Indra

One of the oldest and most powerful
Hindu deities. His status has changed
over the years and this evolution shows
how Hinduism has transformed.
In the earliest Hindu scriptures, the
hymns in Rg Veda, Indra is the Vedic deity
par excellence. As with most Vedic deities,
Indra is associated with certain natural
phenomena, in this case the power of the
storm; he was seen as inhabiting the
region (antariksha) between the earth
and sky, the region where storms take
place. In many ways Indra seems a paradigm for the virtues and powers celebrated in the Vedas, and (as many have
inferred) celebrated as virtues by the
Aryans themselves. Indra is the invincible
warrior and the performer of great deeds.
One of the central hymns in the Rg
Veda (1.32) describes Indra’s battle with
the serpent Vrtra, who is finally killed
and cut into pieces, allowing the pent-up
waters that Vrtra has blocked to flow
freely over the land.
Indra is a drinker of the intoxicating
beverage soma, whose influence leads
him to expanded reveries on his own
greatness; he is the ultimate man’s man
in a culture that is usually believed to
have stressed manly virtues. Of the 1,028
hymns in the Rg Veda, nearly a quarter
are devoted to Indra, who is described as
the power encircling the earth.
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Indra
Depiction of the god Indra, king of heaven and
one of the eight guardians of the earth.
Some of Indra’s attributes and functions remain constant as the Hindu tradition changed and developed. In later
Hindu mythology, Indra’s realm is still
the atmospheric region between the
earth and sky, and he is still considered
the god of the storm, the bestower of
rain, and the wielder of the divine thunderbolt. Indra is also one of the eight
Guardians of the Directions, holding
sway over the eastern quarter.
Yet some things about Indra changed
around the first millennium; most
importantly, Indra has been “demoted”
to being merely the ruler of the heavenly realms and the king of the gods. Far
from being the supreme, unchallenged
power in the universe, his position is
much more precarious, for he is seen as
affected by the workings of karma.
Indra is actually subject to replacement
when he is spiritually exhausted or
when a challenger on earth grows spiritually strong enough to unseat him.
Many of the stories in the classical
Sanskrit texts have their plot advanced
by Indra’s throne becoming hot (a sign
that a human being is gaining the
power to replace Indra), and with Indra
taking some action to counter this
threat. In cases where the challenger is
a celibate ascetic, whose source of
power is the power of renunciation,
Indra usually dispatches an apsara
(divine nymph) whose heavenly
charms can seduce the ascetic and by
destroying his celibacy destroy his
power as well. In other cases the threat
can come from people completing one
hundred great sacrifices; here Indra
somehow forestalls the hundredth sacrifice, as he does by stealing the sacred
horse of King Sagar. Indra is the lord
and ruler of the gods, but his position
can only be retained by keeping a sharp
eye on all possible threats.
This loss of “divine” position is seen
by the way Indra is portrayed in certain
mythic tales. In the story of Ahalya he is
portrayed as a lecher and an adulterer,
seducing Ahalya by assuming the form
of her husband, the sage Gautama.
When Gautama discovers what has
happened, he curses Indra to have a
thousand vulvas on his body, although
the curse is later modified to give Indra
a thousand eyes. Indra’s helplessness
before his own lust and his inability
to withstand Gautama’s curse are
sure signs that his divine position
has slipped.
Although he is still regarded as the
bestower of rain and the wielder of the
thunderbolt, another indication of his
diminished power can be seen in his
encounter with the adolescent god
Krishna. When Krishna persuades the
village elders to cease making offerings
to Indra, the latter sends torrential rains
that threaten to destroy the village. In
the face of this threat, Krishna calmly
lifts Mount Govardhan, and for seven
days and nights holds it over their heads
to block the rain. Although Indra
expends all his strength, he is unable to
prevail against the adolescent Krishna,
clearly demonstrating where the real
divinity lies.
In the Mahabharata, the later of the
two great Hindu epics, Indra is revealed
to be the divine father of Arjuna, one of
the five Pandava brothers who are the
epic’s protagonists. Arjuna shares his
father’s strengths and weaknesses; he is
heroic and gallant, the archetypal warrior who relishes the clash of battle and
is unceasing in defense of his personal
and family honor. He can also be selfish,
egocentric, and boorish, and has many
extramarital liaisons, some of which
produce offspring. Both are wonderful
warriors, if that is what is needed at
the time, but they lack other qualities
to make them productive in times
of peace. This story of Indra and Arjuna
is further evidence that Indra has
fallen from the most important deity
to a minor one who is not an object
of worship.