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According to wikipedia article of Vritra -

In one verse of a Rig-Vedic hymn eulogising Sarasvati, she is portrayed as the one who slayed Vritra. Mention of this occurs nowhere else.

The verse the article mentioning is 6.61

I think it's not vritra but son of Vritra, Vetra with similar name as this story is found in Varaha Purana and Mahabharata too

As per wiki article of Gayatri

She further developed into a fierce goddess who could even slay a demon. According to Varaha Purana and Mahabharata, Goddess Gayatri slayed the demon Vetrasura, the son of Vritra and river Vetravati, on a Navami day.

Does Rigveda call the demon vritra or vetra?

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  • Do some research effort from your side. Did you read wikipedia article you quoted carefully? Jun 8, 2018 at 12:04
  • There are [7] [8] in the brackets. They are exact references. There is verse number in the verse. Also quote correct article link and removed brackets while pasting here. Jun 8, 2018 at 12:17
  • @Sarvabhouma now my question isn't about verse no but info in the hymn.
    – Anisha
    Jun 8, 2018 at 12:19
  • There is nothing wrong with indologists here. Griffith didn't say it is Sarasvati who killed Vritrasura. The paragraph about them is unnecessary. It is just showing your dislike towards them which is not needed in the question. Jun 8, 2018 at 12:33
  • @Sarvabhouma so I should remove the last paragraph?
    – Anisha
    Jun 8, 2018 at 12:34

1 Answer 1

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उत स्या न: सरस्वती घोरा हिरण्यवर्तनी: | वृत्रघ्नी वष्टि सुष्टुतिम ||RV. 6.61.7 ||

uta syā naḥ sarasvatī ghorā hiraṇyavartaniḥ | vṛtraghnī vaṣṭi suṣṭutim ||

7 Yea, this divine Sarasvatī, terrible with her golden path, Foe-slayer, claims our eulogy.

The verse you quoted in the question isn't actually saying that Devi Saraswati is the slayer of Vritra. But in the sukta she is said to have equal strength like Indra and also destroyer of enemies like him , who is slayer of vritrasura.

The word used in the mantra is Vrutaghni (वृतघ्नी) . This word is used to as a name of Indra here and to denote him and his deed ,it is also used to show her equality with Indra in strength. But not actually to denote that she is slayer of Vritra.

The two other translators translated the word as as destroyer of enemies and destroyer of enemies having equal strength like Indra and similarly the Griffith one.


See the footnote 7

Griffith replaces the "Vritra-slayer" found in the Sanskrit (verse 7) with a generic "foe-slayer".


Here is Arya Samaj translation . See Page No. 52. And below is AWGP translation , both are in Hindi.

AWGP

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