Vṛtra
mythological figure · 4 works · 76 mentions · 164 anchored passages
the serpent · Vṛtras · Ahi · the Vṛtras · Vrtra · that great Daitya · the Vrtras · the Vṛtra-foes · the devourer · the dragon who enveloped the waters
in the texts
Rigveda
The cosmic serpent-demon who withheld the waters, slain by Indra with the thunderbolt.
He slew the serpent lying on the mountain;
Vṛtra's mother, Dānu, became one who sinks downward;
Footless and handless, Vṛtra still fought against Indra;
Atharvaveda (Paippalāda)
Mythic serpent-demon slain by Indra, referenced as Kuṣṭha's origin-point and via Indra's epithet 'slayer of Vṛtra'.
O Kuṣṭha, you are thrice-born from Vṛtra;
What king Varuṇa knows, what the god Bṛhaspati knows, what Indra the slayer of Vṛtra knows — let that become life-force for you, let that become vital lustre for you.
Indra the irresistible conqueror smote Vṛtra;
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa
The demon slain by Indra, whose defeat is recalled as an auspicious precedent.
Whatever auspiciousness arose for the thousand-eyed Indra, saluted by all gods, at the slaying of Vṛtra — may that same auspiciousness be yours.
"In battle against those two, your wrestling hold would be as unstable as the seizure of Indra's arms by Vṛtra — only to be overcome by a single arm.
It severed the head of the lord of rākṣasas — that head resembling a great mountain peak, with bared tusks and swaying lovely earrings — even as Puraṃdara once severed the head of Vṛtra.
Sāmaveda
The cosmic serpent-demon who obstructs the waters, slain by Indra in the central myth of the Indra hymns.
No one surpasses you, O Indra.
Do not turn away from us, O Indra;
Show grace to your praisers, O Indra.