॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Monday, 2 January 2023 VI.10 - Indra confronts Vrittra with the special weapon fashioned with Sage Dadhichi's bones into the famous Vajrayudha.
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Having given advice on how to secure the infallible weapon to defeat Vrittra, Bhagavan Maha Vishnu disappeared.
Indra and the gods went to Sage Dadhichi beseeching him for - of all things - his bones! The sage smiled. He was an expert in Atharvana Veda. He joked, " Oh, gods! Don't you know how much everyone is attached to the physical body and afraid of death as it destroys the body?" The gods, themselves unconvinced, muttered, "But oh, noble sage! You belong to a different category of realised souls. Nothing is impossible for you! You are most generous to gift away your body too."
Sage Dadhichi smiled again and said he had wanted to test their understanding of Dharma. Yes, he would give them his body as a gift. He repeated how sacred would be anyone's act of gifting his all for others' welfare. After all, the body perishes and then becomes perhaps food for dogs.
Dadhichi went into Samadhi, united his consciousness with Parabrahman, and gave up his body. Vishwakarma, the celestial master architect and engineer, was ready at hand and then fashioned the thunderbolt or Vajrayudha for Indra to use, out of the bones of Sage Dadhichi, mainly his backbone.
Indra, armed with the Vajra, now rushed to confront Vrittra. There ensued a terrible battle between the gods and asuras on the banks of the Narmada river. It was the beginning of Treta Yuga. Great heroes fought from either side. When Vrittra gave the call to fight, his cry was so fierce that the gods trembled. The asuras rained deadly blows with their weapons on the gods. The gods countered the weapons. The asuras now resorted to hailing stones and uprooted trees. But the gods were equal to the task of nullifying all their attacks. The asuras were now afraid to see their weapons totally ineffective.
When Vrittra saw that the asuras were preparing to run away and desert him, he proclaimed courageously.
कलेवरं योगरतो विजह्याद् यदग्रणीर्वीरशयेऽनिवृत्तः
T: "Oh, great asuras, don't you know that death is inevitable for everyone? Why fear the chance of dying a hero's death in battle!? It is as sacred to die in battle as it is for the perfectly realised Yogi who merges his Pranas with the cosmos and voluntarily drops off his body. One should not take even one step back from the enemy!"
॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
