The Bones of Rishi Dadicha – Stories from Aranyaka Parva

The story about the bones of Rishi Dadicha is interconnected with another story about how Indra destroyed his enemies. These events were narrated by Rishi Lomasa to Yudhistira.

A long time ago in Krita Yuga, the gods had to fight a terrible battle with the asuras. Indra, the king of heaven, was to kill Vritra to save heaven and other gods. However, Vritra couldn’t be eliminated by ordinary weapons. Indra and other gods went to Brahma Deva for help. Brahma advised them to go to Rishi Dadicha and ask him to give his bones. A weapon would be fashioned out of the great rishis bones and would kill Vritra, the leader of the Kaleyas. The weapon would have six sharp sides and be called a vajra. 

Indra and the gods went to Dadicha, with Narayana leading the way. They reached his hermitage in a forest. The rishi was delighted to welcome the gods. When they placed the matter for his perusal, the rishi immediately agreed to give up his life so that the gods could use his bones for the cause. 

Dadicha held his breath and went into deep tapasya. Soon, life left his body. The gods followed his instructions and collected the bones from his body. They took the pieces to Tvashtar (Vishwakarma) who converted them into a powerful vajra weapon. Indra used the bones of Rishi Dadicha to fight and kill Vritra in an intense battle.

Vajra became Indra’s weapon, and he used it to eliminate many other asuras and daityas over time. However, the story was far from over!

Read the next part here: The Destruction Caused by Kaleyas.