In the Vedic religion (prior to Hinduism), Vritrá is an asura (demon) in the form of a serpent or dragon, personification of drought and enemy of the god Indra. In Vedic texts it was also known as Aji ('serpent'). He was Valá's brother. Like a dragon he blocked the course of the Vedic rivers and was heroically killed by Indra.
Vedic version
According to the Rig-veda (14th century BC), Vritrá held the waters of the world captive until he was killed by Indra, who destroyed all ninety-nine fortresses of Vritrá (although these fortresses are sometimes attributed to Shambara) before release dammed rivers. The fight began shortly after the birth of Indra, who had drunk a large amount of soma at the house of the sage Tuashtri to empower him before facing Vritrá. Tuashtri created the thunderbolt (vashra) for Indra, and the god Vishnu, when requested by Indra, made room for the battle, taking the three great steps for which he became famous.
During the battle, Vritrá broke both of Indra's jaws, but was eventually struck down by Indra. As it fell, it finished crushing their fortresses, which Indra had already shattered.
For this feat, Indra was known as Vritraján ('slayer of Vritrá') and also as 'slayer of the firstborn of dragons'. Indra then attacked with his thunderbolt and defeated Vritrá's mother, Danu (who was also the mother of the entire Danava race of asuras).
In one of the versions of the legend, Indra convinced three devas - Váruna, Soma and Agni - to help him in his fight against Vritrá. Previously they had been on the side of the asura, whom they called "Father".
In a Rigvedic hymn line praising the goddess Saraswati, the goddess Saraswati is credited with the murder of Vritrá. This mention does not occur anywhere else
Later Puranic versions
In a later confusing modification of the myth, Vritrá would have been created by Tuashtri to avenge the death of his son Trisiras or Vishua Rupa, who had been killed by Indra. Vritrá won the battle and swallowed Indra, but the other gods forced him to vomit him out. The battle continued and Indra was forced to flee.
Vishnu and the Rishis (hermit sages) negotiated a truce: Indra promised that he would not attack Vritra with anything made of metal, wood, or stone, or anything that was dry or wet, or during the day or night. Then Indra used foam extracted from the waves of the ocean (in which the all-pervading Vishnu had entered to make it a weapon) and killed him in the twilight.
In the "Bhagavata-purana"
The Bhagavata-purana (ca. 11th century AD) makes Vrittra a bhakta (devotee) of the god Vishnu and thus more spiritually advanced than the materialistic Indra. That legend goes like this:
Vritrá (who is a Brahmin in this version ) became the leader of the asuras (who are considered in the Puranas to be inherently demonic, unlike the ancient Vedic version which allowed them to be gods or demons). Vritrá fought for thousands of years against the deva gods. In the end, the asuras won and the devas withdrew. Led by Indra, they approached the god Vishnu for help. He revealed to them that Vritra could not be destroyed by ordinary means, but only with a spear made from the backbone of a sage. When the gods revealed their doubts that no ascetic would commit suicide to help them, Vishnu sent them to the Rishi sage Dadichi. His bones were indestructible because years before, when the devas had asked him to put away his iron weapons (a metallurgy unknown in India at the time), Dadichi had unwittingly ruined them by keeping them stored in Ganges water (which he believed would give them brightness and energy). The weapons had rusted and dissolved in the water, and Dadichi drank from that water to absorb the weapons' energy. When he was summoned by the gods, Dadhichi gladly relinquished his body to the cause of the devas, stating that this was a better use of his bones than to rot in the ground. The sage committed suicide, the animals ate his flesh and Indra collected the column from him and created the vashra aiudha. When he again attacked Vritrá, the battle raged for 360 days before the brahmin asura breathed his last.
In both versions (either for killing the brahmin Trisiras or the brahmin Vritrá), Indra ended up being persecuted by the anthropomorphic personification of brahmanicide (brahmana-jatia) . Indra hid himself because of his sin, 1011 and Najusha was invited to take his place as king of heaven.
Quote from other legends
The Puranic version that Indra was able to kill Vritrá only when certain conditions were fulfilled could come from the Ramaiana (whose composition could be dated to the same time), where the gods could not kill the demon Ravana because of a blessing that prevented him from killing him. was killed by any human being. In that case Rama was able to kill him because he took advantage of the legal loophole: he was not a human being but a god incarnate.
Perhaps a more similar Puranic legend is earlier, that of Nara Simja ('man-lion', avatar of Vishnu). There Jirania-Kashipú , being an asura king, used the same stratagem as his ancestors, he obtained a blessing from the god Brahma that prevented him from dying day or night, by human being or beast, inside or outside a house, and for no reason. man-made weapon. In order to kill this asura without contradicting the blessing of his beloved Brahma, Vishnu incarnated as a mixture of man and lion (he was neither human nor beast). Narasimja used his fingernails (no man-made weapon), placed Hirania-Kashipu at the gate (it was neither inside nor outside) and ripped out his intestines in the twilight (it was neither day nor night).
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