(“obstruction”) In one of the hymns from the Rig Veda (1.32),
the earliest Hindu holy literature, the name of the demon slain by the
storm-god Indra.
Vrtra is characterized in this hymn as a snake who obstructs
the free flow of water, thus his name.
The action in this hymn is one of Indra's defining acts, in
which he kills the snake, slices it up, and lets the rivers flow freely.
Some interpreters who view the Vedas as historical records
have perceived in this song the approaching Aryans bursting the dams built by
the Indus Valley civilization, however there is scant evidence that such an
episode really occurred.
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