Indra's slaying of Vritra is an explanatory myth of drought and the release of rain. In the book's appendix, Vritra is described as a Vedic personification of the force that obstructs the clouds; Indra's thunderbolt breaks that obstruction and frees the waters.

Vritra and the Withheld Rain

Vritra's name is glossed as “the coverer, hider, obstructer (of rain).” The note identifies him as an imagined malignant influence or demon of darkness and drought, believed to seize the clouds and prevent the sky from clearing. The waters are therefore not simply absent: they are held back behind a hostile obstruction.

Indra's Battle

Indra battles this force with his thunderbolt. The account figures the clouds as mountains or castles—strongholds that contain the pent-up waters—and makes their shattering the decisive action. When Indra breaks open those cloud-fortresses, the waters are released.

Mythic and Natural Meaning

The episode links divine combat to a recognizable natural crisis: drought ends when rain-bearing clouds break and pour out their water. The appendix presents Vritra as a Vedic personification rather than supplying a detailed sequence of combat, so the event's emphasis falls on the relation between obstruction, Indra's intervention, and the release of rain.