Vajra Nirmāṇa
The Vajra Nirmāṇa is the account of how Indra got the Vajra, the thunderbolt with which he slew the great asura Vṛtra. Lomaśa told it to Yudhishṭhira in the Vana Parva of the Mahābhārata, while the Pāṇḍavas were travelling to tīrthas (holy places).
The Kālakeyas, a clan of mighty rākshasas, joined Vṛtra, and together they terrified the three worlds. Brahmā sent the troubled devas to the great ṛshi Dadhīca. Dadhīca gave up his body so that his bones could be made into the Vajra. Tvashṭā, the craftsman of the devas, forged the Vajra from his bones, and Indra slew Vṛtra with it and broke the strength of the Kālakeyas.
The Kālakeyas and the terror of Vṛtra
The Kālakeyas were a clan of mighty rākshasas who put themselves under the banner of the great asura Vṛtra. Together with Vṛtra they laid waste the three worlds. They broke the order the devas kept and filled the dwellers of svarga, of bhūmi and of the other lokas with deep fear. The devas could not stand against this joint force. They were routed and took refuge with Brahmā.
(Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 100)
Brahmā’s counsel about Dadhīca’s bones
Brahmā listened to the troubled devas. With his wide knowledge he found the one means by which Vṛtra could be slain. He told the devas that there was a great ṛshi named Dadhīca, who had performed extraordinary tapas (austerity) for countless years. The gathered force of his tapas had made his bones supremely hard and strong. Brahmā said that if they went to him with humility and asked for his body, and if Tvashṭā made a weapon from his bones, Indra could use it to destroy Vṛtra.
The devas, led by Indra, went to the āśrama of the great Dadhīca Maharshi and set their request before him. They told him plainly of the disaster that had come on the worlds. They told him that Vṛtra could not be beaten by any ordinary means, and that his bones alone could save all creation.
(Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 100)
Dadhīca’s gift
Dadhīca heard the devas’ request calmly. He thought for a moment and then agreed without any delay. The Mahābhārata holds up this willingness of a great muni to give up his very body for the good of the worlds, with no trace of reluctance and no bargaining, as the highest example of dāna (giving) and tyāga (giving up).
Dadhīca then sat in deep meditation, drew back his prāṇa (life breath) through yoga, and left his body by his own will. The devas stood and watched this great act in respectful silence.
(Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 100)
Tvashṭā forges the Vajra
With Dadhīca’s body before them, the devas brought Tvashṭā, the master craftsman of the devas, also known as Viśvakarmā in some places. Tvashṭā took the ṛshi’s spine and bones and, with his divine skill, forged from them the Vajra. It was a thunderbolt of unequalled hardness and power. The Vajra blazed with tejas (radiance), as bright as the fire at the end of the world. Tvashṭā placed it in Indra’s hands.
(Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 100)
Indra slays Vṛtra
Armed with the Vajra, Indra went to fight Vṛtra and the Kālakeyas. The weapon was made from the bones of a ṛshi whose tapas had made them harder than anything in the three worlds, and nothing could stand against it. Indra struck Vṛtra with the Vajra and killed him.
With Vṛtra fallen, the Kālakeyas were broken and scattered. The order of the three worlds was set right again, and the devas took their proper place once more. The name Vṛtrahan (slayer of Vṛtra) became one of Indra’s famous names.
(Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 100)
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 100