| Indra | |
|---|---|
| King of the Gods God of Weather and War | |
Indra on his mount Airavata
| |
| Devanagari | इन्द्र or इंद्र |
| SanskritTransliteration | इन्द्र |
| Tamil script | இந்திரன் |
| Affiliation | Deva |
| Abode | Amarāvati in Svarga/ Indraloka |
| Mantra | om indraya namah |
| Weapon | Vajra (Thunderbolt) |
| Symbols | Vajra |
| Consort | Shachi (Indrani) |
| Mount | Airavata (White elephant),Uchchaihshravas (white horse) |
| Texts | Vedas, Puranas, Epics |
Indra (/ˈɪndrə/), also known as Śakra in the Vedas, is the leader of the Devas or gods and the lord of Svargaloka or heaven in Hinduism. He is the god of rain and thunderstorms.[1] He wields a lightning thunderbolt known as vajra and rides on awhite elephant known as Airavata. Indra is the supreme deity and is the brother ofVaruna and Yama and is also mentioned as an Āditya, son of Aditi. His home is situated on Mount Meru in the heaven.[2] He has many epithets, notably vṛṣan the mighty, and vṛtrahan, slayer of Vṛtra, Meghavahana "the one who rides the clouds" and Devapati "the lord of gods or devas".[2] Indra appears as the name of a daeva inZoroastrianism (but please note that word Indra can be used in general sense as a leader, either of devatas or asuras[3]), while his epithet, Verethragna, appears as a god of victory. Indra is also called Śakra frequently in the Vedas and in Buddhism (Pali: Sakka). He is known in Burmese as သိကြားမင်း, pronounced: [ðadʑá mɪ́ɴ]; inThai as พระอินทร์ Phra In, in Khmer as ព្រះឥន្ទ្រា pronounced [preah ʔəntraa], in Malay asIndera,in Kannada as ಇಂದ್ರ Indra, in Telugu as ఇంద్రుడు Indrudu, in Tamil asஇந்திரன் Inthiran, Chinese as 帝释天 Dìshìtiān, and in Japanese as 帝釈天Taishakuten.[4] He is celebrated as a demiurge who pushes up the sky, releasesUshas (dawn) from the Vala cave, and slays Vṛtra; both latter actions are central to the Soma sacrifice. He is associated with Vajrapani - the Chief Dharmapala or Defender and Protector of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha who embodies the power of the Five Dhyani Buddhas. On the other hand, he also commits many kinds of mischief (kilbiṣa) for which he is sometimes punished. In Puranic mythology, Indra is bestowed with a heroic and almost brash and amorous character at times, even as his reputation and role diminished in later Hinduism with the rise of the Trimurti.
| Part of a series on |
| Hinduism |
|---|
 |
Contents
[hide]Origins[edit]
Aspects of Indra as a deity are cognate to other Indo-European gods; they are eitherthunder gods such as Thor, Perun, and Zeus, or gods of intoxicating drinks such asDionysus. The name of Indra (Indara) is also mentioned among the gods of theMitanni, a Hurrian-speaking people who ruled northern Syria from ca.1500BC-1300BC.[5]
Janda (1998:221) suggests that the Proto-Indo-European (or Graeco-Aryan) predecessor of Indra had the epithet *trigw-welumos[or rather *trigw-t-welumos? See Vala (Vedic)] "smasher of the enclosure" (of Vritra, Vala) and diye-snūtyos "impeller of streams" (the liberated rivers, corresponding to Vedic apam ajas "agitator of the waters"), which resulted in the Greek gods Triptolemusand Dionysus.
Vedic Indra corresponds to Verethragna of the Zoroastrian Avesta as the noun verethragna- corresponds to Vedic vrtrahan-, which is predominantly an epithet of Indra. According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the Zeravshan River (present-day Uzbekistan) and (present-day) Iran.[6] It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements",[6] which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices"[7] from the Bactria–Margiana Culture.[7] At least 383 non-Indo-European words were borrowed from this culture, including the god Indra and the ritual drink Soma.[8] According to Anthony,
The word vrtra-/verethra- means "obstacle". Thus, vrtrahan-/verethragna- is the "smiter of resistance". Vritra as such does not appear in either the Avesta or books of Zoroastrian tradition. Since the name 'Indra' appears in Zoroastrian texts as that of a demon opposing Truth (Vd. 10.9; Dk. 9.3; Gbd. 27.6, 34.27) Zoroastrian tradition has separated both aspects of Indra.
In the Rigveda[edit]
The Rigveda states,
It further states,
Indra is, with Varuna and Mitra, one of the Ādityas, the chief gods of the Rigveda (besides Agni and others such as the Ashvins). He delights in drinking soma and the central Vedic myth is his heroic defeat of Vṛtrá, liberating the rivers, or alternatively, his smashing of the Vala cave, a stone enclosure where the Panis had imprisoned the cows that are habitually identified with Ushas, the dawn(s). He is the god of war, smashing the stone fortresses of the Dasyu, but he is also is invoked by combatants on both sides in the Battle of the Ten Kings.
The Rig-Veda frequently refers to him as Śakra: the mighty-one. In the Vedic period, the number of gods was assumed to be thirty-three and Indra was their lord. (Some early post Rigvedic texts such as the Khilas and the late Vedic Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad enumerates the gods as the eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras, the twelve Adityas, Indra, and Prajapati). As lord of the Vasus, Indra was also referred to as Vāsava.
By the age of the Vedanta, Indra became the prototype for all lords and thus a king could be called Mānavēndra (Indra or lord of men) and Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, was referred to as Rāghavendra (Indra of the clan of Raghu). Hence the original Indra was also referred to as Devendra (Indra of the Devas). However, Sakra and Vasava were used exclusively for the original Indra. Though modern texts usually adhere to the name Indra, the traditional Hindu texts (the Vedas, epics and Puranas) use Indra, Sakra and Vasava interchangeably and with the same frequency.
"Of the Vedas I am the Sama Veda; of the demigods I am Indra, the king of heaven; of the senses I am the mind; and in living beings I am the living force [consciousness]." (Bhagavad Gita 10.22) [3]
Status and function[edit]
In the Rigveda, Indra is the king of the gods and ruler of the heavens. Indra is the god of thunder and rain and a great warrior, a symbol of courage and strength. He leads the Deva (the gods who form and maintainHeaven) and the elements, such as Agni (fire), Varuna (water) and Surya (sun), and constantly wages war against the opponents of the gods, the demon-like asuras. As the god of war, he is also regarded as one of the Guardians of the directions, representing the east. As the favourite 'national' god of the Vedic Indians, Indra has about 250 hymns dedicated to him in the Rigveda.
Characteristics[edit]
Appearance[edit]
In Rigveda, Indra the solar god is sometimes described as golden-bodied with golden jaw, nails, hair, beard.
One Atharva Vedic verse reads, "In Indra are set fast all forms of golden hue."[11]
In the RV 1.65 reads, "SAKRA, who is the purifier (of his worshipers), and well-skilled in horses, who is wonderful and golden-bodied."[12] Rigveda also reads that Indra "is the dancing god who, clothed in perfumed garments, golden-cheeked rides his golden cart."[13] One passage calls him both brown and yellow.[14] "Him with the fleece they purify, brown, golden-hued, beloved of all, Who with exhilarating juice goes forth to all the deities":
Other characteristics[edit]
Indra's weapon, which he used to kill Vritra, is the (vajra), though he also uses a bow, a net, and a hook. In the post-Vedic period, he rides a large, four-tusked white elephant called Airavata. When portrayed having four arms, he has lances in two of his hands which resemble elephant goads. When he is shown to have two, he holds the Vajra and a bow.[20] He lives in Svarga in the clouds around Mount Meru. Deceased warriors go to his hall after death, where they live without sadness, pain or fear. They watch the apsaras and the gandharvas dance, and play games. The gods of the elements, celestial sages, great kings, and warriors enrich his court.
Indra's Bow[edit]
Relations with other gods[edit]
In Hindu religion, he is married to Shachi or Indrani or Pulomaja [2](whose father, Puloman, Indra killed), and is the father ofArjuna (by Kunti), Jayanta, Midhusa, Nilambara, Khamla, Ribhus, Rsabha. Indra is a brother to Surya. He is attended to by theMaruts (and the Vasus), children of Diti (mother of demons). Indra had slain Diti's previous wicked children, so she hoped her son would be more powerful than him and kept herself pregnant for a century, practicing magic to aid her fetal son. When Indra discovered this, he threw a thunderbolt at her and shattered the fetus into 7 or 49 parts; each part regenerated into a complete individual, and the parts grew into the Maruts, a group of storm gods, who are less powerful than Indra.
Indra and Shachi are described to a daughter called Jayanti. He is also stated to be the father of Devasena, the consort of the god Kartikeya.
Indra and Vritra[edit]
In post-Vedic myth, Vritra, an asura, stole all the water in the world and Indra drank much Soma to prepare himself for the battle with the huge serpent. He passed through Vritra's ninety-nine fortresses, slew the monster and brought water back to Earth. In another version of the story,[citation needed] Vritra was created by Tvastar to get revenge for Indra's murder of his son, Trisiras, a pious Brahmin whose increase of power worried Indra. Vritra won the battle and swallowed Indra, but the other gods forced him to vomit Indra out. The battle continued and Indra fled. Vishnu and the Rishis brokered a truce, and Indra swore he would not attack Vritra with anything made of metal, wood, or stone, nor anything that was dry or wet, or during the day or the night. Indra used the foam from the waves of the ocean to kill him at twilight.
In yet another version, recounted in the Mahabharata, Vritra was a Brahmin who got hold of supernatural powers, went rogue and became a danger to the gods. Indra had to intervene, and slew him after a hard fight. An evil goddess named Brāhmanahatya(the personified sin of Brahmin murder) came from the corpse of Vritra and pursued Indra, who hid inside a lotus flower. Indra went to Brahma and begged forgiveness for having killed a Brahmin. "Vajrayudha", which Indra possessed, is believed to be prepared from backbone of a sage Dadhichi to kill the asuras.