Asura – Indra vs Vritra
The sky’s blackish-indigo canvas was peppered with flashes of lightning. The sound of the crashing thunder was drowned by the sound of clashing swords and grunts and roars that reached all three worlds. Gods, humans, dwellers of svarga and naraka stood still and witnessed the spectacle that was unfolding before them.
On one side stood Indra, the King of the devas and the ruler of svarga, atop his magnificent white elephant Airavata and facing him was Vritra, the King of the asuras and the purveyor of drought. The two sworn enemies had been engaged in a fierce fight for 359 continuous days – a battle between good and evil.
‘Give up, Vritra!’ Indra bellowed. ‘Your path of destruction is unholy. Surrender and I’ll give you a swift death.’
‘I have defeated you before, Indra!’ thundered Vritra. ‘My sole existence is to end you and I would have done it already if not for the Gods’ interference. Don’t worry, I will finish the job today.’
‘You are evil and need to be destroyed,’ Indra said and let loose a volley of arrows towards his adversary.
‘What’s good and what’s evil?’ Vritra deflected the arrows and growled. ‘My nature is to be violent, but you are hedonistic, adulterous, and drunk in your own pride. Yet you are the champion of all that is good and I represent evil? You came to me waving the flag of friendship, yet it was all a ploy to find out my weakness. Yet I’m evil, and you are good?’
Indra didn’t, couldn’t reply. What Vritra stated was true, yet he had a moral obligation to kill this personification of evil. After all, that’s what the Asuras were – evil. He muttered the spell to invoke his special weapon – the mighty Vajrayudha, and with a hoarse cry fell on his enemy.
Note: 1. According to Hindu mythology, Vritrasura was created by an enraged sage whose son was killed by Indra.
2. Vritra resembled a gigantic serpent. The myth of a Storm God battling and slaying a serpent is prevalent in many cultures. Thor vs Jörmungandr (Norse), Zeus vs Typhon (Greek), Susano’o vs Yamata-no-Orochi (Japanese)
Glossary:
Asura – Fallen Gods, demons (Hindu mythology)
Deva – Gods
Svarga and Naraka – Heaven and Hell
Vajrayudha – Indra’s weapon made from the bones of the sage Dadhichi.
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My books are available on Amazon: Please click the links to buy them and support a fellow writer. Thank You.
1. Tales With A Twist – A collection of my short stories.
2. Route 13 : Highway to Hell– An anthology of horror short stories.
