Devalok
Legend · 2 tellings · Pan-India

Vishnu stands by Indra, and Vritra gives up the three Vedas

Before the thunderbolt falls, Indra asks Vishnu to stand by him. Each time Indra raises the bolt Vritra buys time by surrendering a part of the sacred knowledge held inside him.

Who is in it

  • Indra raises the thunderbolt three times
  • Vishnu stands by him and says strike
  • Vritra surrenders the Vedas to gain time

Texts: Shatapatha Brahmana

The story, beat by beat

  1. Everything, the Rik, the Yajus and the Saman, is inside Vritra.
  2. Indra asks Vishnu to stand by him while he hurls the thunderbolt; Vishnu agrees.
  3. Indra aims; Vritra, afraid, gives up the Yajus formulas and asks not to be struck.
  4. Indra aims again; Vritra gives up the Rik verses.
  5. Indra aims a third time; Vritra gives up the Saman chants.
  6. The offering to Indra and Vishnu is shared because one raised the bolt and the other stood by.

friendship dragon vedas sacrifice

How it is told, place by place

Base telling · Primary text (translation)

Shatapatha Brahmana 5.5.5.1-7

Pan-India All traditions

Of old everything was within Vritra: the Rik, the Yajus and the Saman. Indra, wishing to hurl the thunderbolt, asks Vishnu to stand by him and Vishnu agrees. Three times Indra aims, and each time the frightened Vritra gives up a store of strength to save himself: the Yajus formulas, the Rik verses, the Saman chants. This is why the three Vedas are used in that order and why a cake is offered to Indra and Vishnu together.

The Satapatha-Brahmana, tr. Julius Eggeling (Sacred Books of the East 12, 41) § 5.5.5.1-7

Primary text (translation)

Taittiriya Samhita 6.5.1

Pan-India All traditions

Indra raises his bolt at Vritra three times. Each time Vritra pleads and bestows his strength on Indra in the form of the Ukthya cup. At the third raising Vishnu supports Indra and tells him to strike. Having lost his magic power, which was the sacrifice, Vritra is killed; Vishnu is given a share in the cup because he said strike.

What is different here:

The thing surrendered is the Ukthya cup, not the Vedas; Vishnu speaks.

The Veda of the Black Yajus School (Taittiriya Sanhita), tr. A. B. Keith (1914) § 6.5.1

Sources: The Satapatha-Brahmana, tr. Julius Eggeling (Sacred Books of the East 12, 41); The Veda of the Black Yajus School (Taittiriya Sanhita), tr. A. B. Keith (1914)

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