Fwd: INDRA The god of the firmament

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INDRA The god of the firmament, the personified atmosphere. In the

Vedas he stands in the first rank among the gods, but he is not

uncreate, and is represented as having a father and mother: " a

vigorous god begot him; a heroic female brought him forth. " He is

described as being of a ruddy or golden colour, and as having arms

of enormous length; " but his forms are endless, and he can assume

any shape at will, " He rides in a bright golden car, drawn by two

tawny or ruddy horses with flowing manes and tails. His weapon is

the thunderbolt, which he carries in his right hand; he also uses

arrows, a great hook, and a net, in which he is said to entangle his

foes. The soma juice is his especial delight; he takes enormous

draughts of it, and stimulated by its exhilarating qualities, he

goes forth to war against his foes, and to perform his other duties.

As deity of the atmosphere, he governs the weather and dispenses the

rain; he sends forth his lightning's and thunder, and he is

continually at war with Vritra or Ahi, the demon of drought and

inelement weather, whom he overcome with his thunderbolts, and

compels to pour down the rain. Strabo describes the Indians as

worshipping Jupiter Pluvius, no doubt meaning Indra, and he has also

been compared to Jupiter Tonans. One myth is that of his discovering

and rescuing the cows of the priests or of the gods, which had been

stolen by an Asura named Pani or Vala, whom he killed, and he is

hence called Vala-bhid. He is frequently represented as destroying

the " stone-built cities " of the Asuras or atmospheric demons, and of

the Dasyus or aborigines of India. In his warfare he is sometimes

represented as escorted by troops of Maruts, and attended by his

comrade Vishnu. More hymns are addressed to Indra than to any other

deity in the Vedas, with the exception of Agni. For he was

reverenced in his beneficient character as the bestower of rain and

the cause of fertility, and he was feared as the awful ruler of the

storm and director of the lightning and thunder. In many places of

the Rig-veda the highest divine functions and attributes are

ascribed to him. There was a triad of gods � Agni, Vayu, and Surya �

which held a pre-eminence above the rest, and Indra frequently took

the place of Vayu. In some parts of the Veda, as Dr. Muir remarks,

the ideas expressed of Indra are grand and lofty; at other times he

is treated with familiarity, and his devotion to the soma juice is

dilated upon, though nothing debasing is perceived in his

sensuality. Indra is mentioned as having a wife, and the name of

Indrani or Aindri is invoked among the goddesses. In the Satapatha

Brahmana she is called Indra's beloved wife.

In the later mythology Indrahas fallen into the second rank.

He is inferior to the triad, but he is thechief of all the other

gods. He is the regent of the atmosphere and of the castquarter of

the compass, and he reigns over Swarga, the heaven of the gods and

ofbeatified spirits, which is a region of great magnificence and

splendour. Heretains many of his Vedic characteristics, and some of

them are intensified. Hesends the lightning and hurls the

thunderbolt, and the rainbow is his bow. He isfrequently at war with

the Asuras, of whom he lives in constant dread, and bywhom he is

often worsted. But he slew the demon Vrita, who, being regarded as

aBrahman, Indra had to conceal himself and make sacrifice until his

guilt waspurged away. His continued love for the soma juice is shown

by a legend in theMaha-bharata, which represents him as being

compelled by the sage Chyavana toallow the Aswins to partake of the

soma libations, and his sensuality has nowdeveloped into an extreme

lasciviousness. Many instances are recorded of hisincontinence and

adultery, and his example is frequently referred to as anexcuse in

cases of gallantry, as by King Nahusha when he tried to obtain

Indra'swife while the latter was hiding in Vritra. According to the

Maha-bharata heseduced, or endeavoured to seduce, Ahalya, the wife

of the sage Gautama, andthat sage's curse impressed upon him a

thousand marks resembling the femaleorgan, so he was called Sa-yoni;

but these marks were afterwards changed toeyes, and he is hence

called Netra-yoni, and Sahasraksha `the thousand-eyed.' Inthe

Ramayana it is related that Ravana, the Rakshasa king of Lanka or

Ceylon,warred against Indra in his own heaven, and that Indra was

defeated and carriedoff to Lanka by Ravana's son Megha-nada, who for

this exploit received the titleof Indra-jit (q.v.), `conqueror of

Indra.' Brahma and the gods had to sue forthe release of Indra, and

to purchase it with the boon of immortality to thevictor. Brahma

then told the humiliated god that his defeat was a punishment forthe

seduction of Ahalya. The Taittiriya Brahmana states that the chose

Indranito be his wife in preference to other goddesses because of

her voluptuousattractions, and later authorities say that he

ravished her, and slew herfather, the Daitya Puloman, to escape his

curse. Mythologically he was father ofArjuna (q.v.), and for him he

cheated Karna of his divine coat of mail, but gaveKarna in

recompense a javelin of deadly effect. His libertine character is

alsoshown by his frequently sending celestial nymphs to excite the

passions of holymen, and to beguile them from the potent penances,

which he dreaded.

In the Puranas many stories are told of him, and he appears

especially in rivalry with Krishna. He incurred the wrath of the

choleric sage Dur-vasas by slighting a garland of flowers, which

that sage presented to him, and so brought upon himself the curse

that his whole dominion should be whelmed in ruin. He was utterly

defeated by the Daityas, or rather by their ally, Raja, son of Ayus,

and grandson of Pururavas, and he was reduced to such a forlorn

condition that he, " the god of a hundred sacrifices, " was compelled

to beg for a little sacrificial butter. Puffed up by their victory,

his conquerors neglected their duties, and so they became the easy

prey of Indra, who recovered his dominion. The Bhagavata Purana

represents him as having killed a Brahman, and of being haunted by

that crime, personified as a Chandali.

Indra had been an object of worship among the pastoral

people of Vraja, but Krishna persuaded them to cease this worship.

Indra was greatly enraged at this, and sent a deluge of rain to

overwhelm them; but Krishna lifted up the mountain Govardhana on his

finger to shelter them, and so held it for seven days, till Indra

was baffled and rendered homage to Krishna. Again, when Krishna went

to visit Swarga, and was about to carry off the Parijata tree, Indra

resented its removal, and a fierce fight ensued, in which Indra was

worsted, and the tree was carried off. Among the deeds of Indra

recorded in the Puranas is that of the destruction of the offspring

of Diti the Puranas is that of the destruction of the offspring of

Diti in her womb, and the production there from of the Maruts (See

Diti): and there is a story of his cutting off the wings of the

mountains with his thunderbolts, because they were refractory and

troublesome. Indra is represented as a fair man riding on a white

horse or an elephant, and bearing the vajra or thunderbolt in his

hand. His son is named Jayanta. Indra is not the object of direct

worship, but he receives incidental adoration and there is a

festival kept in his honour called Sakra-dhwajot thana, `the raising

of the standard of Indra.'

Indra's names are many, as Mahendra, Sakra, Maghavan,

Ribhuksha, Vasava, Arha, Datteya. His epithets or titles also are

numerous. He is Vritra-han, `the destroyer of Vritra;' Vajra-pani,

`of the thunderbolt hand;' Megha-vahana, `borne upon the clouds;'

Paka-sasana, `the subduer of Paka;' Sata-kratu, `of a hundred

sacrifices;' Deva-pati and Suradhipa, `chief of the gods;' Divas-

pati, `ruler of the atmosphere;' Marutwan, `lord of the winds;'

Swarga-pati, `lord of paradise;' Jishnu, `leader of the celestial

host;' Puran-dara, `destroyer of cities;' Uluka, `the owl;' Ugra

dhanwan, `of the terrible bow,' and many others. The heaven of Indra

is Swarga; its capital is Amaravati; his palace, Vaijayanta; his

garden, Nandana, Kandasara, or Parushya; his elephant is Airavata;

his horse, Uchchaiah-sravas; his chariot, Vimana; his charioteer,

Matali; his bow, the rainbow, Sakra-dhanus; and his sword, Paran-ja.

 

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