Return to Index
My India
History
Festivals
Ramayan
Mahabharata
Health
Hindu Philosophy
Hindu Culture
Hidu Life Rituals
Gods and Heroes of
Hinduism
Comparing Religions
My resume
Poems
Travel-logs
Music
Bhajans
Videos
Links
Mahabharata katha London
2012
In Bhakti scriptures, Shiva, Devi and Vishnu eclipse Indra’s powers on a regular basis. In fact Indra is constantly asking Vishnu, Devi and Shiva for their advise and help. Occasionally Indra defies Vishnu / Shiva / Devi and suffers terribly for that.
In Ramayan, Indra
assists Rama by providing him with chariot and weapons.
In SM Bhagvata, he tries to fight with Krushna on three distinct occasions and
is defeated into submission. (Govardhan lila,
Parijata haran and burning of Khandav forest).
Devi Bhagvatam and other scriptures recount how Indra comes begging to the Devi
for assistance on numerous occasions.
Having a Vedic God, such as Indra, Agni Varun, being defeated or overwhelmed by a Puranic Gods like Rama, Krushna, Shiva or a form of Devi is almost like a 'rite of passage' for the Puranic Gods to prove they are now in ascendancy.
In Puranic lore, Indra's long suffering wife is forced to live apart from him while he is exiled from heaven for having killed sage Trishira. While living alone in heaven, poor Sachi has to brave the unwanted and unwarranted attentions of the interim Indra – king Naush (human). It is only through her stratagem that he re-enters heaven.
Several other Goddess worshipping cults have Indra begging their chief Devi to fight on his behalf and kill a powerful demon of some sort. Indra’s enemies were said to have acquired boons from Brahma and Shiva that rendered them more powerful than the heavenly Gods. Only the ‘Feminine Divine’ (different forms of the Devi) could defeat them.
Indra may have been sidelined, but his vajra, his weapon, is still seen as important and the various avatars of the Devi (goddesses) borrow this important part of Indra’s iconography (vajra, thunder bolt) in their war against the demons.
meditating. Sages like Vishvamitra are seduced by heavenly nymphs, who are yet another part of Indra’s regal regalia. Indra of the Purans is scared of losing his throne to those who do intense taaps. In fact, ‘Indra’ in Puranic terms becomes a post – like that of a king – rather than a person. The whole concept of Indra being the son of Aditi and brother of nature Gods (wind, water, fire, Sun, Moon) is replaced by an idea that anyone can aspire to become Indra. Anyone who does sufficient taaps or conquers enough armies, or spends enough money on expensive yagnas can become an Indra.
In post-Puranic lore, same honour and ‘punya’ can be accumulated by doing seva, puja, jaap or sankirtan (various forms of collective worship). In bhakti cults, the post of Indra is so trivialised, it is less desirable than the hopes of becoming a ‘true devotee’.
By constantly using Indra as a yard-stick to measure their own Gods, Goddesses and heroes, these later writers affirm the importance of Indra as ‘The-God’ all other ‘gods’ are measured against.
Indra still invokes powerful emotions in Indian mind. For that reason, Hindus and non-Hindus (like Sikhs) still use Indra as an adjective, honorific or a 'qualifying' part of their name. Word 'Indra' is often used as an adjective in a name to enhance the positive qualities of the person’s name. Using the word 'Indra' also elevates a simple name by giving it an honorific position – eg Narendra = king amongst men.
Indra's appeal to the psyche of India and Indians is likely to continue.