Introduction
Vritra, "the encloser", is a serpent-demon and one of the oldest and most important adversaries in Indian mythology, already central to the Rigveda. He held back the waters of the world, and his killing by Indra is one of the great founding myths of the Vedic pantheon. In later Puranic genealogy he is made a son of Tvashtri, created specifically to avenge Vishvarupa.
This article follows the Puranic tradition. Where a detail differs between texts, the article says so.
Family
- Father: Tvashtri
- Siblings: Sanjna, Vishvarupa
In the Rigveda
The killing of Vritra (Vritrahatya) by Indra is the central heroic act celebrated throughout the Rigveda, so much so that Indra's most common epithet, Vritrahan, "slayer of Vritra", refers to it directly. Vritra, coiled around the mountains, held back the cosmic waters; Indra, fortified by soma, struck him with the vajra and released the rivers to flow to the sea. The myth is understood by scholars as an image of drought ended by storm, and of cosmic order established against chaos.
The Puranic account
In the epic and Puranic retelling, Vritra's origin is given a genealogy. After Indra killed Tvashtri's three-headed son Vishvarupa on suspicion of favouring the Asuras, Tvashtri, in fury, performed a sacrifice from which Vritra arose, created expressly to destroy Indra.
Dadhichi's bones
Indra could not defeat Vritra with ordinary weapons, and the gods learned that only a weapon made from the bones of the sage Dadhichi, who had strengthened himself through Vedic study and austerity, could succeed. Dadhichi willingly gave up his life and his bones, from which the divine craftsman fashioned a new, more powerful vajra, the thunderbolt, with which Indra finally killed Vritra.
Meaning
The story of Vritra is one of the oldest survivals of a widespread ancient theme, the storm god's combat with a chaos-serpent that blocks the waters, and remains foundational to Indra's identity throughout later tradition.