ==

There are many points here to be observed Vritra was not killed here but he was given a place in every living entity: hunger. There is an important and a very interesting understanding here. There is a concept of eternal reality here. Therefore the disturbance to the living entity is an eternal experience in this world, symbolically, hunger is the sign of dissatisfaction. Gita explains Kama esa krodha esa rajo guna samudbava mahasano mahapapma viddhy enam iha vairinam 3.37

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== The hunger which is in the form of kama and krodha ==

Lust and anger is insatiable hunger. In the 16th chapter of Bhagavad Gita it is explained: Kamam asritha duspuram and duspurena analenaca repeatedly the kama is compared to the inexhaustible fire. Those who are very much hungry it is said that there is a ghost sitting in them. It’s a village way of saying. Here Vritra is such ghost who is in the belly . Such ghost had affected Indra. This is explained in the Ramayana shudda chaiva sahasrakham brahma hatya samavishat Bala Kanda 14.15.

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In this way Vritra is called vranothervan vartathervan, vardadervan on who walks by creating circles, who is always existing, who always grows. In that sense, he is the eternal enemy: kama, krodha and personification of sins. That is how Vedas define. But those who still doubt, can read the verse from Srimad Bhagavatham 6.9.18 yenāvṛtā ime lokās tapasā tvāṣṭra-mūrtinā sa vai vṛtra iti proktaḥ pāpaḥ parama-dāruṇaḥone who is in dark form or form of ignorance, darkness, from that Trastra covers the 3 planets, personification of sin, the most destructive power is called Vritraha.

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== Vritra’s deeper description ==

the Vedas explain or describe Vritra in this way

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athrushnavantham viyatham buddimanam sushupanam indra sapta prati pravatha sayana mahim vajrena virihena aparvanan Rk Samhita 4.19.10 '''(It is 4.19.3)'''

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athrushnavantham viyatham buddimanam sushupanam indra sapta prati pravatha sayana mahim vajrena virihena aparvanan Rk Samhita 4.19.10 '''(It is 4.19.3)'''

Vrita is called as having a very bulky body and he is but not very powerful, personification of dissatisfaction, unconscious, but doesn’t not recognize that. He sleeps in a way that that sapta sindus can’t flow, he is shaped in a snake form. Such Vritra is killed by Indra with his thunderbolt, on the day of full moon light. Vedas describe the death of Vritra in many places.

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Samudra has been defined by Yaska Niruktha 12.10 has one of the sixteen meanings of antariksha is samudravanthi aspath apaha samudra samabhidravanthi enam apaha sa vodanthe asmin bhutani samudako bhavathi samono uthyathi va that means water is created and everything is flowing towards water. Every living entity is happy then water enters there and water is making everything wet and this one the ocean that is described here is different from the oceans of the earthly planet. Therefore one of the most important work of Vritra is to stop water flow and that means to stop flow of life. That’s symbolic meaning and therefore to control him and restrict him, that’s the main duty of the devathas or Indra specifically. In this work, the Marut devathas helped Indra. This is explained in Aitreya Brahamana 3.20 similarly in many places the Vedas glorify this. The help of Vsnu is described in previous verses and many devathas have invested their energies in Indra and that’s what is explained

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== Soma and Agni in Vrita’s face ==

Let’s describe more the killing of Vritra. Taitreya Samhita 2.5.2 explains, Trashtra prajapathi wanted a son who would kill Indra but because of some change in pronunciation, Vritra was born to be killed by Indra. This we discussed previously. One who was growing like a big sized bow, his own father supported his killing. Indra took the shelter of Prajapathi. He took blessings from him and after making the most powerful thunderbolt, he came to fight Vritra and when Vritra was facing Indra, there were 2 devaths: Agni and Soma. They prayed: Oh Indra please do not kill him because he is our residence. For this Indra said, you are mine and you should give up your different facets and come to me and I kill everyone. Everyone was offering havirbhava and yajna havribhaa was offered. Instead of thanking him they asked for some share in yajnas and Indra, he offered ekadasaka pala havirbhava on the day of paurnamasa by visualizing in the yajna. Then they couldn’t come out of the jaws, they prayed oh Indra, we have been caught in the jaws of Vritrasura, we cannot save ourselves and then Indra because of his sankalpa: resolve, he created a fever which was very cold in nature. Vritra being sick due to the fever and very exhausted and yawned very loudly and Agni and Soma suddenly they came out, suddenly Vritra’s prana and apana they gave up on him. Here Vritra’s life air is considered as pranovau dakshopanaha krituhu he is called daksha and the apana is called krituhu. daksha is expert in work. Krutu: deha samarthya. Therefore those who have lost the power of action and lack of physical strength, he is considered as dead like Vritra. Whenever performing yajna and if there is disturbance in any part of the body and if yawning happens it is called mayi daksho krito this mantra should be chanted. But one who understand this secret he doesn’t experience sheeta jvara-- cold fever. In this way Agni and Soma went inside the body of Vritra and came out. When Vritra was not willing to be killed, Indra came to kill him.

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== In the clutches of Vritra, Dyava and Prithvi ==

At that time Dyava and Prithvi they stopped him and explained, don’t kill him because he has covered the entire planetary system from bhumi to dyu loka. If you kill him, it’s like killing us as he took our shelter. And Indra did not agree. That time dyava and prithvi asked for benediction. Dyava requested that he should always stay with the stars and bhumi devi said I should stay with reptiles, birds, animals, lata, gulma, rivers, mountains and so many colorful items should be always available. Indra agreed to their proposals and killed Vritra on a full moon light. Vritra vadhi happens on full moon. Therefore full moon light is called vartaagni. That means the darkness which is covered that enemy has to be killed. That’s the import.

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== The teja of the devathas from Vritra’s body brought by the Cows ==

Then after Indra addressed Agni and Soma, he said that just like in the past you should bring havya in the yajna for us. They said, since we are stuck in the jaws of Vritra, we have lost our teja--brightness. Till we get it back, we can’t get your oblation or havishya. That time the devathas sent the gomatha to bring the teja. Because it is said gauravau sarvasya mitramiti cow is a friend of everybody, the cow agreed upon this and asked for a benediction: If she could bring the teja from the body of Vritra then what ever comes from her: the milk, ghee in that let there be the power of devathas and Indra agreed upon this and in this way the teja of Agnis in the ghee and soma’s teja in the milk and in the other ingredients, the power of devathas is hidden. This is explained by Sruthi very interestingly.

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Indra and Vrtrasura (इन्द्रः वृत्रासुरः च) (view source)

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