The Vajra

It was thousands of years ago, the Gods were resting in the heavens, and the people in the villages were rejoicing the for harvest. However, as the times went on, the rivers dried out, the rains stopped, and the sun stopped shining. The people of the villages made many sacrifices to the Gods and prayed, but it was to no avail.

Up in the heavens, Indra, Chief of the Gods, heard the cries of the people. He sought out the various monsters of the world, and could not determine what was the cause of this drought. Time continued to drag on, and the sacrifices to the Gods were decreasing. Not only had they lost their livestock and crops to sacrifice to the Gods, but they were losing faith in them. Indra, looking out for his people, continued his search, and he came unto a land ruled by the Asuras. Upon encountering different Asuras, he made his way further to the leader of the Asuras: Vritra.

The drought serpent was obstructing the rains and holding them captive. He was able to create suffering in the world, and prevent any human happiness. Indra tried reasoning with Vritra, but to no avail. Vritra tried attacking Indra, and despite his attempts to kill Vritra and free the waters, it was to no avail. Indra tried striking him down with the lightning in the heavens, but Vritra simply absorbed the shock and struck back. Indra tried shaking the earth beneath Vritra to swallow him up, but again, it was to no avail. On the other hand, Vritra was able to wound Indra. He lashed out at Indra, wounding his shoulder, and Indra was only able to barely escape.

Indra returned to the Gods and try as they might, not a single one could think of a way to defeat Vritra. As this happened, the drought continued on, the grounds cracked, and the life of every village withered. Indra reached out to every weapons maker in the land, searching for a weapon to defeat Vritra. Many suggested a variety of swords, spears, and slingshots, but none would stand up to Vritra or any other Asuras for that matter. But then, when the search was near exhausted, Tvashtri, the great inventor gave Indra a divine weapon.

Tvashtri was the father of Vritra, and he did not know that Indra planned to use the Vajra to defeat Vritra. Tvashtri was the divine builder, creator of the heavens, and he was revered by many in the land as the best weapons maker in all of India. He carefully thought out the design of the weapon, and he made sure to keep in mind the limitless power that the Gods possessed.

It was a thunderbolt, empowered by every lightning strike and thunderclap in the lands. He showed Indra how he would be able to quash any enemy with this bolt, and he would be able to take on Vritra. It was indestructible, made of the most resilient gems and diamonds in the land. The weapon's name was Vajra, meaning diamond and thunderbolt. It represented the infinite power of Indra and the lightning that he controlled. In addition, it represented the indestructibility that the Gods possessed. It was specially tailored just for Indra, as it would only be indestructible in his hands. The weapon was enchanted by Tvashtri so that only Indra would be able to wield it, and only Indra would be able to understand its power.

Equipped with his new weapon, Indra rained down from the heavens a powerful thunderstorm, monsoons fell from the sky among the lands. The people of the villages watched this display of power and longed for the rains to fall in their lands as well. Indra continued to display the newfound power that he had, and he continued the monsoons across all of India. The lightning that night was spectacular and illuminated the skies as if it was day. The people prayed for the rains to come back to their land, and in addition, they prayed that the Gods would be able to defeat Vritra. The rumbles of the thunder claps were so strong that even the Asura could sense something of divine creation was coming.

Author's Note:

In this story, I described how Vritra and Indra came to quarrel, and I discuss in depth the wrongs that Vritra does to provoke a response from the Gods. The Asuras are considered to be a class of people that are either Gods or demons in some tellings of the story, and in other tellings of the story, they are demons. Vritra is the drought serpent, known best for obstructing the rains and for holding them captive. In order to defeat him, the Vajra is created. I changed parts of the story in the lead-up to the battle, but I kept the main idea about the creation of the weapon. It is true that it is made of diamonds in lightning to represent indestructibility and power. I found that part interesting so I kept it true. I left the ending to be ambiguous as to how the fight will go, but one thing I added was the display of power to where Indra wasted a large amount of waters on India, instead of providing it for the people. I wanted to show that the upcoming battle would feature a powerful weapon so strong that it was able to provide for the people despite Vritra's attempts. I also added in some backstory on Tvashtri (or also, Tvastar) to give insight into who he is and why he is the one to build the weapon.

Next Story: Indra Battles Vritra

Bibliography:

Tvastar, Wikipedia

Vritra, Wikipedia

Vajra, Wikipedia

The Vajra, a divine weapon specially made for Indra. Source: Wikimedia Commons