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In Hinduism, Indra is the king of all the gods. He is also believed to be the god of thunderstorms, lightning and fierce weather. He is said to live in Amaravati or Indraloka, the city on the peak of Mount Meru. He is one of the dikpalas (lokpalas) that translates to the guardians of directions. He is also considered to be an Aditya, a group of solar gods who rule heaven. Lord Indra is also the godly father of Arjuna, one of the five Pandavas.
Family of Lord Indra
• Father: Kashyapa, Mother: Aditi
• Brothers: Varuna, Parjanya, Mitra, Amsa, Pusan, Dhatri, Tvastra, Aryaman, Surya, Bhaga, Vishnu (as Vamana)
• Wives: Shachi (Indrani), Aruni
• Children: Jayanta, Jayanti who married Shukracharya, Vali
• Mounts: Lord Indra’s main mount is the white elephant named Airavata. His two other mounts are the dog Sarama and the horse Uccharaaivas. He also rides in a golden chariot made for him by the Vasus.
Birth of Lord Indra
As the scriptures say, Kashyapa was living with Aditi and Diti, who were the two of his 13 wives, in his ashrama. One day, Kashyapa was really pleased with Aditi’s services and told her to ask for a boon. Aditi prayed for one ideal son. Accordingly, Lord Indra was born to Aditi. Later, Aditi gave birth to others, namely Varuna, Parjanya, Mitra, Amsa, Pusan, Dhatri, Tvastra, Aryaman, Surya, and Bhaga.These are hence known to be the brothers of Lord Indra. As, Lord Indra was the eldest Aditya. Because of this, he was crowned as the king of all the devas.
Weapons
The main weapon of Lord Indra is said to be the Vajra. He is also said to use a thunderbolt called Bhaudhara. His Indrastra, the weapon that brings a shower of arrows is extremely powerful. His Vasavi Shakti, the magical dart, will kill someone no matter what. He has many other weapons like Sutrastra, Sanghatastra, and Vetagri. The rainbow is called Indra’s bow or Indradhanush. He also has a magical hook and net. His rain missile is called the Parjanya astra and another of his weapons is the Visoshana, which dries up. The Aindraastra is also owned by Indra.
Indra and the Ants
One of the other legends that relate to lord Indra has a mention in the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana, Krishna-Janma Khanda. The story starts of how all the devas pleaded with lord Indra to stay back after the killing of an asura. At their request, Lord Indra decided to stay a bit longer as the king of devas. However, he became arrogant as he was the god of Gods.
This story narrates that one day, Indra thought, “I am the king of devas and lord of weather. How can I live in such a small palace? I need a larger palace.” He then called Vishwakarma, the builder god responsible for many creations or achitectures (palaces and vehicles for Gods), and said, “Vishwakarma, can you make a grand palace for me.” To his request, Vishwakarma agreed to construct a grand palace than the one that Indra was in. In almost one year, the palace was completed and then Vishwakarma showed it to Lord Indra. Upon seeing the palace, Lord Indra was not satisfied at all. He wanted an even larger palace. So, he told Vishwakarma to rebuilt it. This process continued and the building of the palace happened again and again. Every time, Vishwakarma would rebuild the palace, but Lord Indra was never satisfied.
Vishwakarma decided to complain to Lord Brahma. He told Lord Brahma about everything that had happened.
“Even after what happened with Vishwarupa, Brihaspati, and Vritra, Lord Indra still hasn’t learned his ego. His arrogance is still controlling him. I will have to teach him a lesson,” Brahma thought to himself. Lord Brahma then went to Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu and told them about what had happened. Together, Lord Vishnu and lord Shiva made a plan to get rid of Indra’s arrogance and to teach him a lesson this time. Soon after this event, as Lord Indra passed by his palace, he noticed a boy admiring his beautiful palace. “Do you like my palace. I am getting it built because of my victory over Vritra. Of course, it isn’t how I want it yet,” Lord Indra said proudly.
“Well, I got to say Indra, this is the grandest palace built by any Indra,” the boy responded.
Lord Indra was confused when the boy said this. In order to remove his confusion, the boy then said, “Obviously, every time Brahma wakes up, the universe is created and Lord Indra is born. Then, every Manvantara (if you don’t know what a Manvantara is, visit Time in Hinduism), there is a new Indra. Every time Brahma goes to sleep, the universe is destroyed and everyone dies, including Indra. I have seen all the Indras so far.” After saying this, the boy looked at a row of ants and laughed. Lord Indra asked the boy why he had laughed.
Upon asking about the ants and why he was laughing, “Those ants are all previous Indras. They start from tiny creatures and soon become enlightened. But then, they destroy one monster and think they’re supreme, so they go back to being stupid ants,” the boy replied to Lord Indra. Hearing his response Lord Indra was surprised when the boy said this. Soon after this, he started feeling afraid. After saying this, the boy turned to meet a hermit. “Oh, great sir, what is the hair in your chest,” the boy asked the hermit. “Every time an Indra dies, one of my chest hairs fall off. Soon, all of them will have fallen off,” the hermit said.
“Please stop, I know what I have done wrong. I have been arrogant and have made many mistakes,” Indra exclaimed. Suddenly, the boy and the hermit turned into Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Upon their appearance, Lord Indra realised his mistake and fell at their feet and said, “I am going to leave Swarga to meditate and repent for all my bad deeds.” Indra left Swarga and hid so that the other devas wouldn’t be able to find him.
‘Indra’ as a position
Just as Lord Vishnu and lord Shiva enlightened Indra about the different Indras that take birth in heaven as Lord Brahma wakes up, here is the actual story behind it, according to the Hindu scriptures. Some of the scriptures argue that Indra is not a person but rather a position of power. In Hinduism, it is believed that one day of Lord Brahma is approximately a 4.3 billion human years that accounts to almost a 1000 Chatur Yugas. This time period is divided into 14 manvantaras (manvantaras are the time periods ruled by different Manus). For each Manvantara, the positions of Indra, Saptharishis (7 great sages) and the other eminent positions will be occupied by different people. As per the Bhagavat Gita, the below listed are some positions:
1. Swayambuva Manu: Yagna was Indra (Yagna was a partial incarnation of Lord Vishnu)
2. Svarochisa Manu: Rocana was Indra
3. Priyavrata Manu (grandson of Swayambuva Manu): Satyajit was Indra
4. Tamasa Manu: Trishikha was Indra in this period
5. Raivata Manu: Vibhu was Indra
6. Caksusa Manu: Mantradruma
7. Vaivasvata Manu (Current Manu): Purandhara
8. Savarni Manu: Bali Maharaja will be the next Indra (the same Bali maharaja who offered 3 feet of land to Lord Vamana)
9. Daksa Savarni: Adbhuta will be Indra
10. Brahma Savarni: Sambhu
11. Dharma Savarni: Vaidhrta
12. Rudra Savarni: Rtadhama
13. Deva Savarni: Divaspati
14. Indra Savarni: Suci will be the 14th Indra
With this the current day of Brahma will come to an end. However, it is believed that while Brahma sleeps during his night (which will be again 1000 chatur yugas), the three worlds that include Bhooloka (Earth), Bhuvarloka and Swarga (Heaven) will be annihilated. They will be created after Brahma wakes up the next day. The cycle goes on and again 14 Manus and Indras will follow. Brahma himself has life of 100 years (each day and night will be 4.3 billion years long). Hence through this, it is very clear that the one who occupies ‘the position of Indra’ has a limited life.
Nahusha and Shachi
With Indra in hiding, the devas now needed another king for themselves. They decided to approach King Nahusha, the son of Ayu. Nahusha warmly welcomed the devas.
The devas then said, “You know how we are without a king right now. Well, we thought that we will temporarily need a ruler and we have considered you.”
“Wait, what. Me! I am very thankful for this offer, but there must be a better candidate for this job. I am not fit to take the place of Indra,” Nahusha said.
“We need to crown an Indra fast. The Asuras will attack, and without leadership, we will be destroyed. You are a good king: the people are happy and your kingdom is prospering,” the devas reasoned.
After much thought, Nahusha finally accepted the position as king of the devas. Soon, Nahusha became arrogant of his position. He would order sages and devas to bow to him all the time and treat them as slaves. The people living in Swarga became really upset, but they couldn’t do anything.
All the celestial Apsaras were in Nahusha’s control, but his greed for women was not satisfied. He started eyeing Shachi, the wife of Indra. When he asked for her hand in marriage, Shachi completely rejected him. But Shachi knew that Nahusha would not stop, so she left and sought refuge in Brihaspati. Brihaspati told Shachi what to do. Accordingly, Shachi came to Nahusha and said, “I will marry you, but you must first let me search for my husband.”
Nahusha agreed and started preparing for the marriage. Meanwhile, Shachi meditated on Upashruti, the goddess of the night. With the help of Upashruti, Shachi was able to find Indra. She told him about everything that had happened. Indra was outraged and told her the plan.
According to Indra’s plan, Shachi approached Nahusha. She said, “Oh Nahusha, I have accepted your marriage proposal. But I want our marriage to be grand. I would like you to make a palanquin. You will come to my residence in a palanquin carried the greatest sages of all time.”
Nahusha accepted and had a beautiful palanquin crafted. He employed Agastya and other great sages to carry the palanquin. Shachi knew that Nahusha was vainglorious and would anger the sages.
When the day of the marriage arrived, Nahusha set off to Shachi’s residence on a palanquin carried by great sages. Nahusha was not satisfied with their speed, so he yelled “Sarpa, Sarpa”, which means faster, faster. The sages started running, but Nahusha still wasn’t satisfied and kicked Agastya rishi. Agastya was enraged and cursed, “Nahusha, how dare you kick me! I am the great Agastya Rishi. You said “Sarpa”, telling me to go faster. Thus, I curse you that you will turn into a Mahasarpa ( huge snake) right now!”
Nahusha was horrified and started pleading at the feet of Agastya. Agastya said that Nahusha would be freed from the curse and would attain heaven when he meets Dharmaputra. Nahusha instantly changed into a snake and fell down. Soon, Indra was once again made king of the devas.
