Vritra (Megh Rishi)- son of Tvashta
Please try to understand the real story of Megh Rishi.
वृत्र
Vritra is the son of
Tvashta. When
Vishwarupa, the son of
Tvashta, was slain by
Indra,
Tvashta performed a sacrifice with the intention of obtaining a son who could slay the King of Gods. Due to a mispronounciation, he instead obtained a son who would be
slain by
Indra instead. This son was Vritra.
According to the Srimad Bhagavata Purana, Vritra was a King named Chitraketu in his previous birth. While coursing the skies in his chariot, he saw the half-woman (Ardha-Nari) form of Lord
Shiva and made a disparaging comment on it. For this sin, he was cursed to be born as a demon in his next birth.
The battle between Vritra and
Indra was hard fought.
Indra cut off one hand of the demon, but the demon swallowed
Indra and his mount
Iyravata whole. Thanks to the grace of
Vishnu,
Indra did not die. He tore open the abdomen of the demon with his weapon, the Vajra, and emerged victorious. A full account of this episode can be found
here.
Vritra is also mentioned in the
Rig Veda, where he is the demon of drought, who imprisons all the strom clouds and causes drought.
Indra slays him with his thunder-bolt (Vajra) and frees the strom-clouds, bring bountiful rain to end the famine.
This story is taken from
B.P. and Bhagavata Purana (Canto 6, Chapter 7-13).
Brihaspati was the Guru of the
Devas. He was very learned and was first among the
Brahmanas. Everyone used to respect him. It so happened, that when he visited the court of
Indra, the King of the Gods was busy watching his beautiful
Apsaras sing and dance, saw his Guru arrive. However, in his arrogance, he did not rise from his throne, nor did he utter the customary words of welcome and worship.
The sage felt insulted. He resolved that he will no longer grace the councils of the
Devas, and went away to perform penance. Too late,
Indra realized his mistake. H searched high and low for his perceptor, but could not find him. Without their Guru to guide them, the
Devas could not survive for long. Besides, their traditional foes, the
Asuras, will seek to exploit this opportunity to and cash in on their weakened state.
Acting on the advice of Lord
Brahma, the
Devas installed
Vishwarupa, the son of the God
Tvashta as their new Guru. He was also a
Brahmana renowned for his learning and yogic power. As time progressed,
Vishwarupa started to notice that
Indra and the
Devas spent an inordinate amount of time in pursuit of pleasure. Besides, his mother was a
Asura woman, and his loyalty was divided. Secretly, he started giving a portion of the sacrificial oblations (
Havis) to the
Asuras. As a result, their strength increased.
When
Indra came to know of this treachery, he became very angry. Without pausing to think the consequences of his actions, he struck off the three heads of
Vishwarupa. The first head, that was used for drinking Soma, became a francolin partridge, the second head, used for drinking wine turned into a sparrow and the third, used for eating, turned into a partridge. the head of his teacher with his sword. Since he had killed a
Brahmana, that too his Guru, he became guilty of the sin of Brahma-Hatya. However, he escaped his punishment by distributing the sin among the land, water, and women. (Other accounts say that his lusture diminished and he had to regain it by doing penance, during which time he was exiled from heaven.) In return for ridding
Indra of the sin, earth got water to fill its empty holes, trees got re-growth of cut branches, waters became purifying, and women obtained undiminished sexual desire. As a result of their share of the sin, earth has wastelands, trees have sap, waters have froth, and women have menstruation.
Now,
Tvashta wanted revenge for the murder of his son. He began arrangements for a sacrifice that would give him a son who could slay
Indra. The sacrifice was duly performed, but there was a small problem. When it was time for the final incantations,
Tvashta ought to have said, "May this son of mine be the slayer of
Indra", but he stressed the wrong syllables in the Mantra, and the meaning changed to "May
Indra be the slayer of this son of mine."
From the sacrificial fire, there rose a terrible
Asura. He was named
Vritra, 'the encloser'. He immediately grew immensely big and was as large as the largest mountain. His hair was like molten copper, he had a mustache and beard of the same color and had eyes blazing like the midday sun. He was armed with a magical trident. He derived his immense strength from the incantations chanted at the sacrifice. His father then ordered him to go and slay
Indra. Obedient to the command, the demon began to seek the slayer of his elder brother.
Some time before this, the
Asuras had been thoroughly defeated by the
Devas in battle. Peace reigned for a while. The
Devas needed a place to store their weapons safely, for they feared treachery. They then remembered that the
Asuras dared not approach the hermitage of the sage
Dadhichi, such was the yogic power of the hermit. They entrusted all their weapons to his safekeeping.
When
Dadhichi's wife Lopamudra came to know about this, she was not pleased. She said to her husband, "An ascetic should not take sides in a war. Now the
Asuras will think that you are their enemy and seek to harm you. Besides, the Gods have not mentioned how long you are to take care of their weapons. If something were to happen to them in your custody, will they not blame you. We have renounced all worldly possessions and attachments, you were wrong to have taken this responsibility."
Dadhichi saw the force of her arguments. He said, "What you say certainly makes sense. However, I have given my word. It is important to stand by ones promise. Besides, the
Asuras were always the enemies of us sages, so the question of neutrality does not arise. What is fated will happen, and no one prevent it."
Years passed, and
Dadhichi was alarmed to note that the lusture of the divine weapons was beginning to diminish. Their power was slowly dissolving in air. The sage then used his yogic power to dissolve all the weapons in water and then he drank it all up. Their power was then lodged in his bones.
Now, with
Vritra threatening at their doorsteps, the
Devas wanted their weapons back.
Dadhichi said, "I have bad news for you. Your weapons are no longer there. Their power now resides in my bones. I shall give up my life. You can then have new weapons made from my bones."
The Gods naturally balked at the thought of the Rishi's death. However, no other choice was available, for they needed the weapons to battle
Vritra.
Dadhichi gave up his life.
Vishwakarma made
Indra the weapon Vajra from the back bone of the hermit. This weapon was the most powerful weapon of all.
The armies of the
Devas and
Asuras met in the battlefield. From the furious onslaught of the
Asura army, the
Devas were initially driven back, but they redoubled their efforts and slowly gained the upper hand.
Seeing his forces retreating,
Vritra was extremely angry. He charged ahead and stopped the advance of the
Devas single-handedly. He let out a mighty roar, which caused many of the
Devas to faint. Under his purposeful tread, the heavens began to shake. He picked up his immense mace and struck
Iyravata with it.
Indra revived his mount with a touch of
Amrit.
At this point, angry words were exchanged between
Vritra and
Indra. The
Asura taunted
Indra for having slain his brother, a defenseless
Brahmana. Angered,
Indra struck off one hand of
Vritra with his sword. In retaliation, the
Asura made his mouth immensely huge and swallowed
Indra whole.
Though he was swallowed by the
Asura,
Indra did not die, for he was protected by the grace of
Vishnu. He judged it to be time to use his Vajra. He used the great weapon and sliced open the abdomen of the demon, and emerged victorious.
However, having slain the creature emerged from a holy sacrifice, he was once again weighed down with sin. Unlike before, he could not get rid of it easily. He retired to the banks of Manasarovar and performed a penance for thousand years to expiate his sins and to regain his lusture.
http://web.archive.org/web/20070104221418/members.cox.net/apamnapat/entities/Vritra.html
Slaying of Vritra (Megh Rishi)
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