Editing Vritra (section)

=== Puranas ===
As told in the narration given to King [[Yudhishthira]] in the [[Mahabharata]], Vritra was an asura created by the artisan god [[Tvashta|Tvashtri]] to avenge the killing of his son by Indra, known as [[Trisiras|Triśiras or Viśvarūpa]]. Vritra won the battle and swallowed Indra, but the other deities forced him to vomit Indra out. The battle continued and Indra was eventually forced to flee. Vishnu and the [[rishi]]s (sages) brokered a truce, with Indra swearing that he would not attack Vritra with anything made of metal, wood or stone, nor anything that was dry or wet, or during the day or the night. Indra used the foam (which Vishnu had entered to ensure victory) from the waves of the ocean to kill him at twilight.

The [[Bhagavata Purana|Srimad Bhagavatam]] recognizes Vritra as a [[bhakta]] (devotee) of Vishnu<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/faith/true-grace/article29693486.ece|title=True grace|date=2019-10-15|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-12-14|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> who was slain only due to his failure to live piously and without aggression.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.net/sb/6/9/en1|title=Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 6 Chapter 9|website=vedabase.net|access-date=2019-12-14|archive-date=23 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223122148/https://vedabase.net/sb/6/9/en1|url-status=dead}}</ref> This story runs thus:

SB 6.9.11: After Visvarupa was killed, his father, Tvashta, performed ritualistic ceremonies to kill Indra. He offered oblations in the sacrificial fire, saying, "O enemy of Indra, flourish to kill your enemy without delay."

SB 6.9.12: Thereafter, from the southern side of the sacrificial fire known as Anvaharya came a fearful personality who looked like the destroyer of the entire creation at the end of the millennium.

SB 6.9.13-17: Like arrows released in the four directions, the demon's body grew, day after day. Tall and blackish, he appeared like a burnt hill and was as lustrous as a bright array of clouds in the evening. The hair on the demon's body and his beard and moustache were the colour of melted copper, and his eyes were piercing like the midday sun. He appeared unconquerable as if holding the three worlds on the points of his blazing trident. Dancing and shouting with a loud voice, he made the entire surface of the earth tremble as if from an earthquake. As he yawned, again and again, he seemed to be trying to swallow the whole sky with his mouth, which was as deep as a cave. He seemed to be licking up all the stars in the sky with his tongue and eating the entire universe with his long, sharp teeth. Seeing this gigantic demon, everyone, in great fear, ran here and there in all directions.

SB 6.9.18: That very fearful demon, who was actually the son of Tvashta, covered all the planetary systems by dint of austerity. Therefore, he was named Vritra, or one who covers everything.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://vedabase.net/sb/6/9/en1 |title=Srimad Bhagavatam 6:9 |access-date=6 April 2014 |archive-date=15 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015041917/http://vedabase.net/sb/6/9/en1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Vritra became the head of the asuras (portrayed as inherently malicious here, as opposed to the Vedic version, in which they may be benevolent or malevolent). He renounced his [[dharma]] – duty – to do good unto others and turned to violence, battling with the devas. Eventually, he gained the upper hand, and the devas were frightened of his evil might. Led by Indra, they approached [[Vishnu]] for help. He told them that Vritra could not be destroyed by ordinary means, revealing that only a weapon made from the bones of a sage could slay him. When the deities revealed their doubts about the likelihood of any ascetic donating his body, Vishnu directed them to approach the rishi [[Dadhichi]]. When approached by the deities, Dadhichi gladly gave up his bones for the cause of the good, stating that it would be better for his bones to help them attain victory than to rot in the ground. The devas collected the bones and Indra crafted the [[Vajra]]yudha from them. When they engaged Vritra again, the battle lasted for 360 days before Vritra breathed his last.

In [[Vaishnavism]], Vritra is depicted to be a devotee of Vishnu. In the Srimad Bhagavatam, when the vajra-armed Indra and the devas battle against Vritra and his asuras, the Vritra proclaims that were he to fall in battle, he would be blessed, since the vajra was imbued with the power of Vishnu and Dadhichi. During the single combat between Indra and Vritra, the former drops his vajra when he is struck on the cheek. Even as the devas gasp, Vritra merely advises him to pick up his weapon, since life and death are the same for him, as he believes that they are all instruments of Vishnu. Indra marvels at the asura's devotion to the preserver deity. When the king of the devas succeeds in slicing both of his opponent's arms, the latter swallows him whole, along with [[Airavata]]. Protected by Vishnu, Indra cuts open the belly of Vritra and escapes, finally beheading him with the vajra. Vritra ascends to [[Vaikuntha]] upon his death.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Swami |first=Bodhasarananda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a4SoCwAAQBAJ&dq=vritra+vajra&pg=PT54 |title=Stories from the Bhagavatam |date=2016-03-02 |publisher=Advaita Ashrama |isbn=978-81-7505-814-9 |language=en}}</ref>

According to the Puranas, the terrible anthropomorphic personification of [[Brāhmanahatya|Brāhmanahatya (Brahmanicide)]] chased Indra and forced him into hiding for his sin,<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05009.htm Mahabharata 5.9] and [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05010.htm Mahabharata 5.10] (English).</ref><ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/mbs/mbs05009.htm Mahabharata 5.9] and [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/mbs/mbs05010.htm Mahabharata 5.10](Sanskrit)</ref> and [[Nahusha]] was invited to take his place.<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05011.htm Mahabharata 5.11] (English).</ref><ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/mbs/mbs05011.htm Mahabharata 5.11](Sanskrit)</ref>