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| Vritrasur and Indra. |
In a province called Surasena, there was a king named Chitraketu. He had thousands of wives. But they had no children.
One day, a sage named Angira, when he came to his palace, asked him to perform a yajna and distribute the ingredients from the fire to all the wives to fulfil the king's demand for a male child. But Chitraketu only gave them to the first queen, Kritdyuti. Kritdyuti became pregnant within a few days. Later, a son was born to the king.
The royal family was delighted. The entire country was in a festive mood. Crowds gathered to see the little prince and give him gifts. The king donated clothes, ornaments, villages, horses, elephants, and thousands of cows to all who participated in the event.
As the days passed, the love of the king for his son and queen, Kritdyuti, grew. The other wives, who were jealous, poisoned the son and killed him. When Rani Kritdyuti asked the maid to wake up her son and bring him to the court, the maid came running back and stood in the king's court, crying that the child was dead.
Seeing the baby's blueish body, the royal couple fainted. On hearing the news of the young king's death, the entire country was in mourning. As soon as Rishi Angira learned about this, he and Narada Muni rushed towards the palace.
“You get no son; as per your fate.” They said, and they both advised the king to think about attaining salvation.
And Narada taught the king, one mantra to please the Lord in seven days, recited another mantra, and invited the dead son's soul into the body again, you can reside in this body, enjoy the kingship after your father and all the wealth. "I will arrange for it." He asked if he agreed to this.
"They are not my only parents. We acquire a body in this life and the body of another animal in the next birth. As a result of our sins and good deeds, we take birth. I do not want to continue as his son.” Saying this, the soul left the child's body.
After performing the last rites on that body, the king completely gave up his desire to have a son. After bathing in the river Yamuna, everyone offered offerings to their forefathers.
Chitraketu, who drank only water, chanted the mantra given by Narada Muni, with great devotion, continuously for a week. Then he saw the Lord lying on Adisesha's bed. The king was silent, hands folded, and began to weep.
Vishnu, who made him the chief of the Vidyadharas, gave him a plane to travel in the sky, from which he disappeared.
***
Once, when Chitraketu was travelling to Kailash in a plane, he saw Shiva surrounded by Ganas and Parvati sitting on his lap. Then Chitraketu laughed loudly and joked that Shiva had no control over his senses.
When Mahadev smiled and remained calm, Goddess Parvati got angry and cursed that you, who criticized my husband, would be born as a demon.
Chitraketu immediately got down from his plane, bowed to Shiva Parvati, said I would gladly accept this curse and left on his plane.
One day, when Indra, mesmerized by the singing of the Gandharvas and the dancing of the Apsaras, came to the court of Guru Brihaspati, he did not give a welcome. Brihaspati got bored and disappeared. Immediately, Indra, realizing his mistake, started searching for him.
Then the Asuras, on the advice of Guru Shukracharya, attacked heaven and defeated the demigods. he devtas, who were badly injured, sought Brahma's advice. Brahma immediately asked them to make the three-headed Vishwarup Rishi, the son of an ascetic named Tvastha, his master. And since his mother belonged to the Asura clan, Brahma told them to make sure he did not help the demons.
Immediately agreeing to the deities' request, Vishvarupa chanted the mantra of Narayana Kavacha and regained heaven from the demons. But, while he was offering the yajna, he was secretly giving a share of the yajna to the demons.
After knowing this, Indra cut off all three heads of Vishwarupa. Because of this, he was haunted by the Brahmhatya dosh. He then asked the earth, the trees, and the women to receive one share of the dosh.
Part of that dosh was the creation of deserts on Earth. In the trees, there was a stream of water. Women had menstrual symptoms.
And Indra gave boons that there should always be water on the earth, that the leaves of the trees would regrow after shedding, that the wombs would be protected when they were pregnant, and that they would enjoy the happiness of marriage.
There, an enraged Tvashta performed a yagya and created a demon. Seeing his body raised sky-high, the trident in his hand, he was called Vritrasura. He immediately attacked heaven. None of the weapons of the demigods who stood to prevent him could injure him.
The devtas who fled from there went to Lord Vishnu. Vishnu advised them to ask for the backbone of a sage named Dadhichi.
When they went to Dadhichi Muni and asked for his backbone, he sacrificed his body, being licked by a cow, for the wellbeing of the world.
Vishwakarma, the sculptor, made "Vajrayudh" from that backbone and gave it to Indra. Indra, who now mounted his Airavat, walked towards Vrtrasura.
There were attacks and counter-attacks on the battlefield. Due to the protective layer created by Indra's Vajrayudh, the weapons of the Asuras did not hurt the devtas at all. However, the mortally wounded demons started fleeing from there.
Vritrasura hit Airavata on the head with his mace. Both Indra and the elephant fell. The demon gave Indra and the elephant time to get up. When Devendra touched the forehead of the injured elephant, it immediately recovered and got up. When the Asura attacked again, Indra cut off both his hands.
Vritrasura, bleeding profusely, collapsed and fell to the ground. Widely opened his mouth and swallowed Indra, who was rushing towards him. Indra, with his Vajrayudh, tore open the demon's belly, came out, and cut off his head.
A spark of light emanated from Vritrasura's body, became Chitraketu, and went towards Vaikuntha. When Vritrasura was killed, Indra's strength diminished, and his face became pale.
***
Wherever Indra went, his sin followed him as an ugly woman. Afraid of her, Indra ran away from there and reached Manasarovar. There, he took refuge in the roots of lotuses. The following woman did not have the strength to enter that holy lake. She stood waiting on the bank of the lake.
Agni Dev would bring and deliver the Yajna offering given to Devendra. His friend, King Nahusha, ruled heaven without Indra. For a thousand years, Indra worshipped Vishnu and spent time in lake.
At last, his sin was atoned for. The ugly woman was gone. Returning to heaven, Indra performed a horse sacrifice to please the Lord and regained his strength.
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