“I will give birth to a son who will kill Indra,” said Kashyapa.

He plucked a hair from his head and flung it down on the ground. From this hair was created a fierce son named Vritra. Vritra was as dark as the night and his eyes were yellow. He was armed with a shield and a sword.

“Why have you created me?” asked Vritra. “What do you wish me to do?”

“Kill that sinner Indra,” said Kashyapa. “Destroy him and become the king of the gods yourself.”

Vritra started to practise the art of warfare so that the might be able to kill Indra. This news was carried to Indra and he was greatly alarmed. He sent the seven great sages (saptarshi) on a mission of peace to Vritra. They were to try and engineer a peace between Vritra and Indra.

“Indra has sent us,” the sages told Vritra. “He wishes to be friends with you; he does not want to be your enemy. Why don’t you have a truce? Indra’s kingdom can be divided into two. You can rule over one half and Indra will rule over the other.”

“I have no objection to the truce,” replied Vritra. “But does Indra really want it? What guarantee is there that he will abide by the conditions of the truce?”

“The killing of a brahmana is a great sin,” answered the sages. “Indra has promised that if he goes back on his word, he will be guilty of committing a sin. And the sin will be as severe as would have been the case had Indra actually killed a brahmana.”

These words assured Vritra and he agreed to the truce. The sages led Vritra to Indra and the two to them made friends. Indra gave Vritra all sorts of offerings, including half of his kingdom.

But Indra did not really mean a word of what he had said. He continued to look for a way of destroying Vritra.

There was a beautiful garden named nandanakanana. On one occasion, Vritra went on a trip to this garden and was wandering around the place. Indra instructed an apsara named Rambha to try and entice Vritra. Rambha was so beautiful that Vritra immediately fell in love with her. “Please marry me,” he told Rambha.

“I will marry you,” replied Rambha. “But you must always do exactly as I say.”

Vritra accepted this stipulation. After some days, Rambha asked Vritra to drink wine.

“How can I drink wine?” asked Vritra. “I am the son of a brahmana. Drinking wine would be a sin for me.”

But Rambha insisted. Vritra fell unconscious as soon as he had drunk the wine. Indra was waiting for this opportunity and he killed Vritra with his vajra. AS per the condition, the sin (papa) of killing a brahmana was incurred by Indra.

(Vritra’s story is given in detail in the Devi Bhagavata Purana and differs in some essential respects from that given herew. Vishwakarma is the architect of the gods. According to that account, Vritra was Vishvakarma’s son, and Vritra and Indra fought for a hundred years on the shores of the lake Manasa Sarovara. The advice that a fake truce with Vritra should be agreed upon was proferred by Vishnu. Vritra also occurs in the Vedas. Having killed Vritra, Indra acquired the name of Vritraghna.)