‘I am Indra, the king of heaven;
of the senses I am the mind;
and in living beings I am consciousness.’
(Bhagavad-Gita 10.22)
Vrtrá, asura ahi (demon-dragon),
whose name embodies
one who encloses, obstructs,
a thief, inveterate hoarder,
fetid breather of greed
with immense thirst drinks
every drop of water in the world
most precious source of life,
leaving death in his sloshing wake
God of thunder and rain,
mighty Indra, wielder of vajra (lighting)
representative of the East, master of elements
Agni (fire), Varuna (water), and Surya (sun)
warrior of courage and strength,
astride Airavata, divine cloud-white elephant,
five-headed Ardha-Matanga,
vows to free humanity of Vrtrá’s evil:
disease of consuming chaos
curse of asat (nonexistence)
Emboldened by soma (draught of immortality)
driving Airavata’s thundering charge
through Vrtrá’s ninety-nine fortresses,
Indra strings indradhanushya (the rainbow)
with vajra striking the dragon’s belly –
splits it wide open releasing a deluge of water
rain falls from lavender skies to bloom the lotus
all beings rejoice, sing sacred songs,
to mark the end of the spiritual drought
Linked to the dVerse Poets Pub Poetics Prompt Whatever the Weather: http://dversepoets.com/2012/07/07/poetics-whatever-the-weather/ hosted by the boundlessly talented Stu McPherson
Chromapoetica 
nice….cool story….wonder if he could slice the belly a bit more my way right now….i could use some rain…smiles….wonderuflly told anna…love some really cool mythology…nice inclusion of hte rainbow as well…the end of the spiritual drought is a beautiful thing…
Shake that dragon or ring him out, maybe Airavata could stomp on him a bit? Haha, wishing you rain and power.
this is a beautiful poem, Anna. you pull clear elements from the Gita, which has a tendency to instruct and inspire, much like your writing. ~jane
Thank you Jane, what a lovely comment!
Enjoyed this very much, as always, your poems are enjoyed on many levels at once. I haven’t read the Bhagavad-Gita in 30 years or so, but this was a wonderful flashback for me. Your research and mastery of the subject material forms such an enormously rich foundation, upon which you craft spectacular poetics. I also know your work will astound in multiple dimensions, and you never let us down, bravo!
I was pressed for time today, writing was sadly on the bottom of the priority list, so it’s fantastic to hear that this offered the depth you’ve come to expect. Thank you Steve!
I’ve been meaning to look for a good translation of Bhagavad-Gita.
Great write, Anna. One can read as a tale on origin of storms both as is, as well as metaphorically. Brings to mind, observing things in nature can reveal a lot that is applicable to one’s own spiritual or internal growth.
Me too, I’d love to hear if you find one. One of my favorite things about Hinduism is that sense of metaphoric understanding. Too often in the West we have gone to literal extremes. I completely agree with your assessment that observing nature gives us tools for spiritual growth.
i imagine that this is a slaying of humanity by ecology.
it feels just because humanity is drinking all the water.
i am a dragon. i am a human. i am destructive.
then the dragon seems like ecology killed by humanity.
i want to hold the dragon and to heal it.
perhaps it has a purpose when it is in balance.
elephants are beautiful creatures.
it is hard to think of them in war.
in australia there is a similar dreamtime story
but the creature who swallows all of the water is a frog.
Yes, I saw us as the dragon hoarding all the resources too. I like your compassionate approach and ecological perspective, destruction balanced by creation (in the myth it is a continual struggle). Lovely to know there is a dreamtime story too, the similarity in myths is a ongoing source of fascination. Indra is like Thor or Jupiter.
A lush parable from one of my favorite texts, and the tale well-told has many levels, from physical, emotional, to political–for what is politics but the fountainhead of greed, the sucker up of the power of the individual that when hoarded instead of wielded, impoverishes the world. Enjoyed it much, Anna.
I am writing a version of the epic Kamarasambhava and currently immersed in the Trivedi of Shaktism. Yes, the fountainhead, hoarding verses wielding, I love how you’ve captured this truth, thank you!
This is a great retelling of the myth, providing important insight into the symbolic meaning of the Gita, as it relates to self-awareness and consciousness of self. For translations and commentary I would suggest the one I used in a class that I taught. It was a translation of The great mystic Shankara’s commentary on the Gita.
Wonderful, I’ll look for it. He’s of the philosophy of non-duality?
I see Hindu Mythology, well versed Anglican style of poetry, Ecology, sociology and everything in this mini epic
Very nice to meet you, thank you for your comment.
I like vigilkumar’s comment. You did do that and more – you lit up my screen with image after image of faraway places, exotic worlds filled with color, joy, spices, and rare beauty. I loved it. Some fine poem!
Gay, you always brighten my day with your comments, how I appreciate them!
love the mythology in here…bringing so many great images forth…Indra strings indradhanushya (the rainbow) with vajra striking the dragon’s belly… will learn that word for rainbow and when i see one next time impress my fam by saying it..smiles
Isn’t it a marvelous word? I love exploring other languages (as you may have guessed :)). Always lovely to see you!
Really strong piece. Love the myth, especially that you chose something other than the big four of myth, which I have to admit, I can skip by the Roman and greek fairly easily, but the Norse I can’t get by too much, this is really a great job here. The first stanza is perfect in every sense and that consistency continues throughout. Fantastic piece. Thanks
That’s quite a compliment, thank you. I was attempting to stick to epic style even though time constraints meant it would have to be a mini-epic :).
You took me on a journey through the mythology and it presented itself almost in a chanting style, calling on the elements in a celebration. Lovely and interesting as always Anna…. (oh and liking the new Gravatar!)
Yes, for whatever reason my pieces on Hindu mythology tend to come out that way. Thanks, I had fun making my new Gravatar and I got to wear my dragon kimono (which I haven’t had occasion to wear in about 10 years).
Well I say time should always be made for wearing a dragon kimono… no special occasion necessary. Enjoy!
Oh, if only we lived in such a world :). As a child I told everyone that when I grew up I would only wear Victorian dresses, no one believed me and rightfully so.
I see the mythology, the analogy between the myth and man. Yes, we in the west have taken it all literally instead of seeing it for what it al truly was. This is a fabulous read for its facts, history and poetic form.
I (personally) think this is one of your best yet Anna.
Wow, that means a lot to me, thank you.
Loving the spiritual flavour here Anna!…. There’s something I’ve always found so appealing about Krishna consciousness and the bhagavad Gita(even though I’m not religious per se)- ‘leaving death in his sloshing wake’- what a great line!…. I need to read up about this myth …. You always bring not only the words but the education!! This had allow my favourite eastern imagery in the flowers , the fire, and the water- very cool take on the prompt
The lovely thing about Hinduism, in my humble opinion, is that it isn’t a religion but a faith, a way of being in the world. There’s no conversion, blasphemy, or intolerance as absolute and complete freedom of belief and worship is embraced. This is why India has a history of being the most spritually tolerant country of diverse practices. There have been, of course, exceptions. Thanks Stu, great prompt!
Thanks for the tale, well-told – so wonderful the way you manage to fit explanation in to the poetry. I too loved the “death in his sloshing wake,” but mainly I find it so interesting that the god of the senses should also bring the rain. k.
I was experimenting with the translations within the work as I usually include them in notes afterwards leading some readers needing to reread or walking away before getting to the notes. Lovely to know it worked, thank you!
I loved the 3 parts here: the villain, the hero, the action. I am not familiar with the entire cycle of myth–just with Indra and the concept of Dharma, so your structure not only helped me to follow the story, it also helped me to infer the allegory: Vitra-dragon as us– thief, hoarder, occupier–Indra as the blessing of intelligence ready to take back what is thus squandered. May we be Indra too! SO fine. Bravo!
Wonderful comment Susan, very helpful to know the structure worked. I was pulling from epics and working against my natural tendencies :). Yes, we are dragons, may we all come to embody Indra’s wisdom.
Yes, the end of spiritual drought feels like just what this world needs. And I am not religious, but there is something missing, that rain that does not fall. I so love the way you teach through your poetry, there is always something new to learn, always something fresh to see.
Perhaps one day soon, together, we shall all be able to slay that dragon.
We can certainly hope :). Thank you, I love the process of exploring and learning.