Dried River - Image Source: Jae C. Hong at Wired
Vritra, Dragon of Drought
Two sets of footprints wound their way through the sand toward the crashing sea. A mother and daughter, walking side by side, had decided to spend their morning enjoying the fresh breeze and deep blue waters of the coast. Thought the day was sunny, the mischievous winds danced across the dunes and stirred up trouble, and the swells deposited foam onto the usually clean sands.
"Mama, the beach is dirty today, and I want to play in the water," the young child whined.
"Hush child," the mother chided, "we must not speak poorly of the sea foam, for we owe it great respect. Do you know what it has done for you?" she inquired.
The girl tilted her head, a confused look passing over her features. "No mama, what did the sea foam do?"
The mother gestured to a warm spot of sand. and said, "Let us sit here, and I will tell you of the days when humans were nearly wiped from the earth."
The pair settled in, and the girl watched her mother expectantly. After rearranging her skirts around her feet, she began.
"There was not always peace among the Gods. After the killing of Trisiras son of Tvashtr by the God Indra, the artisan God resolved to punish Indra God of the skies for his crimes. Stirring together metal, red wine, and the citrus of five lemons, he forged the mighty dragon Vritra who might consume the waters of the earth and destroy the rash God Indra."
"A dragon?" the girl gasped. Her eyes widened in fear.
"Yes. Dragons once roamed the earth, but they threaten us no longer, thanks to the protection of the Gods. Now sit quietly and let me finish the story."
The mother paused a few moments, then began again. "After a short time, Vritra began to thirst for the rivers and coiled himself at their source. He drank and drank until he had drunk his fill and the earth was dry and barren, leaving only the seas. The people of the earth cried out to be rescued from the terrible serpent, and Indra heard their voices. Gathering together his weapons and mount, he prepared himself to fight the mighty dragon.
"Following a long and dusty journey, Indra reached the mouth of the rivers where Vritra the dragon lay, sated and full. When the dragon saw him, he rose and faced his enemy, the being he had been forged to destroy. The two found themselves caught in a terrible battle. At times, Indra thought himself close to victory, and at times, Vritra believed success lay close at hand. Yet the battle raged on.
"After many days and nights, the sages of the land begged the two great beings to cease. Their fighting had torn up the land, and the earth was gouged and ruined. At the guidance of the wise men, Vritra and Indra agreed to create a truce. They agreed that neither should kill the other with metal, wood, or stone, with nothing wet nor dry. Furthermore, they must not attack by day or night, lest the truce be undone and the fighting resumed."
"Mama, did he really get away with attacking one of the Gods?" the child interrupted again.
"Wait and see, little one. A spot of patience will do you much good," she gently reminded the girl before returning to her tale.
"Vritra returned to his lair in the Earth, satisfied with his consumption and the agreement. Yet Indra, God of lightning and thunder, found himself unhappy with the deal. He had not returned the rivers to the earth, and as he fumed, the air began to crackle with electricity.
"Indra paced by the sea, the only source of water remaining. The salty water crashed onto the rocks and sand as if to remind him of his inability to restore the rivers. As he walked, the foam washed up on his boots, and he understood that victory might still be his if he considered the rules of the agreement carefully. He began to collect the foam into buckets, working until the sun began to set.
"As the sky darkened, Indra took all of the ocean foam that he had gathered and snuck to the mouth of Vritra's lair. The moment that twilight fell, he poured all of it in until the lair was full and covered the opening with a stone, causing the great dragon inside to drown. In a rush, out poured the rivers of the earth, returning to their rightful spots. And thus did Indra kill Vritra, not with metal, wood, nor stone, with something that was not wet nor dry, and during neither the night or day. For by cleverness can even impossible battles be won."
"Come, daughter, it's time to return home for lunch," the mother said, standing up from her nest in the sand and preparing herself and the girl for the walk. As the two went back the way they had come, the winds began to settle, and the sea foam slowly melted away, leaving nothing but clean sand and a reminder of the Gods' protection.
Story Source: The story of Vritra
Author's Note: There are two tales involving the dragon Vritra. In one, he causes a great drought and is overcome by Indra. In another, he is forged by Tvashtr to avenge his son's death. The God and dragon battle and cannot overcome one another, so they form a truce not to kill one another with anything made of metal, wood, or stone, nor anything dry or wet, during the day or night. Indra overcomes the dragon by killing him at twilight with ocean foam. I wanted to combine the two in order to give me more aspects of the story to run with. In the beginning, I had Tvashtr forge Vritra with metal and things that dry out the mouth to focus on the aspect of drought. I hoped to emphasize the earth aspect of the story by centralizing on the drought, so I used that to draw Indra into the battle. There weren't many details in the original besides the very basic storyline, so I added some parts, like the inspiration at the beach. Also, the original tale has Vritra dying by foam but doesn't describe how. I thought it fitting for him to die in the heart of the earth. Finally, while there was not a particular moral accompanying this story, I felt that the original to some extent celebrated cleverness, so I made that the focus of the story.
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