Brahmahatyā Distribution
When Indra killed the asura Vṛtra, the pāpa (sin) of killing a brāhmaṇa, called Brahmahatyā, took a body and clung to Indra. Brahmā then divided the Brahmahatyā into four equal parts and gave each part to a willing bearer. Chapter 168 of the Uttara Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this.
Indra’s pāpa
When Indra killed Vṛtra, the Brahmahatyā came out of Vṛtra’s body in a living form and attached itself to Indra. Indra could not escape it. He hid in a lotus-fibre for many years. Then he went to Brahmā. The Brahmahatyā also appeared before Brahmā and asked for a permanent home.
The four parts
Brahmā divided the Brahmahatyā into four equal parts and found four willing bearers.
- Fire (Agni) took one quarter. Agni gives it to any person who finds a fire blazing and does not make the proper offerings (āhuti) into it. The pāpa passes to that careless person.
- Trees and herbs took one quarter. They give it to any person who cuts or uproots trees and plants without reason, without need and without a proper purpose.
- The Apsarās took one quarter. They give it to any man who goes to a woman during her monthly period (ṛtumatī-saṅga).
- The waters took one quarter. They give it to any person who throws phlegm, urine or filth into natural waters such as rivers, lakes and ponds.
Indra is freed
The Brahmahatyā was taken off Indra by this division, and he was freed from the terrible pāpa. He went to the confluence where the river Vartrāghnī joins the Śābhramatī. That place became known as Vartrāghnīsaṅgama, the confluence of the Vṛtra-slayer. Indra did intense tapas (austerity) there. Then he completed an aśvamedha yajña (horse sacrifice) and was fully purified.
Sources
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 168