Indra - biography
For other uses, see Indra (disambiguation).Mentioned frst as the chief deity in the sacred Hindu text of Rig Veda, Indra is bestowed with a heroic and almost brash and amorous character.Origins
2 Indra in the Rig Veda
2.Relations with other gods
2.Stories about Indra
2.Indra and Vritra
2.Origins
Indra is attested as a god of the Mitanni.Vedas as Dyaus Pita, a relatively minor deity who, interestingly, is the father of Indra).Compare to this the relatively low status of Tyr compared to Odin or Thor in Norse paganism.Aryans does Indra appear to have risen to the head of the pantheon.He who gave being to the Sun and Morning, who leads the waters, He, O men, is Indra.Indra, you lifted up the outcast who was oppressed, you glorified the blind and the lame.Indra is the chief god of the Rigveda (besides Agni).He delights in drinking Soma, and the central Vedic myth is his heroic defeat of Vritra, liberating the rivers, or alternatively, his smashing of the Vala, a stone enclosure where the Panis had imprisoned the cows, and Ushas (dawn).He is the god of war, smashing the stone fortresses of the Dasyu, and invoked by combatants on both sides in the Battle of the Ten Kings.Indra was their lord.Upanishad enumerates the gods as the eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras, the twelve Adityas, Indra and Prajapati).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.Status and function
Indra is an important god in many Hindu mythological tales.He leads the Devas (the gods who form and maintain Heaven) and the elements, such as Agni (Fire), Varuna (Water) and Surya (Sun)), and constantly wages war against the demonic Asuras of the netherworlds, or Patala, who oppose morality and dharma.Modern Hindus, however tend to see Indra as minor deity in comparison to others in the Hindu pathenon, such as Shiva, Vishnu or Devi.In RigVeda, Indra is repeatedly described as a yellow skinned person:
"Fair cheeks hath Indra, Maghavan, the Victor, Lord of a great host, Stormer, strong in action.Indra's weapon, which he used to kill Vritra, (with the help of other gods), is the thunderbolt (Vajra), though he also uses a bow, a net and a hook.When portrayed having four arms, he has lances in two of his hands which resemble elephant goads.Indra lives in Svarga in the clouds around Mt.Deceased warriors go to his hall after death, where they live without sadness, pain or fear.Relations with other gods
He is married to Indrani (whose father, Puloman, Indra killed), and is the father of Arjuna (by Kunti), Jayanta, Midhusa, Nilambara, Khamla, Rbhus, Rsabha.Indra is also the father of Vali and brother to Surya.Indra had slayed 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.Stories about Indra
Indra is not a perfect being, and is ascribed with more human characteristics and vices than any other Vedic deity.Indra tells of a sin that he committed and how he was punished for it.Indra and Vritra
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.In a later version of the story, Vritra was created by Tvashtri 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.Indra had to intervene, and slew him after a hard fight.Brahmin murder) came from the dead 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 Asuras.Ahalya's curse
Indra had an affair with Ahalya, wife of Gautama Maharishi.Gautama later commuted the curse, upon the pleading of Brahma, to one thousand eyes instead.Due to this sin Indra's throne remains insecure forever.He is repeatedly humiliated by demonic kings like Ravana of Lanka, whose son Indrajit (whose name means victor over Indra) bound Indra in serpent nooses and dragged him across Lanka in a humiliating display.Indrajit released Indra when Brahma convinced him to do so in exchange for celestial weapons, but Indra, as the defeated, had to pay tribute and accept Ravana's supremacy.Indra realized the consequences of his sin, and was later avenged by the Avatara of Vishnu, Rama, who slew Ravana to deliver the three worlds from evil, as described in the epic Ramayana.Indra defeats Vritra and releases the waters.Elevated to the rank of King of the Gods, Indra orders the heavenly craftsman, Vishvakarma, to build him a grand palace.Full of pride, Indra continues to demand more and more improvements for the palace.Vishnu visits Indra's palace in the form of a brahmin boy; Indra welcomes him in.Vishnu praises Indra's palace, casually adding that no former Indra had succeeded in building such a palace.At first, Indra is amused by the brahmin boy's claim to know of former Indras.But the amusement turns to horror as the boy tells about Indra's ancestors, about the great cycles of creation and destruction, and even about the infinite number of worlds scattered through the void, each with its own Indra.Finally humbled, Indra asks the boy why he laughed.The boy reveals that the ants are all former Indras.Shiva reveals that each of these chest hairs corresponds to the life of one Indra.Each time a hair falls, one Indra dies and another replaces him.No longer interested in wealth and honor, Indra rewards Vishvakarma and releases him from any further work on the palace.Indra himself decides to leave his life of luxury to become a hermit and seek wisdom.Horrified, Indra's wife Shachi asks the priest Brihaspati to change her husband's mind.He teaches Indra to see the virtues of both the spiritual life and the worldly life.Thus, at the end of the story, Indra learns how to pursue wisdom while still fulfilling his kingly duties.The 14 Indras
Each Manu rules during an eon called a Manvantara.Every Manvantara has a different Indra.The list is according to Vishnu Purana(Chapters 3.In Zoroastrianism
Indra does not occur in the Zoroastrian texts composed before the 3rd century BCE.In the Vendidad, the youngest texts of the Avesta, Indra is one of the six chief demons that are seen to stand opposite the six Amesha Spentas.In this sextet, Indra is the direct enemy of Asha Vahishta, and so the opponent of asha (Vedic rta), order, truth, and righteousness.In the Bundahishn, a Zoroastrian account of creation completed in the 12th century CE, Indra "freezes the minds of the creatures from practicing righteousness just like much frozen snow.At the renovation of the universe Indra will be defeated by Asha Vahishta (Gbd.Indra, "Lord of the Devas".Some Buddhists have also even interpreted that the Jade Emperor is another interpretation of Indra.In Jainism, Indra awards a golden robe to Mahavira, and later welcomes him into heaven.The ceremonial name of Bangkok claims that the city was "given by Indra and built by Vishnukam."The provincial seal of Surin province in Thailand, is an image of Indra atop Airavata.Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization, ed.Eleusis, das indogermanische Erbe der Mysterien (1998).See Copyrights for details.This article does not cite any references or sources.Indra (Paras Gavaskar) is a fictional character who currently appears in Marvel Comics.Indra attends the Xavier Institute.Indra and his fellow team members Anole, Loa, Rubbermaid, Network and Kidogo suffered a great loss when they were told that Northstar had been killed in the line of duty.The Day After, Indra was confirmed to be one of a handful of mutants who retained their mutant powers.Quest for Magik
Indra was captured by Belasco and was held in Limbo with most of the other students.After returning home, Indra discovers that he is the youngest mutant on the planet, excluding Franklin Richards, Tito Bohusk and the Stepford Cuckoos, and the most likely to be targeted.Indra using his powers.Indra possess retractable sectional armored plates that afford him with the ability to cover himself in armor.Indra's Net, a full service
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by Stephen T.In Vedic times, Indra was the supreme ruler of the gods.He was the leader of the Devas, the god of war, the god of thunder and storms, the greatest of all warriors, the strongest of all beings.He was the defender of gods and mankind against the forces of evil.Vajra, the lightening bolt.He also employs the bow, a net, and a hook in battle.He also had the power to revive slain warriors who had fallen in battle.Indra is described as being very powerful, with a reddish complexion, and with either two or four very long arms.His wife was Indrani, and his attendants were called the Maruts.He was known as a great drinker of Soma; sometimes he did this to draw strength, and when he did he grew to gigantic proportions to battle his enemies, but more often he merely wanted to get drunk.When not in his chariot, Indra rode on the great white elephant Airavata, who was always victorious, and who had four tusks which resembled a sacred mountain.Indra held court at Svarga, his heaven in the clouds surrounding the highest peak of the sacred mountain Meru.Indra and the beautiful Indrani presided over their paradise.No sorrow, suffering, or fear were allowed in Indra's home.Indra's most notable exploit was his battle with the asura Vritra.No one could do anything about this until Indra was born.The two clashed, and after a long battle Indra was able to destroy his powerful enemy.Vritra had been keeping the earth in a drought, but when Indra split open the demon, the waters again fell from the skies.So Indra became a hero to all people, and the gods elected him their king for his victory.In Brahamanic and later times, Indra slowly lost much of his grandeur.In later versions of the story of his battle against Vritra, he is portrayed as vengeful and cowardly, and needs the help of Shiva and Vishnu to slay the dragon.In the Mahabharata, Indra is pursued by a terrible female goddess called only Brahminicide who rose up out of the dead Vritra, who was a Brahman in that version of the story.Finally, he went before Brahma and acknowledged his crime, for the killing of a Brahman was considered a terrible sin, and Brahma agreed to help him become free.Indra also suffered such indignities as Krishna showing himself to be immune to Indra's storm and supplanted himself onto Indra's worshipers.Indra eventually was given the role of weather god and lord of the lesser gods.Article "Indra" created on 30 November 1997; last modified on 28 July 2002 (Revision 2).Shri Indra's most important deed is the slaying of the asura
('demon') Vritra, who is a Dragon (ahi).This is why one of
Shri Indra's epithets is vrtrahan 'slayer of Vritra, overcomer
of resistance'.By defeating these forces he separates and supports heaven
and earth (RV 5.Indra to defeat Vritra.Indra, about to slay Vritra,
says to Vishnu: 'O my friend Vishnu, stride out widely' (RV 4.Mahabharata battle, is thus
prefigured by this association of Shri Indra and Vishnu.Indra's strength and vigour), humans on earth help Indra in his struggles, e.Sacrifice, Indra, made you grow so mighty, the dear oblation with the pressed soma.Indra slew Vritra (the dragon), the greatest of Vritras, with the vajra; (slew) the shoulderless one with his great weapon.Like one ignorant of battle, badly intoxicated, (the dragon) challenged the advancing great warrior, the presser of many; (he) did not escape the collision of his weapons; he who had Indra as a conqueror crushed together the rivers (?Vritra's mother's strength became low; Indra warded off her weapon.Vritra's body was sunk in the midst of the never standing, never resting water courses; the waters flowing over Vritra's secret, he who was conquered by Indra lay in the long darkness.Indra) opened after having slain the dragon.Indra, when you struck against the missile; you, the unique god, conquered the cows; you conquered, O Hero, the Soma; you let flow free the seven rivers.What avenger of the dragon did you see, O Indra, when fear came into the your heart, the heart of the one who slew the dragon, when you crossed nine and ninety streams; like a startled eagle crossed through the cloudy regions?And make us better than we are.And make us better than we are."Indra murti from Exotic India.Madhya Pradesh, India
date: ?For modern paintings of Indra and his battles, see the work of A.Rig Veda: a metrically restored
text with an introduction and notes.Sanskrit text + English intro.Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Harvard University Press, 1994.Delhi: Vijay Kumar Govindram Hasanand, 1999.Sanskrit + English trans.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.The Creation Myth of the Rig Veda'.Meddelelser, Bind XXX, Nr.Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish (1943).The Hindu Tradition: The Myth'.New York: Philosophical Library.Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1969.The Stakes of the Warrior.The Indra Festival According to the Atharvavedins'.The Indra Hymns of the Rgveda.The Ritual of Battle: Krishna in the Mahabharata.Ithaca (New York): Cornell University Press, 1976.Kashikar, Chintaman Ganesh (1990).Pune: Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth.Indological Studies in Honor of W.Layout for Different Sacrifices According to Different Shrauta Suutras.Persian painting illustrating ephedra, leading to its identity as Soma'.The Religion of the Veda.Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1988.Aryans of Ancient South Asia: language, material culture and ethnicity.The Indra Jatra of Kathmandu as a Royal Festival: Past and Present'.New York: Oxford University Press.Incorporated in Florida in April 2002 and headquartered in Winter Park, Florida, Indra Systems, Inc.Indra also supplies training systems for land platforms such as the Leopard tank, as well as various civil platforms such as buses, railway, heavy trucks, and shipyard cranes and lifts.
