# Myth: Tvaṣṭṛ & Indra Act 1 — The Backstory “tváṣṭā hatáputro vī́ndraṁ sómam ā́harat” [TS 2.5.2.1] Tvastr is a manufacturing god, skilled in carpentry and suchlike activities, known for making the ‘camasa of the gods’ [RV 1.20.6], the special cup they use to drink soma. A connection between Tvastr and Tuisto, the legendary ancestor of the Germanic peoples, has been postulated. When Tvastr held a soma-drinking rite at his home, he did not invite Indra. This is because Indra had previously killed Tvastr’s son, the three-headed Visvarupa, in an earlier soma-related altercation. Indra turned up anyway and forcibly drank the soma, causing some disturbance in proceedings. Indeed, there would seem to be a parallel with the Norse God Loki here, who, in a story in the Poetic Edda, is not invited to join in drinking mead with the gods in the mead-hall, leading to a similarly awkward situation. However, the parallel is not very exact, and in other respects, Indra is more analogous to Thor, as noted above. “yád ábravīt svā́héndraśatrur vardʰasvéti tásmād asya || índraḥ śátrur abʰavat” [TS 2.5.2.1–2] One well-liked feature to the backstory to the battle is its illustration of a nice grammatical point of Sanskrit grammar and accent. In retaliation, Tvastr then threw the dregs from Indra’s cup into the ritual fire, speaking a mantra to bring into being a monstrous creature from that fire. This was Vrtra, a kind of dragon or serpent-like creature. Sad to say (yet fortunately in the ultimate analysis), Tvastr pronounced the udātta (‘raised’ or ‘acute’) accent on the first syllable of ‘Indra’ instead of on the first syllable of ‘slayer’. This resulted in him saying ‘May Indra be the slayer of him’ rather than ‘May he be the slayer of Indra’, thereby precipitating an opposite train of events to that he had originally intended. Act 2 — Preparing for battle “tásmād índro ‘bibʰet | ápi tváṣṭā” [TS 2.4.12.2] Luckily, this worked out for the best, as not only Indra but even Tvastr himself became frightened by the immense power of the creature that had been birthed. It seemed necessary to both of them that it be slain forthwith. “takṣan tvaṣṭā vajram puruhūta dyumantam” [RV 5.31.4] Accordingly, Tvastr resolved to make a vajra, a sort of bolt or discus, as a special weapon for Indra to use in battle with Vrtra. Tvastr made this weapon from the bones of the sage Dadhyanc who nobly sacrificed his life for this purpose. “brahmāṇa indram mahayanto arkair avardhayann ahaye hantavā u” [RV 5.31.4] Meanwhile, Brahmins praised Indra so as to increase his strength… “vṛṣāyamāṇo ‘vṛṇīta somaṃ trikadrukeṣv apibat sutasya” [RV 1.32.3; cf. RV 2.15.1] … and Indra, naturally, eagerly drinks three full cups of soma in preparation for the battle … “tvaṣṭur gṛhe apibat somam indraḥ” [RV 4.18.3] … all while he is still at Tvastr’s home. Act 3 — The battle itself “ahan vṛtraṃ vṛtrataraṃ vyaṃsam indro vajreṇa mahatā vadhena” [RV 1.32.5] Indra engages in single combat, striking Vrtra with the vajra weapon and breaking him into pieces … “[s]hiro dāsasya sam piṇag vadhena” [RV 4.18.9] … smashing Vrtras’s head … “vṛtrasya yat pravaṇe durgṛbhiśvano nijaghantha hanvor indra tanyatum” [RV 1.52.6] … and his jaw … “apād ahasto apṛtanyad indram āsya vajram adhi sānau jaghāna” [RV 1.32.7] … and when Vrtra continued to fight even without hands or feet, Indra gave him a blow on the shoulders with the Vajra weapon … “ta in nv asya madhumad vivipra indrasya śardho maruto ya āsan yebhir vṛtrasyeṣito vivedāmarmaṇo manyamānasya marma” [RV 3.32.4] … and struck at vulnerable points on his body (marma), with the Maruts cheering him on all the while. “nīcāvayā abhavad vṛtraputrendro asyā ava vadhar jabhāra” [RV 1.32.9] To cap things off, Indra also kills Vrtra’s mother (albeit it is not wholly clear who might be designated in this way). This may perhaps remind us of Beowulf who fought first the monster Grendel and then Grendel’s mother. Act 4 — The aftermath As a result of killing Vrtra, Indra wins back from Vrtra such things as light, the day, the earth, skies, the heavens, the sun, horses, medicinal herbs, gold, and the cow that feeds many people [RV 3.34]. “sṛjo mahīr indra yā apinvaḥ pariṣṭhitā ahinā śūra pūrvīḥ” [RV 2.11.2] He lets loose the streams that Vrtra had trapped … “vṛtraṃ jaghanvāṃ avṛṇīta somam” [RV 3.36.8] …and also recovers the soma from Vrtra. “prati śroṇa sthād vy anag acaṣṭa somasya tā mada indraś cakāra” [RV 2.15.7] The power gained by drinking soma empowers him to make the lame stand upright and the blind see … “asmabhyaṃ tad dharyaśva pra yandhi” [RV 3.36.9] … and we kindly request that he shares the soma with us too. The whole story may somewhat remind us of the Norse tales such as Sigurd and the dragon Fafnir, who similarly guarded a treasure. In Old English literature, we are reminded of [Beowulf](beowulf.md), who fights in turn with the monster Grendel, Grendel’s mother and later in life with an unnamed dragon, referred to alternately as ‘draca’ and as ‘wyrm’, who is angered when an item is stolen from his treasure-hoard. The theme of hero and dragon was considered to be an archetype of the collective unconscious by Jung. We could also view it as a symbolic representation of natural phenomena such as day, night, solar eclipse, flood etc. and as a single ancient story theme that was carried across the world. Any or all of these understandings and others may be complementary to each other. At the same time, it must be admitted that our overall understanding of this collective myth is fragmentary and that the strength of our relationship with Indra in the contemporary world appears to be in decline. In this post, I have surveyed just a few of the verses about Indra in the Vedic literature, which may increase the level of awareness about Indra. Further, by reflecting on hero and dragon mythologies across world cultures in this way, this may also encourage us in the liberal-minded belief that ‘the whole world is one family’.