The Pathetic Fall of Indra

[anveshan 0]

 

When I was a child, my mother used to tell me great stories of Indra.

The King of Kings. Handsomest of the handsome. More powerful than the most powerful. Hero of the Rig veda. A warrior par excellence. Ruler of the heavens. Dispenser of rain. One who can grant any boon . The eldest son of Kasyapa, and Aditi, great grandson of Brahma, resplendent with loyal and royal airavata and brilliantly bedecked Uchaiisravas. Wielding the vajra, Indra, marks the beginning, the tallest figure in the Hindu pantheon in ancient times. He has got the most prominent place in the Rk, and about one-third of its space.

Etymologically, the word Indra seems to have been derived from the Sanskrit verb ‘ind’, meaning to be powerful, to tear enemies asunder. While there is no clear story on how Indra became the King of heavens, there are many stories on his rule and his bravery. He is the Supreme Ruler of heavens and the earth.

 

“Indra, when you killed the first-born of dragons and overcame by your own magic the magic of the magicians, at that very moment you brought forth the sun, sky, and dawn. Since then you have found no enemy to conquer you.” Rk, I.32.4

 

 

"1. The chief wise god who as soon as born

surpassed the gods in power;

Before whose vehemence the two worlds trembled by reason

of the greatness of valour: he, O men, is, Indra

 

2. Who made firm the quaking earth,

who set at rest the agitated mountains;

Who measures out the air more widely,

who supported the heaven: he, O men, is Indra.

 

3. Who having slain the serpent released the seven streams,

who drove out the cows by the unclosing of Vala,

Who between two rocks has produced fire,

victor in battles: he, O men, is Indra

 

4. By whom all things here have been made unstable

who has made subject the Dasa color and has made it

disappear;Who, like a sinning gambler the stake,

has taken the possessions of the foe: he, O men, is Indra.

 

5. The terrible one of whom they ask 'where is he,'

of whom they also say 'he is not':

He diminishes the possessions of the foe like the stakes of

gamblers. Believe in him: he, O men, is Indra. . . .

 

13. Even heaven and Earth bow down before him before his vehemence even the mountains are afraid. Who is known as the Soma-drinker, holding the bolt in his arm,who holds the bold in his hand: he, O men, is Indra"

(R.V. II, 12, 1-5 13)

But this great handsome piece of Brahma’s creation(?) had an eye on everything that is beautiful: exotic wines(soma), lovely ladies(he never cared whether she is rishi-patni, brahmani, deva-patni or asura-patni!), fathered many a children all over the earth and the heavens, destroyed beautiful cities ……But this killer of Vrutra shivered and pissed when even a child concentrated on Mahesvara or Narayana, and devised mean means to stop their tapasya and earned the name of Uluka!

 

In the later texts of the Brahmanas and the Upanisads, Indra’s position as supreme god is became problematic by the rise of a reconfigured god—Prajapati. The Brahmanas and the Upanishads made Indra an inferior god. From

The god who created the sun and moon, the thunder and the lightning to the a “king of the gods, his arm paralyzed, licked the corners of his mouth repeatedly in fear. Oppressed with fear he spoke to Cyavana….” : a pathetic fall indeed!