Mountain and river Manaraga
11 thousand BC – This is the end time of the continuous glaciation of the Far North of Eastern Europe. As paleogeographers note: «It was established that the degradation of the last ice sheet of the Pechora lowland, as well as of the entire north-east of the European territory of the USSR, occurred in an unusual way, fundamentally different from the degradation of the Scandinavian ice sheet… the destruction of the ice sheet was accompanied, and possibly caused by a process having a seismic nature, that is, earthquakes.» The question of how strong the earthquake must be to destroy the Pechora glacier with a thickness of up to 700 meters, and what caused it, paleogeographers leave open, but note that: «About 13.5 thousand years ago (i.e. 10,5 thousand BC) The Pechora valley lake was lowered and channels of permanent drains (Pechora and other rivers) formed along the loss of continuity zone, «the Barents Sea ice sheet collapsed, of which the Pechora glacier was a part.
Researchers’ conclusions seem to be extremely interesting: «according to the calculations… for a powerful glacier similar to the Antarctic to arise from a small glacier, it is required at temperatures typical for the Valdai maximum that is 14180 years. With a warm average Valdai or sea climate 16—17 thousand years. «These numbers can be compared with the following lines of the Mahabharata, which say that Vritra, «for the sake of strengthening strength, sixteen thousand years committed the killing of the flesh.»
It remains for us to ask the question: could the destruction of this North-East European glacier and the myth of Indra’s victory over Vritra be related to each other? Here is how Vritra is described in the Mahabharata: «Vrita, which covered itself with heaven and earth from all sides, was guarded by giants – kalaneys; when they waved their weapons, it seemed: the mountains were lifting their peaks.»
«Vritra said: Having appropriated the smells and tastes of various creatures of the slain, I thrived in three worlds. Framed with a radiant crown, I ruled in the heavens, invincible to all creatures, I never experienced fear.» The following fragment of Mokshadharma, telling about the meeting of the gods and Vritra, is especially striking: «Once Indra rode in a chariot surrounded by a somn of gods and saw him standing opposite the mountain-bearing Vritra. He went up five hundred yojanas, the destroyer of enemies, and over three hundred yojanas he was in girth.»
The horns of Vritra are also spoken of in the hymns of the Rig Veda:
«You, O Indra, this mountain, great, wide,
A club of thunder, oh thunderer, split into pieces
You released the bound waters for running. (RV. I, 57, 6).
In the secret of being secretly hidden in the waters
Secretly living, witching serpent,
Overlapping the water and the sky
You killed, O hero …»(RV. II, 11.5).
Chanting Indra, the hymns say that he «With force split the mountain, throwing vajra,» they constantly compare Vritra with the serpent «resting on the mountain», emphasize that he is «legless, armless, faceless.» These descriptions are not very suitable for spring snow or ice on rivers, but to a large extent correspond to the Barents Sea ice sheet.