Vrtra

(“obstruction”) The name of the demon
killed by the storm-god Indra in one of the
hymns from the Rg Veda (1.32), the oldest
Hindu religious text. In this hymn Vrtra is
described as a serpent obstructing the free
flow of waters, hence his name. The action
in this hymn is one of Indra’s defining
deeds, in which he destroys the serpent,
cuts it into pieces, and releases the waters
to run free. Some interpreters inclined to
read the Vedas as historical record have
seen in this hymn the breaching of the
dams constructed by the Indus Valley civilization by the incoming Aryans, but
there is little proof that such an incident
ever happened.
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Vraj