Vala (
), meaning "enclosure" in
Vedic SanskritVedic Sanskrit is an Old Indic language. It is the language of the Vedas, the oldest shruti texts of Hinduism, compiled over the period of the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BC. It is an archaic form of Sanskrit, an early descendant of Proto-Indo-Iranian. It is closely related to Avestan, the...
, is an
Asura-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asura are a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes referred to as demons or sinful. They were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa. The views of Asuras in Hinduism vary due to the many deities who were Asuras then later became known as Devas...
of the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is counted among the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism known as the Vedas...
and the
AtharvavedaThe Atharvaveda is a sacred text of Hinduism, and one of the four Vedas, often called the "fourth Veda"....
, the brother of Vrtra.
Historically, it has the same origin as the Vrtra myth, being derived from the same root, and from the same root also as
VarunaIn Vedic religion, Varuna or Waruna is a god of the sky, of waters and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld. He is one of the most prominent Devas in the Rigveda, and lord of the heavens and the earth...
,
*val-/var- (PIE
*wel-) "to cover, to enclose" (perhaps cognate to
veilA veil is an article of clothing, worn almost exclusively by women, that is intended to cover some part of the head or face. One view is that as a religious item, it is intended to show honor to an object or space.-History:...
).
Parallel to Vrtra "the blocker", a stone serpent slain by
Indra' is the King of the gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology, and also he is the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall....
to liberate the rivers, Vala is a stone cave, split by Indra (intoxicated and strengthened by
SomaSoma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains many hymns praising its energizing qualities...
, identified with Brhaspati in 4.50 and 10.68 or
TritaTrita "the Third" is a minor deity of the Rigveda, mentioned 41 times. He is associated with the Maruts, with Vayu and with Indra, like Indra, or as Indra's assistant, fighting Tvastar, Vrtra and Vala. He is called Āptya, the deity of the Apas ....
in 1.52, aided by the
AngirasAngiras is a Vedic rishi who, along with sage Atharvan, is credited to have formulated most of the fourth Veda called Atharvaveda. He is also mentioned in the other three Vedas...
as in 2.11) , to liberate the cows and
UshasUshas , Sanskrit for "dawn", is a Vedic deity, and consequently a Hindu deity as well.Ushas is an exalted divinity in the Rig Veda, sometimes spoken of in the plural, "the Dawns." She is portrayed as welcoming birds and warding off evil spirits, and as a beautifully adorned young woman riding in a...
, hidden there by the
PanisThe Panis are a class of demons in the Rigveda, from , a term for "bargainer, miser," especially applied to one who is sparing of sacrificial oblations. The Panis appear in RV 10.108 as watchers over stolen cows. They are located behind the stream Rasa, and sought out by Sarama, the female dog...
.
Indra descends from an
Indo-Iranian godProto-Indo-Iranian religion means the religion of the Indo-Iranian peoples prior to the earliest Vedic and Zoroastrian scriptures...
known as
*vrtra-g'han- (virtually
PIEA pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough shell that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients...
*wltro-gwhen-) "slayer of the blocker".
Vala (
), meaning "enclosure" in
Vedic SanskritVedic Sanskrit is an Old Indic language. It is the language of the Vedas, the oldest shruti texts of Hinduism, compiled over the period of the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BC. It is an archaic form of Sanskrit, an early descendant of Proto-Indo-Iranian. It is closely related to Avestan, the...
, is an
Asura-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asura are a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes referred to as demons or sinful. They were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa. The views of Asuras in Hinduism vary due to the many deities who were Asuras then later became known as Devas...
of the
RigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is counted among the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism known as the Vedas...
and the
AtharvavedaThe Atharvaveda is a sacred text of Hinduism, and one of the four Vedas, often called the "fourth Veda"....
, the brother of Vrtra.
Historically, it has the same origin as the Vrtra myth, being derived from the same root, and from the same root also as
VarunaIn Vedic religion, Varuna or Waruna is a god of the sky, of waters and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld. He is one of the most prominent Devas in the Rigveda, and lord of the heavens and the earth...
,
*val-/var- (PIE
*wel-) "to cover, to enclose" (perhaps cognate to
veilA veil is an article of clothing, worn almost exclusively by women, that is intended to cover some part of the head or face. One view is that as a religious item, it is intended to show honor to an object or space.-History:...
).
Parallel to Vrtra "the blocker", a stone serpent slain by
Indra' is the King of the gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology, and also he is the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall....
to liberate the rivers, Vala is a stone cave, split by Indra (intoxicated and strengthened by
SomaSoma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains many hymns praising its energizing qualities...
, identified with Brhaspati in 4.50 and 10.68 or
TritaTrita "the Third" is a minor deity of the Rigveda, mentioned 41 times. He is associated with the Maruts, with Vayu and with Indra, like Indra, or as Indra's assistant, fighting Tvastar, Vrtra and Vala. He is called Āptya, the deity of the Apas ....
in 1.52, aided by the
AngirasAngiras is a Vedic rishi who, along with sage Atharvan, is credited to have formulated most of the fourth Veda called Atharvaveda. He is also mentioned in the other three Vedas...
as in 2.11) , to liberate the cows and
UshasUshas , Sanskrit for "dawn", is a Vedic deity, and consequently a Hindu deity as well.Ushas is an exalted divinity in the Rig Veda, sometimes spoken of in the plural, "the Dawns." She is portrayed as welcoming birds and warding off evil spirits, and as a beautifully adorned young woman riding in a...
, hidden there by the
PanisThe Panis are a class of demons in the Rigveda, from , a term for "bargainer, miser," especially applied to one who is sparing of sacrificial oblations. The Panis appear in RV 10.108 as watchers over stolen cows. They are located behind the stream Rasa, and sought out by Sarama, the female dog...
.
Indra descends from an
Indo-Iranian godProto-Indo-Iranian religion means the religion of the Indo-Iranian peoples prior to the earliest Vedic and Zoroastrian scriptures...
known as
*vrtra-g'han- (virtually
PIEA pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough shell that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients...
*wltro-gwhen-) "slayer of the blocker". Triptolemos is analysed by Janda (1998) as a Greek continuation of a variant of the epithet,
*trigw-t-welumos, a "
terpsimbrotosTerpsimbrotos is a type of linguistic compound , on a par with the bahuvrihi and tatpurusha types. It is derived from a finite verbal phrase, the verbal inflection still visible at the juncture of the compound members...
" compound "cracker of the enclosure", Greek
(w)elumos referring to the casings of grain in Greek being descended from the same root
*wel-. On such grounds, a rock or mountain
*welos or
*welumos split by a heroic deity, liberating Dawn or the Sun is reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European mythology (the "Sun in the rock" myth, sometime also speculated to be connected with the making of fire from flintstone).
Already in 2.24, the myth is given a mystical interpretation, with warlike Indra replaced by Brahmanaspati, the lord of prayer, who split Vala with prayer (
brahmanIn the Hindu religion, Brahman is the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe. The nature of Brahman is described as transpersonal, personal and impersonal by different...
) rather than with the thunderbolt.
Vala is mentioned 23 times in the Rigveda, Vala appears in hymns RV 1.11, 52, 62, RV 2.11, 12, 14, 15, 24, RV 3.30, 34, RV 4, 50, RV 6.18, 39, RV 8.14, 24, RV 10.67, 68, 138.
Central verses of the myth (trans. Griffith):
- 2.12.3 Who slew the Dragon, freed the Seven Rivers
The Sapta Sindhu "seven rivers" are the seven sacred rivers in Sanskrit mythology. The Rig Veda often refers to the seven rivers.). In RV 7.36.6, the Sarasvati is the seventh river, whose mother is the Sindhu...
, and drove the kine forth from the cave of Vala,
- Begat the fire between two stones, the spoiler in warriors' battle, He, O men, is Indra.
- 2.15.8 Praised by the Angirases he slaughtered Vala, and burst apart the bulwarks of the mountain.
- He tore away their deftly-built defences. These things did Indra in the Soma
Soma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains many hymns praising its energizing qualities...
's rapture.
- 8.14.7 In Soma's ecstasy Indra spread the firmament and realms of light, when he cleft Vala limb from limb. (compare to this description the Purusha sukta
Purusha sukta/sookta is hymn 10.90 of the Rigveda, dedicated to the Purusha, the "cosmic man". As per one version, the Suktam has 16 verses, 15 in the meter, and the final one in the meter. While, the other version of the Suktam consists of 24 verses with the first 18 mantras designated as the...
)
- 10.68.6 Brhaspati, when he with fiery lightnings cleft through the weapon of reviling Vala,
- Consumed him as tongues eat what teeth have compassed: he threw the prisons of the red cows open.
- 1.11.5 Lord of the thunder, thou didst burst the cave of Vala rich in cows.
- The Gods came pressing to thy side, and free from terror aided thee,
- 1.62.4 Mid shout, loud shout, and roar, with the Navagvas, seven singers, hast thou, heavenly, rent the mountain;
- Thou hast, with speeders, with Dasagvas, Indra, Shakra
Shakra is a Swiss hard rock band founded in the late 1990s.-History:With their first releases "Shakra" , and "Moving Force" , and by touring with Great White and Uriah Heep, the early career of this Swiss band was a steep learning curve with dramatic success but the real breakthrough came with...
, with thunder rent obstructive Vala.