Vritra is a Sanskrit word which means ‘enveloper’. Vritra is a snake deity, a dragon or a the Vedic serpent in Hinduism. He is the opponent of Lord Indra and the personification of drought. Recognized as an Asura, he is called as Ahi in the Vedas. In Sanskrit, Ahi means ‘snake’. In the form of a dragon he is known to have blocked the course of rivers. Finally, it was the heroic Indra God who killed Vritra. Vritra is killed by Lord Indra (King of Deities) with a thunderbolt.
In the Rigvedic interpretations of the 20th century, Lord Vritra was wrongfully interpreted as reference to irrigation systems and dams of the IVC – the Indus Valley Civilization which. The belief is that the IVC ended as the Vedic people destroyed it. However, currently the theory about the ending of IVC has seen a change. There is much clarity now that it was because of extreme drought for long periods that the IVC came to an end.
Vritra captured waters of the world, as per the Rigveda. Finally Indra killed him, demolished 99 of his fortresses and set the imprisoned rivers free. To kill Vritra, Indra had empowered himself with Soma which he drank in huge amouts at Tvashtri’s home. On winning the battle, Indra was recognized as the, ‘Slayer of the First-Born Dragons’, ‘Slayer of Vritra’ or the ‘Vrtrahan’. After killing Vritra, Indra then killed Danu (Vritra’s mother) with the thunderbolt.
One of the verses in the Rigvedic hymns states that it was Sarasvati who killed Vritra, which is actually reflected nowhere else. In a Puranic description and in other vesions later, it was artisan god Tvashta who created Vritra to avenge the killing of his son Visvarupa or Trisiras, by the Indra. However Vritra swallows Indra after winning the battle but vomits him out as forced by the other Gods. Eventually, Indra fleed but due to a truce brokered by the sages and Vishnu, Indra then uses foam from the waves of the ocean and selects twilight time to kill Vritra.
