Editing Dragon (section)

===India===
[[File:Paphal (Musée du Quai Branly) (4489839164).jpg|thumb|Head of the dragon-god [[Pakhangba]] depicted on a musical instrument from [[Manipur]], India]]
In the ''[[Rigveda]]'', the oldest of the four [[Vedas]], [[Indra]], the Vedic god of storms, battles [[Vritra|Vṛtra]], a giant serpent who represents drought.{{sfn|West|2007|pages=255–257}} Indra kills Vṛtra using his ''[[vajra]]'' (thunderbolt) and clears the path for rain,{{sfn|West|2007|pages=256–257}}{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=16}} which is described in the form of cattle: "You won the cows, hero, you won the [[Soma (drink)|Soma]],/You freed the seven streams to flow" ([[Rigveda 1.32|''Rigveda'' 1.32.12]]).{{sfn|West|2007|page=257}} In another Rigvedic legend, the three-headed serpent [[Trisiras|Viśvarūpa]], the son of [[Tvastar|Tvaṣṭṛ]], guards a wealth of cows and horses.{{sfn|West|2007|page=260}} Indra delivers Viśvarūpa to a god named [[Trita|Trita Āptya]],{{sfn|West|2007|page=260}} who fights and kills him and sets his cattle free.{{sfn|West|2007|page=260}} Indra cuts off Viśvarūpa's heads and drives the cattle home for Trita.{{sfn|West|2007|page=260}} This same story is alluded to in the [[Younger Avesta]],{{sfn|West|2007|page=260}} in which the hero [[Fereydun|Thraētaona]], the son of Āthbya, slays the three-headed dragon [[Zahhak|Aži Dahāka]] and takes his two beautiful wives as spoils.{{sfn|West|2007|page=260}} Thraētaona's name (meaning "third grandson of the waters") indicates that Aži Dahāka, like Vṛtra, was seen as a blocker of waters and cause of drought.{{sfn|West|2007|page=260}}