HINDU ENCYCLOPEDIA

सनातन धर्म भूमिका

Meaning of "Vrtra"

Word

Vrtra

Sanskrit

वृत्र

IAST

vṛtra

In General

Vrtra is the leader of demonic forces in Vedic literature. Vrtra is opposed to spread of light and knowledge. He with his coil of darkness obstructs all the possibilities of divine action and existence entering to human being.

Veda

Vrtra is said to block the flow of all waters which represent the creative energies. By stopping these waters, he is stopping the creative activities which can lead us to all around prosperity based on knowledge of the gods and the rishis. Indra often battles with Vrtra and releases the flow of waters or creative energies.

Purana

Taking the inspiration from Vedas, the demonic forces are given human figure in Puranas, but they are quite different from the Vedic demon like Vrtra and Vala.

Under the leadership of Vrtrasura, the Kalakeyas and many other Raksasas besieged the Devas. The battle raged furiously. Indra fell down unconscious owing to the shower of arrows from Vrtra. Vasistha came to the rescue and Indra got back his consciousness. Finding it impossible to kill Vrtra, the Devas under the leadership of Indra approached Mahavishnu. Vishnu told them that Vrtra could be killed only with the bone of the sage Dadhica. So all of them approached Dadhica. Realising the situation, Dadhica let Indra have his bone for the purpose. Indra made his weapon Vajra with that bone and receiving a fatal stroke from it, Vrtra fell down dead. After killing Vrtrasura, Indra hid himself in a lotus flower in the Manasa lake, to expiate for the sin of Brahmahatya. It was at that time that Nahusa became Indra. After Nahusa had been forced to go back to the earth as a serpent by the curse of Agastya, the Devas brought back Indra.

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Word Sanskrit IAST In General Veda Purana