The Slaying of Vritra

When the Pandavas wished to understand how even the king of the gods had once been brought low, and what sacrifice it had taken to save the worlds, the sages told them of the slaying of Vritra and the price that victory cost.

There arose in the old days a demon of terrible power named Vritra, a vast serpent-like being who grew until he covered the worlds. Worst of all, Vritra seized and swallowed up the waters of the world - the rivers and the rains, the very waters of life - and held them imprisoned within himself. With the waters bound, a great drought fell upon all creation. The rivers dried, the rains failed, the crops withered, and gods and men alike began to perish of thirst and famine while the demon coiled over the earth, vast and unconquerable, hoarding the waters of the world in his belly.