इन्द्र

यन्त्रोपारोपितकोशांशः

कल्पद्रुमः

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

इन्द्रः, पुं, (इन्दतोति । इदि परमैश्वर्य्ये तस्मात् रन्- प्रत्ययः ।) देवराजः । स तु अदितिपुत्त्रः । पूर्ब्ब- दिक्पतिश्च । तस्य भार्य्या शची । पुत्त्राः जयन्तः १ ऋषभः २ मीढ्वांश्च ३ । अस्त्रं वज्रं । वाहनं ऐरा- वतः । पुरी अमरावती । वनं नन्दनं । तत्पर्य्यायः । मरुत्वान् २ मघवा ३ विडोजाः ४ पाकशासनः ५ वृद्धश्रवाः ६ सुनासीरः ७ पुरुहूतः ८ पुरन्दरः ९ जिष्णुः १० लेखर्षमः ११ शक्रः १२ शतमन्युः १३ दिवस्पतिः १४ सुत्रामा १५ गोत्रभित् १६ वज्री १७ वासवः १८ वृत्रहा १९ वृषा २० वास्तोस्पतिः २१ सुरपतिः २२ बलारातिः २३ शचीपतिः २४ जम्भ- भेदी २५ हरिहयः २६ स्वाराट् २७ नमुचि- सूदनः २८ संक्रन्दनः २९ दुश्च्यवनः ३० तुराषाट् ३१ मेघवाहनः ३२ आखण्डलः ३३ सहस्राक्षः ३४ ऋभुक्षा ३५ । इत्यमरः । महेन्द्रः ३६ कौशिकः ३७ पूतक्रतुः ३८ विश्वम्भरः ३९ हरिः ४० पुरदंशा ४१ शतधृतिः ४२ पृतनाषाड् ४३ अहिद्विषः ४४ । इति जटाधरः ॥ वज्रपाणिः ४५ देवराजः ४६ पर्व्वतारिः ४७ पर्य्यण्यः ४८ देवताधिपः ४९ नाकनाथः ५० पूर्ब्बदिक्पतिः ५१ पुलोमारिः ५२ अर्हः ५३ प्राचीनवर्हिः ५४ तपस्तक्षः ५५ । इति शब्दरत्नावली । तस्य चतुर्द्दश नाम भेदा यथा । “इन्द्रश्च विश्वभुग् ज्ञेयो विपश्चित्तदन्तरम् । विभुः प्रभुः शिखिश्चैव तथैब च मनोजवः । तेजस्वी साम्प्रतस्त्विन्द्रो वलिर्भाव्यस्त्वनन्तरम् ॥ अद्भुतस्त्रिदिवश्चैव दशमस्त्विन्द्र उच्यते । सुशान्तिश्च सुकीर्त्तिश्च ऋतधाता दिवस्पतिः । इति भूता भविष्याश्च इन्द्रा ज्ञेयाश्चतुर्द्दश” ॥ इति देवीपुराणे कालव्यवस्थध्यायः । विष्कुम्भादिसप्तविंशतियोगान्तर्गतषड्विंशयोगः । तत्र जातफलम् । “प्रतापशीलो बलवान् गुणज्ञः श्लेष्माधिकः श्रीकमलाभ्यपेतः । किलेन्द्रयोगो यदि जन्मकाले महेन्द्रतुल्यः पुरुषः प्रसन्नः” । इति कोष्ठीप्रदीपः ॥ * ॥ अन्तरात्मा आदित्य- विशेषः । इति मेदिनी (यथा, हरिवंशे । “तत्र शक्रश्च विष्णुश्च जज्ञाते पुनरेव ह” ।) कुटजवृक्षः । रात्रिः । इति धरणी ॥ उपह्वीप- विशेषः । इति शब्दमाला ॥ परमेश्वरः । इति वेदान्तः ॥ (“इन्द्रो मायाभिः पुरुरूप ईयते” इति श्रुतिः ॥ इन्द्रियं । श्रेष्ठः । प्रथमः । यथा, नरेन्द्रो राजा । पक्षीन्द्रो गरुडः । इत्यादिः ।)

अमरकोशः

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

इन्द्र पुं।

इन्द्रः

समानार्थक:इन्द्र,मरुत्वत्,मघवन्,बिडौजस्,पाकशासन,वृद्धश्रवस्,सुनासीर,पुरुहूत,पुरन्दर,जिष्णु,लेखर्षभ,शक्र,शतमन्यु,दिवस्पति,सुत्रामन्,गोत्रभिद्,वज्रिन्,वासव,वृत्रहन्,वृषन्,वास्तोष्पति,सुरपति,बलाराति,शचीपति,जम्भभेदिन्,हरिहय,स्वाराज्,नमुचिसूदन,सङ्क्रन्दन,दुश्च्यवन,तुराषा,मेघवाहन,आखण्डल,सहस्राक्ष,ऋभुक्षिन्,कौशिक,घनाघन,पर्जन्य,हरि

1।1।41।1।1

इन्द्रो मरुत्वान्मघवा बिडौजाः पाकशासनः। वृद्धश्रवाः सुनासीरः पुरुहूतः पुरन्दरः॥

पत्नी : शची

सम्बन्धि2 : इन्द्रपुरः,इन्द्राश्वः,इन्द्रसारथिः,इन्द्रवनम्,इन्द्रगृहम्,इन्द्रहस्तिः,इन्द्रस्य_वज्रायुधम्

जन्य : जयन्तः

सेवक : इन्द्रपुरः,इन्द्राश्वः,इन्द्रसारथिः,इन्द्रवनम्,इन्द्रगृहम्,इन्द्रहस्तिः,इन्द्रस्य_वज्रायुधम्,देवरथः,देवसभा,देववृक्षः,अश्विनीकुमारौ,अप्सरस्,घृताचीनामाप्सरा,मेनकानामाप्सरा,रम्भानामाप्सरा,उर्वशीनामाप्सरा,तिलोत्तमानामाप्सरा,सुकेशीनामाप्सरा,मञ्जुघोषानामाप्सरा,हाहानामदेवगायकः,हूहूनामदेवगायकः,देवगायकः,देवशिल्पिः

पदार्थ-विभागः : , द्रव्यम्, आत्मा, देवता

इन्द्र पुं।

पूर्वदिशायाः_स्वामी

समानार्थक:इन्द्र

1।3।2।4।1

उत्तरा दिगुदीची स्याद्दिश्यं तु त्रिषु दिग्भवे। अवाग्भवमवाचीनमुदीचीनमुदग्भवम्. प्रत्यग्भवं प्रतीचीनं प्राचीनं प्राग्भवं त्रिषु। इन्द्रो वह्निः पितृपतिर्नैरृतो वरुणो मरुत्.

सम्बन्धि1 : पूर्वदिक्

सेवक : पूर्वदिक्,पूर्वदिशायाः_ग्रहः,पूर्वदिग्गजः

पदार्थ-विभागः : , द्रव्यम्, आत्मा, देवता

वाचस्पत्यम्

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

इन्द्र¦ पु॰ इदि--रन्।

१ परमेश्वरे।
“इन्द्रोमायाभिः पुरुरूपईयते” श्रुतिः। द्वादाशादित्यमध्ये

२ आदित्यभेदे। ते च अदित्यां कश्यपेनोत्पादिताः
“धाताऽर्य्यमा च मित्रश्चवरुणोऽंशुर्भगस्तथा। इन्द्रोविवस्वान् पूषा च पर्ज्जन्योदशमः स्मृतः। ततस्त्वष्टा ततोविष्णुरजघन्यो जघन्यजः” [Page0940-b+ 38] विष्णुध॰। भा॰ आ॰

६५ अ॰ तु इन्द्रस्थाने शक्रनाम्नापठितः यथा
“अदित्यां द्वादशादित्याः सम्भूता भुवनेश्वराः। ये राजन्नामतस्तांस्ते कीर्त्तयिष्यामि भारत!। धाता-मित्रोऽर्यभा शक्रो वरुणस्त्वंशुरेव च। भगो विवस्वान्पूषा च सविता दशमः स्मृतः। एकादशस्तथा त्वष्टाद्वादशोविष्णु रुच्यते। जघन्यजस्तु सर्व्वेषामादित्यानां गुणा-धिकः”। कल्पभेदान्नामभेद इति न विरोधः।

३ कुटजवृक्षे

४ रात्रौ च धरणिः

५ भारतवर्षोप-द्वीपभेदे शब्दमा॰ इन्द्रदेवताके

६ ज्येष्टानक्षत्रे विष्कम्भा-दिषु योगेषु

७ षड्विंशे योगे छन्दोग्रन्थप्रसिद्धे षण्मात्राप्रस्तावे आद्यन्तगुरुद्वयेन लघुद्वयमध्येन युते

८ चतुर्थेभेदे।

९ देवराजे स च मन्वन्तरभेदात् चतुर्द्दशविधः यथा
“मन्वन्तरं मनुर्देवा मनुपुत्राः सुरेश्वरः। ऋषयोऽंशा-वतारश्च हरेः षड्विधमुच्यते” भाग॰

८ स्क॰

१ अ॰। इत्थं मन्व-न्तरे षड्बिधकीर्त्तनीयमुपक्रम्य मन्वन्तरभेदेन तत्तन्नामानिकथितानि अतोनामभेदात्तस्य चतुर्द्दशसंख्या तत्रोक्ता यथा
“तुषिता नाम ते देवाः आसन् स्वायम्भुवेऽन्तरे। मरीचि-मिश्राऋष योयज्ञः सुरगणेश्वरः” भाग॰

८ स्क॰

१ अ॰।

१ मन्व-न्तरे यज्ञः।
“स्वारोचिषो द्वितीयस्तु मनुरग्नेः सुतोऽभवत्” इत्युपक्रम्य
“तत्रेन्द्रोरोचनस्त्वासीत् देवाश्च तुषितादयः” तत्रैव।

२ म॰ रोचनः।
“तृतीय उत्तमोनामप्रियव्रतसुतो मनुः” इत्युपक्रम्य
“सत्यावेदश्रुता भद्राःदेबा इन्द्रस्तु सत्यजित्” तत्रैव।

३ म॰ सत्यजित्”
“चतुर्थ-उत्तमभ्राता मनुर्नाम्ना च तामसः” इत्यु॰
“सत्यकाहरयो वीरा देवास्त्रिशिख ईश्वरः” तत्रैव। ‘ ईश्वरैन्द्रः’ श्रीधरः।

४ म॰ त्रिशिखः।
“पञ्चमो रैवतोनाम मनु-स्तामससोदरः” इत्यु॰
“विभुरिन्द्रः शुरगणा राजन्! भूत-रयादयः” तत्रैव

५ अ॰।

५ म॰ विभुर्नाम।
“षष्ठश्च चक्षुषःपुत्रश्चाक्षुषो नाम वै मनुः” इत्यु॰
“इन्द्रो मन्त्रद्रुमस्तत्रदेवा आस्यादयो मताः” तत्रैव

५ अ॰।

६ म॰ मन्त्रद्रुमः।
“मनुर्विवस्वतः पुत्रः श्राद्धदेव इति श्रुतः। सप्तमो वर्त्तमानोऽयम्” इत्युप॰
“आदित्यावसवोरुद्रा विश्वे देवामरुद्गणाः। अश्विनावृभवो राजन्निन्द्रस्तेषां पुरन्दरः”। तत्रैव अ॰

१३ ।

७ म॰ पुरन्दरः।
“अष्टमेऽन्तर आयातेसावर्ण्णिर्भविता मनुः” इत्यु॰
“तत्र देवाः सुतपसो वि-रजा अमृतप्रजाः। तेषां विरोचनसुतो बलिरिन्द्रो भ-विष्यति”

१३ अ॰।

८ म॰ वलिः।
“नवमो दक्षसावर्ण्णिर्मनुर्व-रुणसम्भवः” इत्युप॰
“परोमरीचिगर्भाद्या देवा इन्द्रः[Page0941-a+ 38] श्रुतः स्मृतः” तत्रैव

१३ अ॰।

९ म॰ श्रुतः।
“दशमोब्रह्म-सावर्ण्णिरुपश्लोकसुतोमहान्” इत्यु॰
“सुवासनविरु-द्धाद्या देवाः शग्भुः सुरेश्वरः”

१३ अ॰।

१० म॰ शम्भुः।
“मनुर्वै धर्मसावर्ण्णिरेकादशम आत्मवान्” इत्यु॰
“विह-ङ्गमाःकामगमानिर्वाणरुचयः सुराः। इन्द्रस्तु वैधृतस्तेषामृषयश्चारुणादयः”

१३ अ॰।

११ म॰ वैधृतः।
“भविता रुद्रसा-वर्ण्णिर्नाम द्वादशमी मनुः” इत्यु॰
“ऋतधामा च देवेशोदेवाश्च हरितादयः”

१३ अ॰।

११ म॰ ऋतधामा।
“मनुस्त्र-योदशोभव्यो वेदसावर्ण्णिरात्मवान्” इत्युप॰
“देवाः सुक-र्म्मसूत्रामसंज्ञा इन्द्रोदिवस्पतिः”

१३ अ॰।

१३ म॰ दिव-स्पतिः।
“मनुर्वा इन्द्रसावर्णिश्चतुर्दशम एष्यति” इत्यु॰
“पवित्राश्चाक्षुषादेवाः शुचिरिन्द्रो भविष्यति”

१३ अ॰।

१४ म॰ शुचिः। पुराणन्तरादौ ना{??}राणि चतुर्दशकल्पभेदादविरुद्धानि। विस्तरभयात्तनि नीक्तानि। एवंशक्र-नामसंख्यासाम्यात्

१० चतुर्दशसंख्यायाम्। स च शची-पतिः वृत्रादिहन्ता, पूर्वदिग्पालः, वृष्टिदायकः,अमरेशः मेषवृषणः तस्य पुत्रो जयन्तः, वनं नन्दनंहयौच्चैःश्रवाः गजऐरावतः, पुरी अमरावती नेत्राणिसहस्रं वज्रमस्त्रम् हरीवाहः। विवृतिस्तत्तच्छब्दे दृश्या। तस्यानेकविधानि कार्य्याणि पुराणादौ वर्णितानि विस्त-रभयान्नोक्तानि मनुकालपर्य्यन्तं तस्याधिकारकालस्तत्-समाप्तौ तस्य प्रजापतेः सकाशात् ब्रह्मविद्याप्राप्तेरग्रेवक्ष्यमाणत्वात् कैवल्यप्राप्तिः
“योयो देवानां प्रत्यबुध्यत” इत्यादिश्रुतेः। इत्येतत् नानाशास्त्रश्रुतीतिहासेषु प्रसिद्धम्स्वकालमध्येऽपि त्वष्टृपुत्रविश्वरूपबधजनितब्रह्महत्या-स्कन्दनभिया तस्य स्वपदच्युतिः। तत्पापस्य विभज्यान्यत्रसंक्रामसे पुनः स्वपदप्राप्तिः। असुरादिभिरपि बलाधिक्य-वशात् तं युधि निर्जित्य कियत्कालपर्य्यन्तं तत्पदेऽधिकारिताप्राप्ता इत्यपि पुराणादौ प्रसिद्धम्
“जित्वा च सकलान् देवान्इन्द्रोऽभून्महिषासुरः” देवीमा॰
“शताश्वमेधकरणे अन्यस्यापिइन्द्रत्वप्राप्तियोग्यतेत्यत्र इन्द्रलोकशब्दे प्रमाणं वक्ष्यते। ( इन्दश्च प्रजापतिसकाशात् एकशतवर्षं ब्रह्मचर्य्याचरणेनब्रह्मविद्यां प्रापेति छा॰ उ॰ वर्ण्णितं यथा
“यदाहुरेकशतंहैकं वर्षाणि मघवान् प्रजापतौ ब्रह्मचर्य्यमुवास तस्मैहीवाच। मघवन्! मर्त्यं वा इदं शरीरमात्तं मृत्थुना तद-स्यामृतस्याशरीरस्यात्मनोऽधिष्ठानमात्मा वै सशरीरः प्रिया-प्रियाभ्यामात्तो न वै सशरीरस्य सतः प्रियाप्रिययोरपह-तिरस्त्यशरीरं वाव सन्तं न प्रियाप्रिये स्पृशतः इत्यादि। [Page0941-b+ 38]
“मघवन्! मर्त्थं वै मरणधर्म्मि शरीरम्। यन्मन्यसेऽक्ष्या-धारादिलक्षणः सम्प्रसादलक्षण आत्मा मयोक्तो विनाश-मेवापीतो भवतीति। शृणु तत्र कारणम्। यदिदं शरीरं वैपश्यसि तदेतन्मर्त्यं विनाशि। तच्चात्तं मृत्युना ग्रस्तं सन्तत-मेव। कदाचिदेव म्रियत इति मर्त्यमित्युक्ते न तथासन्त्रासो भवति यथा ग्रस्तमेव सदा व्याप्तमेव मृत्युने-त्थुक्ते इति वैरग्यार्थं विशेष इत्युच्यते आत्तं मृत्यु-नेति। कथं नाम देहाभिमानतो विरक्तः सन्निवर्त्ततइति। शरीरमित्यत्र सहेन्द्रियमनोभिरुच्यते। तच्छ-रीरमस्य सम्प्रसादस्य त्रिस्थानतया गम्यमानस्यामृतस्यमरणादिदेहेन्द्रियमनोधर्म्मवर्जितस्येत्येतत्। अमृतस्येत्य-वेनैवाशरीरत्वे सिद्धे पुनरशरीरस्येति वचनं वाय्वादिवत्सा-वयवत्वमूर्त्तिमत्त्वे मा भूतामिति। आत्मनो भोगाधिष्ठानम्आत्मनो वा सत ईक्षितुस्तेजोऽबन्नादिक्रमेणोत्पन्नमधि-ष्ठानम् जीवरूपेण प्रविष्य सदेवाधितिष्ठत्यस्मिन्निति वाघि-ष्ठानम्। यस्येदमीदृशं नित्यमेव मृत्युग्रस्तं धर्म्माधर्म्म-जनितत्वात्प्रियाप्रियवदधिष्ठानं तदधिष्ठितस्तद्बान् सशरीरोभवति। अशरीरस्वभावस्यात्मनस्तदेबाऽहं शरीरं शरीरमेवचाहमित्यविवेकादात्मभावः सशरीरत्वम्। अत एव स-शरीरः सन्नात्तो ग्रस्तः प्रियाप्रियाभ्याम्। प्रसिद्धमेतत् तस्यच न वै सशरीरस्य सतः प्रियाप्रिययोर्बाह्यविषयसंयीग-वियोगयोर्निमित्तयोर्बाह्यसंयोगवियोगौ ममेति मन्यमा-नस्यापहतिर्व्विनाश उच्छेदः सन्ततिरूपयोर्नास्तीति। तंपुनर्देहाभिमानादशरीरस्वरूपविज्ञानेन निर्वर्त्तितविवेक-ज्ञानमशरीरं सन्तं प्रियाऽप्रिये न स्पृशतः। स्पृशिःप्रत्येकं सम्बध्यते प्रियं न स्पृशत्यप्रियं न स्पृशतीतिवाक्यद्वयं भवति। न म्लेच्छाशुच्यधार्म्मिकैः सह सम्भा-षेतेति यद्वत्। धर्म्माधर्म्मकार्य्ये हिताहिते, यतोऽ-शरीरता एतत्स्वरूपमिति। तत्र धर्म्माधर्म्मयोरसम्भवात्त-त्कार्य्यभावो दूरत एवेत्यतो न प्रियाप्रिये स्पृशतः। ननु यदि प्रियमप्यशरीरं न स्पृशतीति यन्मघवतोक्तंसुषुप्तस्य विनाशमेवापीतो भवतीति तदेवेहाप्यापन्नम्। नैष दोषो धर्म्माधर्म्मकार्य्ययोः शरीरसम्बन्धिनोः प्रिया-प्रिययोः प्रतिषेधस्य विवक्षितत्वात्
“अशरीरं न प्रिया-प्रिये स्पृशतः” इत्यादिश्रुत्या। आगमापायिनोर्हि स्पर्श-शब्दो दृष्टो यथा शीतस्पर्श उष्णस्पर्श इति। न त्वग्ने-रुष्णप्रकाशयोः स्वभावभूतयोरग्निना स्पर्श एव भवति। तथाग्नेः सवितुर्वोष्णप्रकाशवत्स्वरूपभूतस्य नित्यस्य प्रियस्यापि[Page0942-a+ 38] नेह प्रतिषेधो
“विज्ञानमानन्दम्”
“आनन्दो ब्रह्मेति” श्रुतिभ्यः इहापि
“भूमैव सुखम् इत्युक्तत्वात्” भा॰। इत्यु-पक्रम्य बहूपदेशः कृतः। प्रपञ्चस्तत्र दृश्यः। ( इन्द्रश्च देवानां मध्येऽतिशयेन ब्रह्मवित्तमः तथाहि। केनोपनिषदि असुरविजये देवानां महिमाभिमाने जातेतदभिमानापनोदनार्थं यक्षभूतेनाविर्भूतेन परब्रह्मणा अ-ग्निवाष्वोरभिमाननिरसने तयीर्निवृत्तौ दृढभक्तिमिन्द्रं प्रत्येवहैमवत्युपदेशेन तस्यातिशयमहिमा सूचितः ततो दिग्मात्रंतद्भाष्यञ्चदर्श्यते।
“ब्रह्म ह देवेभ्यो विजिग्ये तस्य हब्रह्मणो विजये देवा अमहीयम्त त ऐक्षन्तास्माकमेवायंविजयोऽस्माकमेवायं महिमेति तद्धैषां विजज्ञौ तेभ्यो हप्रादुर्बभूव तन्न व्यजानन्त किमिदं यक्षमिति। तेऽग्निमब्रुवन्जातवेदः! एतद्विजानीहि किमेतद्यक्षमिति तथेतितदभ्यद्रवत्तमभ्यवदत् कोऽसीति अग्निर्व्वाऽहमस्मीत्यब्र-वीज्जातवेदा वा अहमस्मीति। तस्मिंस्त्वयि किं वीर्य्य-मित्यपीदं सर्व्वं दहेयं यदिदं पृथिव्यामिति। तस्मै तृणंनिदधावेतद्दहेति तदुप प्रेयाय सर्व्वजवेन तन्न शशाक दग्धुंस तत एव निववृते नैतदशकं विज्ञातुं यदेतद्यक्षमिति” के॰ उ॰। एवं वायोरप्यभिमाननिरसनमुपवर्ण्य
“अथेन्द्रमब्रुवन्मघवन्नेतद्विजानीहि किमेतद्यक्षमिति तथेतितदभ्यद्रवत्तत्तस्मात्तिरोदधे। स तस्मिन्नेवाकाशे स्त्रियमाज-गाम बहुशोभमानामुमां हैववतीं तां होवाच किमेतद्यक्ष-मिति। सा ब्रह्मेति होवाच ब्रह्मणो वा एतद्विजये मही-यध्वमिति ततो हैव विदाञ्चकार ब्रह्मेति। यस्माद्वा एतेदेवा अतितरामिवान्यान्देवान् यदग्निर्वायुरिन्द्रस्ते ह्येनन्नेदिष्ठं पस्पर्शुस्ते ह्येनत् प्रथमो विदाञ्चकार ब्रह्मेतितस्माद्वा इन्द्रोऽतितरामिवान्यान् स ह्येनन्नेदिष्ठं पस्पर्शस ह्येनत् प्रथमो विदाञ्चकार ब्रह्मेति” के॰ उ॰।
“तथेन्द्र-मब्रुवन्मघवन्नेतद्विजानीहि इत्यादिपूर्व्व वदिन्द्रः परमेश्वरो-मघवान् बलवत्त्वात्तथेनि तदभ्यद्रवत्तस्मादिन्द्रादात्मसमीपग-तात्तद्ब्रह्म तिरोदघे तिरोभूतमिन्द्रत्वाभिमानोऽतितरांनिराकर्त्तव्य इत्यतः संवादमात्रमपि नादात् ब्रह्मेन्द्राय। ( तद्यत्र यस्मिन्नाकाशे आकाशप्रदेशेआत्मानं दर्शयित्वा तिरो-मूतमिन्द्रश्च ब्रह्मणस्तिरोधानकाले यस्मिन्नाकाशे आसीत्स इन्द्रस्तस्मिन्नेवाकाशे तस्थौ। किं तद्यक्षभिति ध्या-यन्न निववृतेऽग्न्यादिवत्तस्येति यक्षे भक्तिं बुद्धाविद्या उमारूपिणी प्रादुर्भूता स्त्रीरूपा। स इन्द्र-स्तामुमां सर्वेषां हि शोभमानानां शोमनतमां विद्यां[Page0942-b+ 38] तदा बहुशोभमानेति विशेषणमुपपन्नम्भवति। हैववतीहेमकृताभरणवतीमिव बहुशोभामानामित्यर्थः। अथवाउमैव हिमवतो दुहिता हैमवती नित्यमेव सर्व्वज्ञेनईश्वरेण सा वर्त्तत इति ज्ञातुं समर्था इति कृत्वातामुपजगाम इन्द्रस्तां ह उमां किलोवाच पप्रच्छब्रूहि किमेतद्दर्शयित्वा तिरोभूतं यक्षमिति। सा ब्र-ह्मेति होवाच ह किल ब्रह्मण ईश्वरस्यैव विजये ईश्वरे-णैव जिता असुरा यूयं तत्र निमित्तमात्रं तस्यैवविजये यूयं महीयध्वं महिमानं प्राप्नुथ। एतदितिक्रियाविशेषणार्थम्। मिथ्यामिमानश्च युष्माकमेव महि-मेति। ततस्तस्मादुमावाक्याद्ध एव विदाञ्चकार व्रक्तेतीन्द्रोऽवधारणात्ततो हैवेति न स्वातन्त्र्येण। यस्मादग्नि-वाय्विन्द्रा एते देवा ब्रह्मणः संवाददर्शनादिना स-मीपमुपगतास्तस्मादैश्वर्य्यगुणैरतितरामिव शक्तिगुणादि-भिर्महाभ्याग्यैरन्यान्देवानतितरामतिशयेन शेरते इवैतेदेवाः। इवशब्दोऽनर्थकोऽवधारणार्थो वा। यदग्निर्वा-युरिन्द्रस्ते हि देवा यस्मादेतद्ब्रह्म नेदिष्ठमन्तिकं समीपंप्रियतमं पस्पर्शुः स्पृष्टवन्तो यथोक्तैर्ब्रह्मणः संवादादि-प्रकारैस्ते हि यस्माच्च हेतोरेनद्ब्रह्म प्रथमः प्रथमाःप्रधानाः सन्त इत्येतद्विदाञ्चकार विदाञ्चक्रुरित्येतद्ब्र-ह्मेति। यस्मादग्निवायू अपीन्द्रवाक्यादेव विदाञ्चक्रतुःइन्द्रेण ह्युमावाक्यात्प्रथमं श्रुतं ब्रह्मेत्यतस्तस्माद्वै इन्द्रो-ऽतितरामतिशयेन शेते इवान्यान्देवान्, स ह्येतन्नेदिष्ठंपस्पर्श यस्मात्स ह्येनत्प्रथमो विदाञ्चकार ब्रह्मेति” भा॰

११ अन्तरात्मनि
“इन्दियमिन्द्रलिङ्गमित्यादि” पा॰

१२ ऐश्वर्य्यान्विते त्रि॰। भावे रन्।

१३ ऐश्वर्य्ये।

१४ इन्द्रवारुण्यां स्त्री टाप्। राजनि॰।
“इन्द्रायेन्दो! पवस्वते” ऋ॰

९ ,

६४ ,

२२ ।
“तदिन्द्रसन्दिष्टमुपेन्द्र! यद्वचः” माघः!।
“हरी इन्द्रस्य” निरु॰।

१५ नृपमात्रे
“महीमहेन्द्रस्तमवेक्ष्यसक्षणम्” नैष॰।
“राष्ट्रस्यैतत् कृत्यतमं राज्ञां चैवाभिषेचनम्। अनिन्द्रमबलं राष्ट्रंदस्यवोऽभिभवन्त्युत” भा॰ शा॰

६७ अ॰
“देवताद्वन्द्वेउत्तरपदस्थस्य नेन्द्रस्य परस्य न वृद्धिः आग्ने-न्द्रम् कर्म सि॰ कौ॰ लिङ्गाद्यर्थे घ। इन्द्रियम्। इन्द्रियशब्दे विवृतिः। इन्द्रोजीविकास्य देपपथा॰ कन्तस्य लुप्। इन्द्रस्तन्मूर्त्तिजीविकावति लुपि व्यक्तिवचन-त्वात् पु॰। इन्द्रोदेवताऽस्य अण्। इन्द्रदेवताके हविरादौ
“ऐन्द्रं दध्यमावस्यायाम्” श्रुतिः। स्त्रियां ङीप्।
“ऐन्द्र्या गार्हपत्यमुपतिष्ठते” श्रुतिः।
“ऐन्द्रीतमसुरेश्वरम्” [Page0943-a+ 38] देवीमा॰ ऐन्द्री दिक्
“उपमितसमासे उत्तरपददस्थःश्रेष्ठंत्वद्योतकः मनुजेन्द्रः वारणेन्द्र इत्यादि।

शब्दसागरः

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

इन्द्र¦ m. (-न्द्रः)
1. The deity presiding over Swarga or the Hindu para- dise, and the secondary divinities; he is also regent of the east quarter, and is more particularly the deity of the atmosphere, corresponding in many respects with the Grecian JOVE.
2. The Supreme Being, (according to the Vedanta,) or the deity INDRA in that capacity.
3. Supremacy, supreme power or authority.
4. An Aditya, one of the twelve demigods so called.
5. One of the Yogas. or divisions of a circle on the plane of the ecliptic.
6. The human or animal soul, the portion of spirit residing in the body.
7. Night.
8. A plant, (Wrightea antidysenterica, &c.) see कुटज।
9. An organ of sense.
10. (In composition) Best, excellent.
11. The 14th luna- tion of the month Jyeshtha.
12. One of the nine divisions of Jambu Dwipa, or the known continent. f. (-न्द्रा)
1. The name of a plant, (Marjoram?) see फणिञ्झक।
2. The wife of INDRA. E. इदि to possess pupreme power, and रन् Una4di aff.

Apte

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

इन्द्रः [indrḥ], [इन्द्-रन्; इन्दतीति इन्द्रः; इदि ऐश्वर्ये Malli.]

The lord of gods.

The god of rain, rain; cloud; इन्द्रो वरुणः सोमो रुद्रः । शं न इन्द्रो बृहस्पतिः Tait. Vp.1.1.1. Bṛi. Up.1.4.11.

A lord or ruler (as of men &c.). इन्द्रो- मायाभिः पुरुरूप ईयते Bṛi. Up.2.5.19. first or best (of any class of objects), always as the last member of comp.; नरेन्द्रः a lord of men i. e. a king; so मृगेन्द्रः a lion; गजेन्द्रः the lord or chief of elephants; so योगीन्द्रः, कपीन्द्रः.

A prince, king.

The pupil of the right eye.

N. of the plant कुटज.

Night.

One of the divisions of भारतवर्ष.

N. of the 26th Yoga.

The human or animal soul.

A vegetable poison.

The Yoga star in the 26th Nakṣatra.

Greatness.

The five objects of senses.

द्रा The wife of Indra, Indrāṇī.

N. of a plant (मरुबक Mar. मरवा) [Indra, the god of the firmament, is the Jupiter Pluvius of the Indian Āryans. In the Vedas he is placed in the first rank among the gods; yet he is not regarded as an uncreated being, being distinctly spoken of in various passages of the Vedas as being born, and as having a father and a mother. He is sometimes represented as having been produced by the gods as a destroyer of enemies, as the son of Ekāṣṭakā, and in Rv.1.9.13 he is said to have sprung from the mouth of Puruṣa. He is of a ruddy or golden colour, and can assume any form at will. He rides in a bright golden chariot drawn by two tawny horses. His most famous weapon is the thunderbolt which he uses with deadly effect in his warfare with the demons of darkness, drought and inclement weather, variously called Ahi, Vṛitra, Śambar, Namuchi &c. He storms and breaks through their castles, and sends down fertilizing showers of rain to the great delight of his worshippers. He is thus the lord of the atmosphere, the dispenser of rain, and governor of the weather. He is represented as being assisted by the Maruts or storm-gods in his warfare. Besides the thunderbolt he uses arrows, a large hook, and a net. The Soma juice is his most favourite food, and under its exhilarating influence he performs great achievements (cf. Rv.1.119), and pleases his devout worshippers, who are said to invite the god to drink the juice. He is their friend and even their brother; a father, and the most fatherly of fathers; the helper of the poor, and the deliverer and comforter of his servants. He is a wall of defence; his friend is never slain or defeated. He richly rewards his adorers, particularly those who bring him libations of Soma, and he is supplicated for all sorts of temporal blessings as cows, horses, chariots, health, intelligence, prosperous days, long life, and victory in war. In the Vedas Indra's wife is Indrānī, who is invoked among the goddesses. Such is the Vedic conception of Indra. But in later mythology he falls in the second rank. He is said to be one of the sons of Kaśyapa and Dākṣāyaṇī or Aditi. He is inferior to the triad Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśa (though in some places Viṣṇu is regarded as his younger brother, cf. R.14.59,15.4), but he is the chief of all the other gods, and is commonly styled Sureśa, Devendra &c. As in the Vedas so in later mythology, he is the regent of the atmosphere, and of the east quarter, and his world is called Svarga. He sends the lightning, uses the thunderbolt and sends down rain. He is frequently at war with Asuras, whom he constantly dreads, and by whom he is sometimes defeated. The Indra of mythology is famous for his incontinence and adultery, one prominent instance of which is his seduction of Ahalyā, the wife of Gautama (see Ahalyā), and for which he is often spoken of as Ahalyā-jāra. The curse of the sage impressed upon him a 1 marks resembling the female organ, and he was therefore called Sayoni; but these marks were afterwards changed into eyes, and he is hence called Netra-yoni and Sahasrākṣa. In the Rāmāyana Indra is represented as having been defeated and carried off to Laṅkā by Ravaṇa's son called Meghanāda, who for this exploit received the title of 'Indrajit'. It was only at the intercession of Brahmā and the gods that Indra was released, and this humiliation was regarded as a punishment for his seduction of Ahalyā. He is also represented as being in constant dread of sages practising potent penances, and as sending down nymphs to beguile their minds (see Apsaras). In the Purāṇas he is said to have destroyed the offspring of Diti in her womb, and to have cut off the wings of mountains when they grew troublesome. Other stories are also told in which Indra was once worsted by Raja, grandson of Purūravas, owing to the curse of Durvāsas, and other accounts show that he and Kṛiṣna were at war with each other for the Pārijāta tree which the latter wanted to remove from Svarga, and which he succeeded in doing in spite of Indra's resistance. His wife is Indrāṇī, the daughter of the demon Puloman, and his son is named Jayanta. He is also said to be father of Arjuna. His epithets are numerous; mostly descriptive of his achievements, e. g. वृत्रहन्, बलभिद्, पाकशासन, गोत्रभिद्, पुरंदर, शतक्रतु, जिष्णु, नमुचिसूदन &c. (see Ak.I.1.44.47). The Heaven of Indra is Svarga; its capital, Amarāvatī; his garden, Nandana; his elephant, Airāvata; his horse, Uchchaiśravas; his bow, the rain-bow, and his sword, Paranja.].-Comp. -अग्निः the fire produced from the contact of clouds; ˚धूमः frost, snow; ˚देवता the 16th lunar mansion. -अनुजः, -अवरजः an epithet of Viṣṇu and of Nārāyaṇa (उपेन्द्र); तस्थौ भ्रातृसमीपस्थः शक्रस्येन्द्रानुजो यथा Rām.6.91.4. -अरिः an Asura or demon. -अवसानः a desert.

अशनः hemp (dried and chewed).

the shrub which bears the seed used in jeweller's weight, (गुंजावृक्ष). -आयुधम् Indra's weapon, the rainbow; इन्द्रा- युधद्योतिततोरणाङ्कम् R.7.4,12.79; K.127.

(ध) N. of the horse in Kādambarī (i. e. Kapiñjala changed into a horse).

a horse marked with black about the eyes.

a diamond. (-धा) a kind of leech.

आसनम् the throne of Indra.

a throne in general.

a foot of five short syllables. -इज्यः N. of बृहस्पति the preceptor of gods. -ईश्वरः one of the forms of Śiva-liṅga. -उत्सवः a festival honouring Indra. -ऋषभ a. having Indra as a bull, or impregnated by Indra, an epithet of the earth. इन्द्रऋषभा द्रविणे नो दधातु Av.12.1.6. -कर्मन् m. an epithet of Viṣṇu (performing Indra's deeds).-कान्तः A class of the four-storeyed buildings. (Mānasāra 21.6-68).

कीलः N. of the mountain मन्दर.

a rock.

(लम्) the banner of Indra.

A pin, nail, bolt फालका भाजनोर्ध्वे तु तदूर्ध्वे चेन्द्रकीलकम् (Mānasāra 12.126). cf. also Kau. A.2.3. -कुञ्जरः Indra's elephant, Airāvata. -कूटः N. of a mountain-कृष्ट a. 'ploughed by Indra', growing exuberantly or in a wild state. (-ष्टः) a kind of corn produced by rain-water. -केतुः Indra's banner.

कोशः, षः, षकः, ष्ठः a couch, sofa, which is generally made up of covering pieces of perforated wooden planks; cf. अट्टालक- प्रतोलीमध्ये त्रिधानुष्काधिष्ठानं-इन्द्रकोशं कारयेत् Kau. A.2.3.

a platform.

a projection of the roof of a house.

A pin or bracket projecting from the wall (नागदन्त). A projection of the roof of a house forming a kind of balcony; Kau. A.24. -गिरिः the महेन्द्र mountain.-गुरुः, -आचार्यः the teacher of Indra; i. e. बृहस्पति. -गोपः, -गोपकः [इन्द्रो गोपो रक्षको$स्य, वर्षाभवत्वात्तस्य] a kind of insect of red or white colour; Śukra.4.157; K.1.-चन्दनम् the white sandal wood. -चापम्, -धनुस् n.

a rainbow; विद्युत्वन्तं ललितवनिताः सेन्द्रचापं सचित्राः Me.64; Śi.7.4.

the bow of Indra -चिर्भटा A mild variety of Colocynth. The leaf is tripartite, rough and wrinkled. (Mar. कंवडळ, applied often as इन्द्रावण in the sense of vile, malignant, dark and hateful.) -च्छदः A necklace of pearls having 18 strings. -च्छन्दस् n. [इन्द्र इव सहस्रनेत्रेण सहस्रगुच्छेन च्छाद्यते] a necklace consisting of 1 strings. -जः N. of Vālī. -जतु n. Bitumen (Mar. शिलाजित). -जननम् Indra's birth. -जननीय a. treating of Indra's birth (as a work). -जा a. Ved. born or arising from Indra. Av.4.3.7. -जालम् [इन्द्रस्य परमेश्वरस्य जालं मायेव]

the net of Indra. तेनाह- मिन्द्रजालेनामूंस्तमसाभि दधामि सर्वान् Av.8.8.8.

a weapon used by Arjuna; a stratagem or trick in war.

deception, cheating.

conjuring, jugglery, magical tricks; इन्द्रजालं च मायां वै कुहका वा$पि भीषणा Mb.5.16.55. स्वप्नेन्द्रजालसदृशः खलु जीवलोकः Śānti.2.2; K.15. -जालिकa. [इन्द्रजाल-ठन्] deceptive, unreal, delusive. (-कः) a juggler, conjurer. -जित् m. 'conqueror of Indra', N. of a son of Rāvaṇa who was killed by Lakṣmaṇa. [Indrajit is another name of Meghanāda a son of Rāvaṇa. When Rāvaṇa warred against Indra in his own heaven, his son Meghanāda was with him, and fought most valiantly. During the combat, Meghanāda, by virtue of the magical power of becoming invisible which he had obtained from Śiva, bound Indra, and bore him off in triumph to Laṅkā. Brahmā and the other gods hurried thither to obtain his release, and gave to Meghanāda the title of Indrajit, 'conqueror of Indra'; but the victor refused to release his prisoners unless he were promised immortality. Brahmā refused to grant this extravagant demand, but he strenuously persisted, and achieved his object. In the Rāmāyaṇa he is represented to have been decapitated by Lakṣmaṇa while he was engaged in a sacrifice]. ˚हन्तृ or विजयिन् m. N. of Lakṣmaṇa. -ज्येष्ठ a. Ved. led by Indra. -तापनः the thundering of clouds. -तूलम्, -तूलकम् a flock of cotton.-दमनः the son of Bāṇāsura. -दारुः the tree Pinus Devadāru. -द्युति Sandal

द्रुः, द्रुमः the plant Terminalia Arjuna (अर्जुन).

The plant कुटज. -द्वीपः, -पम् one of the 9 Dvīpas or Divisions of the continent (of India). -धनुः N. of Indra's bow, the rainbow; स एकव्रा- त्यो$भवत्स धनुरादत्त तदेवेन्द्रधनुः Av.15.1.6.

ध्वजः a flag raised on the 12th day of the bright half of Bhādra.

Indra's weapon; विस्रस्ताकल्पकेशस्रगिन्द्रध्वज इवापतत् Bhāg.1.44.22. -नक्षत्रम् Indra's lunar mansion फल्गुनी.

नेत्रम् the eye of Indra.

the number one thousand. -नीलः [इन्द्र इव नीलः श्यामः] a sapphire; परीक्षाप्रत्ययैर्यैश्च पद्मरागः परीक्ष्यते । त एव प्रत्यया दृष्टा इन्द्रनीलमणेरपि ॥ Garuḍa. P.; R.13.54;16.69; Me.48,79. -नीलकः an emerald.

पत्नी Indra's wife, शची. -पर्णी, -पुष्पा N. of a medicinal plant (Mar. कळलावी).

पर्वतः the महेन्द्र mountain.

a blue mountain. -पुत्रा N. of अदिति.-पुरोगम, -पुरःसर, -श्रेष्ठ a. led or preceded by Indra, having Indra at the head. -पुरोहितः N. of बृहस्पति. (-ता) the asterism Puṣya. -प्रमतिः N. of the pupil of Paila and the author of some ṛiks of the Rv. -प्रस्थम् N. of a city on the Yamunā, the residence of the Paṇḍavas (identified with the modern Delhi); इन्द्रप्रस्थगमस्तावत्कारि मा सन्तु चेदयः Śi.2.63. -प्रहरणम् Indra's weapon, the thunderbolt. -भगिनी N. of Pārvatī. -भेषजम् dried ginger. -मखः a sacrifice in honour of Indra.

महः a festival in honour of Indra.

the rainy season; ˚कामुकः a dog. -मादन a. animating or delighting Indra; ये वायव इन्द्रमादनासः Rv.7.92.4. -मेदिन् a. Ved. whose friend or ally is Indra; इन्द्रमेदी सत्वनो नि ह्वयस्व Av.5.2-.8. -यज्ञः (See इन्द्रमह and इन्द्रमख) श्वो$स्माकं घोषस्योचित इन्द्रयज्ञो नामोत्सवः भविष्यति Bālacharita I. -यवः, -वम् seed of theKutaja tree.

लुप्तः, प्तम्, लुप्तकम् excessive baldness of the head.

loss of beard. -लोकः Indra's world, Svarga or Paradise.

लोकेशः lord of Indra's world, i. e. Indra.

a guest (who, if hospitably received, confers paradise on his host). -वंशा, -वज्रा N. of two metres, see Appendix. -वल्लरी, -वल्ली N. of a plant (पारिजात) or of इन्द्रवारुणी. -वस्तिः [इन्द्रस्य आत्मनः वस्तिरिव] the calf (of the leg). -वाततम a. Ved. desired by Indra. अस्मे ऊतीरिन्द्रवाततमाः Rv.1.6.6.-वानकम् A variety of diamonds. Kau. A.2.11.-वायू (du.) Indra and Vāyu. इन्द्रवायू उभाविह सुहवेह हवामहे Av.3.2.6. -वारुणी, -वारुणिका Colocynth, a wild bitter gourd cucumis colocynthis. (Mar. मोठी कंवडळ) किमिन्द्रवारुणी राम सितया कटुकीयते Laghu Yogavāsiṣṭha-sāra X. सौवर्चलं हरिद्रा च पिप्पली चेन्द्रवारुणिः । मूत्र- कृच्छ्रे प्रशंसन्ति पिण्डो$यं वाजिनां हितः ॥ शालिहोत्र of भोज 33.-वाह् a. carrying Indra. -वृक्षः the Devadāru tree.-वृद्धा a kind of abscess. -वैडूर्यम् a kind of precious stone. -व्रतम् Indra's rule of conduct; one of the duties of a king (who is said to follow इन्द्रव्रत when he distributes benefits as Indra pours down rain); वार्षिकांश्चतुरो मासान् यथेन्द्रो$प्यभिवर्षति । तथाभिवर्षेत्स्वं राष्ट्रं कामैरिन्द्रव्रतं चरन् ॥ Ms.9.34. -शक्तिः f. Indrāṇī, the wife of Indra, or his energy personified.

शत्रुः an enemy or destroyer of Indra (when the accent is on the last syllable), an epithet of प्रह्लाद; इन्द्रशत्रो विवर्धस्व मा चिरं जहि विद्विषम् Bhāg.6.9.12. बलिप्रदिष्टां श्रियमाददानं त्रैविक्रमं पादमिवेन्द्रशत्रुः R.7.35.

[इन्द्रः शत्रुः यस्य] one whose enemy is Indra, an epithet of वृत्र (when the accent is on the first syllable). (This refers to a legend in the Śat. Br., where it is said that Vṛitra's father intended his son to become the destroyer of Indra, and asked him to say इन्द्रशत्रुर्वधस्व &c. but who, through mistake, accented the word on the first syllable, and was killed by Indra; cf. Śik.52; मन्त्रो हीनः स्वरतो वर्णतो वा मिथ्याप्रयुक्तो न तमर्थमाह । स वाग्वज्रो यजमानं हिनस्ति यथेन्द्रशत्रुः स्वरतो$पराधात् ॥ -शलभः a kind of insect (इन्द्रगोप).-संजयम् N. of a sāman. Arṣeya Br. -संधा connection or alliance with Indra. तयाहमिन्द्रसंधया सर्वान् देवानिह हुव Av.11.1.9.

सारथिः N. of Mātali.

an epithet of Vāyu, driving in the same carriage with Indra; Rv.4.46.2. -सावर्णिः N. of the fourteenth Manu.

सुतः, सूनुः N. of (a) Jayanta; (b) Arjuna; (c) Vāli, the king of monkeys.

N. of the अर्जुन tree. -सुरसः, -सुरा a shrub the leaves of which are used in discutient applications (निर्गुंडी).-सेनः N. of several men; of Bali; of a mountain; Bhāg.8.2.23.

सेना Indra's missile or host.

Indra's army; Rv.1.12.2. -सेनानीः the leader of Indra's armies, epithet of Kārtikeya. -स्तुत्m.

स्तोमः praise of Indra; N. of a particular hymn addressed to Indra in certain ceremonies.

a sacrifice in honour of Indra. -हवः invocation of Indra; भद्रान् कृण्वन्निन्द्रहवान्त्सखिभ्य Rv.9.96.1. -हस्तः a kind of medicament.

Monier-Williams

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

इन्द्र m. (for etym. as given by native authorities See. Nir. x , 8 Sa1y. on RV. i , 3 , 4 Un2. ii , 28 ; according to BRD. fr. इन्= इन्व्with suff. रpreceded by inserted द्, meaning " to subdue , conquer " Page166,2 ; according to Muir , S. T. v , 119 , for सिन्द्रfr. स्यन्द्, " to drop " ; more probably from इन्द्, " to drop " See. , and connected with इन्दुabove ) , the god of the atmosphere and sky

इन्द्र m. the Indian Jupiter Pluvius or lord of rain (who in Vedic mythology reigns over the deities of the intermediate region or atmosphere ; he fights against and conquers with his thunder-bolt [ वज्र] the demons of darkness , and is in general a symbol of generous heroism ; इन्द्रwas not originally lord of the gods of the sky , but his deeds were most useful to mankind , and he was therefore addressed in prayers and hymns more than any other deity , and ultimately superseded the more lofty and spiritual वरुण; in the later mythology इन्द्रis subordinated to the triad ब्रह्मन्, विष्णु, and शिव, but remained the chief of all other deities in the popular mind) RV. AV. S3Br. Mn. MBh. R. etc.

इन्द्र m. (he is also regent of the east quarter , and considered one of the twelve आदित्यs) Mn. R. Sus3r. etc.

इन्द्र m. in the वेदान्तhe is identified with the supreme being

इन्द्र m. a prince

इन्द्र m. ifc. best , excellent , the first , the chief (of any class of objects ; See. सुरे-न्द्र, राजे-न्द्र, पर्वते-न्द्र, etc. ) Mn. Hit.

इन्द्र m. the pupil of the right eye (that of the left being called इन्द्राणीor इन्द्र's wife) S3Br. Br2A1rUp.

इन्द्र m. the number fourteen , Su1ryas.

इन्द्र m. N. of a grammarian

इन्द्र m. of a physician

इन्द्र m. the plant Wrightia Antidysenterica(See. कुटज) L.

इन्द्र m. a vegetable poison L.

इन्द्र m. the twenty-sixth योगor division of a circle on the plane of the ecliptic

इन्द्र m. the योगstar in the twenty-sixth नक्षत्र, ? Pegasi

इन्द्र m. the human soul , the portion of spirit residing in the body

इन्द्र m. night L.

इन्द्र m. one of the nine divisions of जम्बु-द्वीपor the known continent L.

Purana index

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

(I)--(सहस्राक्ष, देवेन्द्र, etc.). A लोकपाल। He and three other लोकपालस् have their cities on the मान- sottara mountain in पुष्करद्वीप; फलकम्:F1:  भा. V. २०. ३०; M. २६६. १९.फलकम्:/F worshipped for vigour of organs. फलकम्:F2:  भा. II. 3. 2.फलकम्:/F Served as calf for gods to milk from the Earth. फलकम्:F3:  Ib. IV. १८. १५; M. १०. १८.फलकम्:/F Presented पृथु with a crown. फलकम्:F4:  भा. IV. १४. २६; १५. १५.फलकम्:/F Deprived पृथु of his sacrificial horse during the hundredth अश्वमेध। Urged by Atri, पृथु's son pursued Indra, when the latter aban- doned the house and disappeared. A second time Indra deprived पृथु of his horse; when the king's men pursued him, he left the horse and went away in disguise. This enraged पृथु, who aimed his arrow at Indra but was pacified by ब्रह्मा in the name of धर्म। A reconcilia- tion was effected when पृथु embraced him. फलकम्:F5:  Ib. IV. १६. २४; १९. १०-17, १९-22, २६-39; २०. १८.फलकम्:/F Invested विजिताश्व with power of moving about unseen by others. फलकम्:F6:  Ib. IV. २४. 3.फलकम्:/F Jealous of ऋषभ, refused rains for his kingdom अजनाभ. Bestowed जयन्ती on him. फलकम्:F7:  Ib. V. 4. 3 and 8.फलकम्:/F During हिरण्यकशिपु's absence at Mandara hill, Indra captured his queen and took her to his heavenly abode. नारद intervened and set her at liberty. फलकम्:F8:  Ib. VII. 7. 6-११.फलकम्:/F Took up his वज्र against Cyavana for allowing अश्विन्स् to partake of सोम juice. But Cyavana's तपस् tied down his arms, when Indra yielded. फलकम्:F9:  Ib. IX. 3. २५, २६.फलकम्:/F Assumed the form of a bull over which Kakustha rode and defeated Asuras in a battle. Made the crying मान्- धात suckle his finger. फलकम्:F१०:  Ib. IX. 6. १२-15, ३१; Vi. IV. 2. २९-32.फलकम्:/F Prevented Rohita from entering [page१-188+ ४६] his city for six years: Awarded हरिश्चन्द्र a golden chariot after his पुरुषमेध। फलकम्:F११:  भा. VII. 7. १७-20, २३.फलकम्:/F Robbed Sagara's sacrifi- cial horse and left it near Kapila's hermitage. फलकम्:F१२:  Ib. IX. 8. 8 and १०.फलकम्:/F Performed a sacrifice which was attended by वसिष्ठ. फलकम्:F१३:  Ib. IX. १३. 1 and 2.फलकम्:/F Joined the gods in तारकामय war. फलकम्:F१४:  Ib. IX. १४. 7.फलकम्:/F Asked Gandharvas to take back उर्वशी living with पुरूरवस्. फलकम्:F१५:  Ib. IX. १४. २६.फलकम्:/F Helped by राजि, gave back his kingdom. After his death, his sons refused to give back the kingdom, and Indra slew all of them. फलकम्:F१६:  Ib. IX. १७. १३-16; Br. III. ६७. ८७-105.फलकम्:/F Cursed by दुर्वास, he lost all fortune. The three worlds became empty. वरुण and other gods conferred with ब्रह्मा. Finding no means to restore their fortunes, they repaired to Hari Ajita when ब्रह्मा belauded Hari as महाविभूति। Hari advised them to secure Bali's alliance. फलकम्:F१७:  भा. VIII. 5. १६-50; 6. ३०-31.फलकम्:/F When the देवासुर war broke out, the gods fought with Bali who defeated them. At that time Indra prayed to Hari for help. Encouraged by the latter, the war was renewed and Bali was defeated. At this Jambha offered to fight Indra and disabled his elephant. मातलि supplied a chariot and Jambha's head was cut off. Namuci, Bala and पाक attacked Indra. The latter two were slain. Namuci proved too much for Indra's वज्र। A voice from the sky told Indra that Namuci could not be crushed by a wet or dry thing. Then Indra used फेन (foam) and vanquished him. Bali in the meantime gathered strength and beseiged Indra. Indra sought counsel of बृहस्पति who cared for his welfare, and as advised by the latter, he abandoned the city. फलकम्:F१८:  Ib. VIII. १०. २४ and २८, ४१-53; ११. 1-४०; १५. २४-33; M. २२. ६०-61; २९. ११; ३१. १२.फलकम्:/F Got back Heaven from वामन-Hari. He took him to his abode. फलकम्:F१९:  भा. VIII. २३. १९ and २४.फलकम्:/F Defeated by Arjuna who got the सभा made by Maya. Arjuna for a short time shared his throne. Defeated by Arjuna at खाण्डव. His city visited by Arjuna in the course of a search for the dead children of the द्वारका Bra1hman2a. फलकम्:F२०:  Ib. X. ८९. ३४[4], ४४.फलकम्:/F Was not able to defeat निवात [page१-189+ ४४] Kavacas. फलकम्:F२१:  Ib. X. ८९. ३४[5].फलकम्:/F Afraid of Nara's superior powers, sent काम to spoil his तपस्; was struck with fear with the sage's great- ness; फलकम्:F२२:  Ib. XI. 4. 7 and १६.फलकम्:/F sent nymphs to disturb मार्कण्डेय's व्रत but in vain. फलकम्:F२३:  Ib. XII. 8. १५-31.फलकम्:/F Sheltered तक्षक and was about to be sacrificed when बृहस्पति luckily intervened. फलकम्:F२४:  Ib. XII. 6. १७-23.फलकम्:/F Said to be afraid of the Kurus. फलकम्:F२५:  Ib. X. ६८. २८ and ३४.फलकम्:/F Attended वरुण's sacrifice and युधिष्- ठिर's. फलकम्:F२६:  Ib. X. ७४. १३.फलकम्:/F For his sake Hari went to Bali in the disguise of a ब्राह्मण. फलकम्:F२७:  Ib. X. ७२. २५.फलकम्:/F Once he sat with इन्द्राणी in his सभा sur- rounded by all gods. In his pride he did not welcome his preceptor बृहस्पति in the proper way. The latter went away home at once and concealed himself from the gods. On this the Asuras attacked the gods. Indra repented and on ब्रह्मा's advice appointed विश्वरूप as his preceptor. Having been initiated into the विद्या वर्म नारायणात्म- कम्, he was enjoying his original prosperity. One day Indra discovered that a part of विश्वरूप's offerings went to the Asuras and therefore cut off his head in anger. Thus he incurred the sin of ब्रह्महत्या। After a year, in order to rid himself of it he divided his sin into four parts among (1) the earth with the boon that dug portion should get filled up, (2) the waters with the boon of increasing volume when mixed up, (3) trees with the boon that branches cut off grow again, and (4) women with the boon of ever cherishing the passion of love. The saline soil, bubbles and foam, gum and monthly discharges respectively represent the ब्रह्महत्या sin. फलकम्:F२८:  Ib. VI. 7. 2-४०; 8. ४२; 9. 4-११.फलकम्:/F With वज्र made of दधीचि's bones (made by त्वष्ट्र् from sun's तेजस्--मत्स्य प्।), Indra attacked वृत्र as Rudra attacked Yama. The encounter took place on the banks of the नर्मदा in the first त्रेतायुग। Battle described. Seeing his friends escaping in fright, वृत्र en- couraged them to stand and fight. He also disabled Indra's ऐरावत, and addressed him at length. Indra cut off one of his arms. With the remaining arm वृत्र hit Indra while the वज्र slipped from his hands causing concern to the gods. [page१-190+ ४३] Encouraged by the straight speech of वृत्र, Indra took up his वज्र and cut off his other arm. वृत्र swallowed him; but Indra, the vanquisher of Bala, got out of his stomach and cut off his head. Indra's regret at the murder of another ब्राह्मण. The sin of brahmicide, says the legend, took the disguise of a चण्डाल woman and ran towards him in a terrific form when he entered the lake मानस and lived in the lotus stalks for a thousand years. Invited by ब्राह्म- णस्, he performed an अश्वमेध and got rid of his sins. फलकम्:F२९:  Ib. VIII. १०. १३-33; ११. १०-27; १२. 3-३३; १३. 4-२१.फलकम्:/F Father of three sons Jayanta and others through Pau- लोमी. Getting to know that his mother Diti was observing a vow to get a child to slay him he offered to do service to her. Once he found her slack in her duty. He entered the womb and cut the child into seven pieces and each of these again into seven. At her request he offered to her to give them the rank of gods, by name मरुत्स्, फलकम्:F३०:  Ib. VI. १८. 7, ३७, ५४, ५६-77; M. 7. ५०-65; ६९. ६०; १४६. २०, २८-44, ४५-55; Br. III. 5. ५५-79; IV. २०. ४४.फलकम्:/F who were allowed to share in the यज्ञस्। Diti thought of another son वज्रान्ग who bound Indra and placed him before her. Was released on mediation from ब्रह्मा and कश्यप. फलकम्:F३०: a) M. १४६. ४५-55.फलकम्:/F Reported to कृष्ण the wicked deeds of Naraka. Got a gift of मणिपर्वत of Naraka from कृष्ण. फलकम्:F३१:  भा. X. ५९. 1 [1] and 2, २२[3]; Vi. V. २९. 1-१५.फलकम्:/F Visited by कृष्ण and सत्यभामा. At the latter's wish, पारिजात was removed without any intimation. Indra, induced by इन्द्राणि attacked him with all gods. Kubera, वरुण and others were defeated. Indra himself offered resist- ance. गरुड disabled his elephant and Indra retreated. सत्यभामा made fun of him ‘Do not run, Lord of इन्द्राणी.’ Indra apologised. कृष्ण answered that Indra was not in the wrong as he (कृष्ण) took the offensive. Indra asked pardon and begged that his son बीभत्सु be protected. कृष्ण told him that पारिजात would go back to him when he left the mortal world. Returned to his city with all gods. फलकम्:F३२:  Ib. V. ३७. १६; भा. X. ५९. ३८-39; [६५ (V) 5], [३७-51]; [६६. (V)] whole; [६७ (V) 1-३७]; Vi. V. ३०. ५१-70; ३१. 1-१०.फलकम्:/F The God of rain: Sent torrents of showers on Gokula when कृष्ण protected his friends by holding up the hill [page१-191+ ५०] Govardhana. At this Indra and Surabhi came to visit him. Indra asked for pardon. Told by कृष्ण that he was humi- liated for his own good. In the company of Surabhi, Indra got कृष्ण bathed with the waters of the गङ्गा and called him Govinda. Returned to his region. फलकम्:F३३:  भा. X. 3. ५०; २६. २५; २७. 1-१७. २२-28; Vi. V. chap. ११ & १२ whole.फलकम्:/F Presented सुधर्म and पारिजात to कृष्ण for his new city. फलकम्:F३४:  भा. X. ५०-55; Vi. V. २१. १३-17.फलकम्:/F Requested Mucukunda for aid against the Asuras. फलकम्:F३५:  भा. X. ५१. १५.फलकम्:/F Went to द्वारका with gods to invite कृष्ण to go back to वैकुण्ठ्२अ. फलकम्:F३६:  Ib. XI. 6. 2; ३१. 1.फलकम्:/F Place on the शिशुमार। फलकम्:F३७:  Ib. V. २३. 5.फलकम्:/F Prayer to Narasimha. फलकम्:F३८:  Ib. VII. 8. ४२.फलकम्:/F Devoid of energy. फलकम्:F३९:  Ib. VIII. 5. १९.फलकम्:/F Pleased with the यज्ञ of Marutta. फलकम्:F४०:  Ib. IV. 2. २८;फलकम्:/F Father of अर्जुङ. फलकम्:F४१:  Br. III. ७१. १५४; M. ४६. 9; ५०. ५०; IX. २२. २७; Vi. IV. १४. ३५; वा. ९२. ८२; ९६. १५३; १०३. ६०; १०६. २०, ५९; १०८. 4, ३१.फलकम्:/F See इन्द्रयाग। With the sun for the months नभोनभसि: An आदित्य; represents a face of शिव; फलकम्:F४२:  भा. XII. ११. ३७; Br. II. २३. 9; २४. ३३, ३८; २६. ४०; २७. २३; III. 3. ६८, १०२; M. 6. 4; १७१. ५६; वा. ५२. 7; Vi. II. १०. 9.फलकम्:/F also विश्वभुक्; introduced यज्ञ at the commencement of त्रेतायुग; फलकम्:F४३:  Br. II. ३०. 9, १६, २१; M. १४३. 5.फलकम्:/F the seventh Veda- व्यास. Realm of. फलकम्:F४४:  Br. II. ३५. ९८ and ११८; IV. ३३. ५५; M. ८२. ३१; Vi. III. 3. १३.फलकम्:/F Vanquished the sons of Varatri when they disturbed Manu's sacrifice. फलकम्:F४५:  Br. III. 1. ८०.फलकम्:/F Sent Agni to disturb महादेव's enjoying उमा when the latter cursed him to bear the गर्भ। फलकम्:F४६:  Ib. III. 7. ७२, ३२६; १०. २३-28; २४. 2, 4.फलकम्:/F Was born as गाधि, son of कुशिक. फलकम्:F४७:  Ib. III. ६३. २५; ६६. ३४-5.फलकम्:/F As an अवतार् of विष्णु, defeated Prahlada who offered battle for a period of ३०० years and killed his son Virocana in तारकामय battle; obtained sovereignty over the three worlds. फलकम्:F४८:  Br. III. 5. ५५-79; IV. २०. ४४; M. 8. 4; २२. ६१; २४. ३८-49; २७. ३७; ४७. ४८-61.फलकम्:/F Slew Jambha who had won the grace of शिव. फलकम्:F४९:  M. ४७, ७२.फलकम्:/F Know- ing नारद on a mission to bring about the wedding of उमा [page१-192+ ४९] and शिव, sent the God of Love and the seven sages in its accomplishment. फलकम्:F५०:  M. १५४. १११-131.फलकम्:/F Praised शिव on his conquest of Tripura: Cursed ययाति to fall from heaven; फलकम्:F५१:  M. ३४. 6; ३५. 3-6; ३६. 3-4; ६४. २७.फलकम्:/F disturbed वरान्गि's penance by disguises of monkey, reptile, etc. फलकम्:F५२:  M. १४६. २३, ६३-70.फलकम्:/F A friend of पुरूरवस्, offered half his seat when he visited him daily. फलकम्:F५३:  M. २४. १४, २६.फलकम्:/F Addressed बृहस्पति on the nature and meaning of the bad omens he saw. फलकम्:F५४:  Br. IV. 4. ६०; 6. ३१-5.फलकम्:/F Sacrifice on the banks of the Ganges and in the Gaura hill. Helped ललिता in her conquest of भण्ड; the place of his penance became Indraprastha. फलकम्:F५५:  Br. II. १८. २८; I. 1. १३०; IV. 6. २४; 8. ६१; १२. ३५. 9, ४३; १९. ८३; २६. ५३; ३०. 8.फलकम्:/F Clipped the wings of mountains which flew into the sea. फलकम्:F५६:  Br. II. २२. ४१; M. १२१. ७८;फलकम्:/F Gave boons to Sukarman, a manvantara Lord; फलकम्:F५७:  Br. II. ३५. ३४; ३६. 1.फलकम्:/F Sent Apsaras as gopis to aid कृष्ण. Festival of, by cowherds; disapproved by कृष्ण, was discontinued; फलकम्:F५८:  Br. III. ६८. १७; ७१. २०१, २४४; Vi. V. १०. १६-26; भा. X. २४ (whole).फलकम्:/F gifts of elephants and gems pleasing to. फलकम्:F५९:  M. ४७. ११४-122, १७१-9; २६६. ६२.फलकम्:/F Sent his daughter जयन्ती to earn the good will of शुक्र and then disturb his penance. फलकम्:F६०:  M. १७२. 5; २४५. ८२.फलकम्:/F Fight of, with गजासुर and Nemi; फलकम्:F६१:  M. १५३. ५९; १७७. ४७; २२३. 4. ११; २४४. 8. २६६. ४३.फलकम्:/F made the six children into one कार्तिकेय. फलकम्:F६२:  M. १५९. 5.फलकम्:/F Cursed Agni and Marut to be born in the world for failure to obey his orders in drying up the ocean and vanquishing the Asuras. फलकम्:F६३:  M. ६१. 3-१७;फलकम्:/F Indra of Vaivasvata antara equal to other Indras. Lord of देवगणस्; फलकम्:F६४:  Br. II. १३. ९७; वा. ६६. १४.फलकम्:/F Lord of the past, present and future; the thousand eyed; performer of १०० sacrifices; फलकम्:F६५:  वा. ६४. 5-8.फलकम्:/F slew वरूत्रि's sons who rioted by eating the offerings intended for gods. फलकम्:F६६:  वा. ६५. ७९-81.फलकम्:/F [page१-193+ २५]

(II)--the temple of, in विदर्भा (see इन्द्राणी). भा. X. ५३. ४९[1].

(III)--a son of वसिष्ठ, and प्रजापति of the स्वारोचिष epoch. M. 9. 9.

(IV)--a division of the day. वा. ६६. ४१.

(V)--one of Danu's sons. वा. ६८. 8.

Purana Encyclopedia

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

INDRA :

1) Genealogy. Viṣṇu--Brahmā--Marīci--Kasyapa-- Indra.

2) Birth. Kaśyapa was born to Marīci, the eldest of the spiritual sons of Brahmā. Indra was the son of Kaśyapa and Aditi, the eldest daughter of Dakṣa. The twelve sons who were born to Kaśyapa and Aditi are called Ādityas. The twelve Ādityas are--Dhātā, Aryamā, Mitra, Rudra, Varuṇa, Sūrya, Bhaga, Vivasvān, Pūṣā, Savitā, Tvaṣṭā, and Viṣṇu. In addition to them, Aditi had twentyone sons more. Indra is the eldest of the 33 sons. (M.B. Ādi Parva, Chapter 65, Verses 9-15).

Indra became the ruler of the Devas. Airāvata is Indra's elephant, Uccaiśśravas, his horse, and Vajra his weapon. (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 51, M.B. Ādi Parva, Chapter 18).

3) Indra and Garuḍa. Kaśyapa had two sons, Garuḍa and Aruṇa by Vinatā and a large number of Nāgas by his other wife, Kadrū. Kadrū and her children kept Vinatā and her son Garuḍa as their servants. Kadrū agreed to set them free if they brought Amṛta from Devaloka.

Once Kadrū and her children asked Garuḍa to carry them to the beautiful Nāgālaya in the middle of the ocean. Garuḍa carried them on his shoulders and flew very high near the sky. The excessive heat of the sun made the Nāgas unconscious. Kadrū, in her distress, prayed to Indra. Indra showered rain and cooled the atmosphere. (M.B. Ādi Parva, Chapter 25, Verses 7- 17). They reached the lovely island in the middle of the ocean.

Garuḍa decided to earn his freedom by bringing Amṛta from Devaloka. With determination, he flew up into heaven and secured Amṛta. The enraged Indra attack- ed him with his weapon, Vajra. But Garuḍa spread his feathers in such a way that he was not wounded. Indra was struck with wonder, and pleased with the beautiful feathers (Parṇa) of Garuḍa, named him ‘Suparṇa’. At last Indra was pleased and allowed Garuḍa to take Amṛta with him. (M.B. Ādi Parva, Chapter 32, Verses 18-25).

4) How Indra came to have 1000 eyes. (See Tilottamā, 2nd Para).

5) Indra and Arjuna. (1) Kuntī, Pāṇḍu's wife had received five mantras from Durvāsas for begetting sons. One of those Mantras was chanted meditating on the sun even before she was married and Karṇa was born. After marriage she used three more of the Mantras and three sons were born to her from Yama, Vāyu and Indra respectively. The fifth Mantra was presented to Mādrī the other wife of Pāṇḍu. Thus Arjuna was the son of Kuntī by Indra. (M.B. Ādi Parva, Chapter 123).

(2) There is a story of a rivalry between Indra and Arjuna in the Mahābhārata. (See under ‘Khāṇḍa- vadāha’).

(3) During their life in the forest, once Arjuna started to Kailāsa to worship Śiva. On the way Indra appeared before him and showered his blessings on him. (M.B. Vana Parva, Chapter 41, Verses 15, 16).

(4) During his life in the forest, Indra presented to Arjuna who visited him in Indra's residence, a Gandh- arva named Citrasena as his companion. Citrasena taught him music, dance, etc. (M.B. Araṇya Parva, Chapter 44, Verse 9).

(5) At the palace of Indra, as secretly instructed by Indra, Urvaśī approached Arjuna with advances of love. Arjuna who refused to yield to her temptations was turned into a eunuch by her curse. But Indra lifted the curse by saying that this curse would be an advantage to him during the incognito life of the Pāṇḍavas. It was Citrasena who was used as a tool by Indra to test Arjuna's self control. (M.B. Araṇya Parva, Chapters 44, 45).

(6) In order to ensure Arjuna's victory in battle, Indra, disguised as a Brahmin, obtained by begging Karṇa's ear-rings. (M.B. Araṇya Parva, Chapter 310).

6) Indra and Vṛtrāsura. A famous exploit of Indra was the killing of Vṛtrāsura. Under the leadership of Vṛtrāsura, the Kālakeyas and many other Rākṣasas besieged the Devas. The battle raged furiously. Indra fell down unconscious owing to the shower of arrows from Vṛtra. At once Vasiṣṭha with his divine power restored Indra to consciousness. Finding it impossible to kill Vṛtra, the nonplussed Devas under the leadership of Indra approached Mahāviṣṇu. Viṣṇu told them that Vṛtra could be killed only with the bone of the sage Dadhīca. So all of them approached Dadhīca. Realising the situation, Dadhīca let Indra have his bone for the purpose. Indra made his weapon Vajra with that bone and receiving a fatal stroke from it, Vṛtra fell down dead. (M.B. Vana Parva, Chapter 101, Verses 14, 15; Śānti Parva, Chapter 281, Verses 13-21).

By killing Vṛtra Indra incurred the sin of Brahmahatyā. To expiate for that sin the Devas and Ṛṣis took Indra to Sarayū river and performed his holy bath there. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, 24th Sarga).

(For further details about Vṛtrāsura see under Vṛtrā- sura).

7) Indra and Cyavana. Indra did not allow the Aśvinī- devas to drink soma juice. The sad Aśvinīdevas left Indraloka and while passing through a forest, they met Sukanyā, wife of the sage Cyavana. She was extremely beautiful. The Aśvinīdevas advised her to become their wife instead of being the wife of the blind Cyavana. But Sukanyā rejected their advice. Pleased by her conjugal fidelity, they restored Cyavana's eyesight and made him a youth with beautiful eyes. In his gratitude, Cyavana promised to get permission for them to drink soma juice. He performed a yāga. Indra, Aśvinī devas and other gods attended it. Indra insisted that the Aśvinīs should not be allowed to drink Soma juice. Cyavana disputed with him and in the dispute Indra was defeated. From that time the Aśvinīs were allowed Soma drinking. See also ‘Cyavana’. (M.B. Vana Parva, Chapter 124, Verse 14; Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 156, Verses 16-31).

8) Indra and Triśiras. Indra's brother Tvaṣṭṛ did not like some of Indra's activities. With the object of rebuking Indra, Tvaṣṭṛ begot a son named Viśvarūpa, Viśvarūpa had three faces and so he was also called Triśiras. With one face he used to recite Vedas, with the second he drank alcohol and he used the third face for observing the world. He performed a rigorous tapas. Indra, who was alarmed at it, sent goddesses to allure him, but in vain. At last Indra himself went to the forest riding on his elephant Airāvata and killed Triśiras with his Vajrāyudha. In his violent fury he had the three heads of Triśiras cut by a carpenter. From that day, it was ordained that the head of the cow sacrificed at yāgas should be given to a carpenter. Tvaṣṭṛ who was enraged by Indra's killing of his son Triśiras, begot another son Vṛtrāsura. (Devī Bhāgavata, 6th Skandha).

9) Indra and Nahuṣa. See the word Agastya.

10) Indra and Bali. When Indra defeated and drove away the Asuras, Mahābali, the Asura emperor assu- med the form of an ass and hid himself in an empty house. Brahmā informed Indra of this. Indra found him out there, but set him free without killing at the behest of Brahmā. (M.B. Śānti Parva, Chapter 223).

11) Indra and Yayāti. Yayāti was the son of Nahuṣa. In his old age, he handed over the kingly duties to his younger son Pūru and went to the forest for performing penance. After performing penance, he reached Indraloka in the end. Indra did not like Yayāti's boast that there was none who had greater power of tapas than himself. Indra pushed him down to the world. (M.B. Ādi Parva, Chapter 88).

12) Indra and Śaradvān. Śaradvān was born as the son of Sage Gautama. Śaradvān started a penance for acquir- ing divine arrows. Devendra who was alarmed, sent the Apsarā woman Jānapatī to obstruct his tapas. Deeply affected by her irresistible charm and fascinated by her temptations, he had an involuntary emission of semen, which fell on the Śarastamba and split itself into two parts. Two children a boy and a girl, were born from it. The King's servants brought them to Hastināpura. The boy was named Kṛpa and the girl was named Kṛpī. (M.B. Ādi Parva, Chapter 130).

13) Indra and King Kuru. The King named Kuru was once ploughing the field at the place known as Kuru- kṣetra. (This was long before Kurukṣetra became famous as the battlefield of Bhārata Yuddha). Indra who happened to come that way at the time, seeing the King tilling the land, asked him why he was doing so. The King replied that he was performing a yāga to enable the men who fell dead there, to attain Heaven. Indra returned to Heaven, smiling. Other devas came to know of this from Indra. They said that if all men came to Devaloka, the share of yajña which was to be received by the gods, would be diminished and so they advised Indra to go and give some boon to King Kuru. Indra returned to earth and gave his blessing to Kuru as follows:

The following classes of people will attain heaven if they die there (at Kurukṣetra).

(1) Those who die of starvation.

(2) Those who die fighting heroically.

(3) Those who were men in their previous life, but who have been born as animals.

From that time Kurukṣetra became an important place. (M.B. Śalya Parva, Chapter 53).

14) Indra and Takṣaka. Indra's friend, a Nāga named Takṣaka lived in Khāṇḍava forest. When Agni burned Khāṇḍava forest, Indra caused the rain to fall in order to save Takṣaka. See under ‘Khāṇḍavadāha’. (M.B. Araṇya Parva, Chapter 235).

For the story of how Indra saved Takṣaka from the Sarpasatra see under ‘Āstika’.

15) Indra and Khāṇḍavadāha. At the time of Khāṇḍavadāha, Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna fought against Devendra.

16) Indra Sabhā. Maya undertook to build a sabhā (assembly hall) for the Pāṇḍavas at Indraprastha. When it was being discussed, the sage Nārada described to them Indra's sabhā as given below:--

Indra has a Sabhā which dazzles with divine effulgence. It is 150 yojanas in length and 100 yojanas in breadth. It has a height of five yojanas. Beautiful storeyed buildings and divine trees add to the grandeur of the sabhā. Indra is seated within the holy light in it. Śacīdevī takes her seat near him. Indra is very hand- some. He wears a crown, he is dressed in spotlessly pure clothes, and wears a garland round his neck. Maruts, Siddhas, Devas, Ṛṣis and a host of others stand around attending on him. They are all bright with the halo of fire. Parāśara, Parvata, Sāvarṇi, Gālava, Śaṃkha, Likhita, Gauraśiras, Durvāsas, Akrodhana, Śyena, Dīrghatamas, Pavitrapāṇi, Bhāluvi, Yājñavalkya, Uddālaka, Śvetaketu, Pāṇḍya and other famous sages are members of Indra's assembly. In this way, Indra's Sabhā is the most magnificent. (M.B. Sabhā Parva, Chapter 7).

17) Indra and Kāmadhenu. Once Indra saw Surabhi, the Kāmadhenu, crying in the Indraloka. He asked her why she was crying. Surabhi answerd: “My Lord, the cattle, who are my children are groaning in the world under the yoke of the farmer. I was overwhelmed with grief at the sight of their sufferings” Indra's heart meltt- ed due to Kāmadhenu's tears. He caused very heavy showers in the world when ploughing the fields became impossible. In this way as a result of Surabhi's tears Indra caused heavy rainfall which gave rest to the cattle in the world. (M.B. Araṇya Parva, Chapter 9).

18) Indra and Nala. Nala proceeded to Vidarbha to attend Damayantī's Svayaṁvara. On the way, the four gods, Indra, Agni, Varuṇa and Yama met him. (For further details see the word ‘Nala’). Nala married Damayanti with the blessings of these gods. When the devas returned, they met Kali and Dvāpara. to whom they described Nala's marriage. Kali and Dvāpara who wished to marry Damayantī, naturally felt disappointed and angry. Kali was about to pronounce a curse on Nala. But on the advice of Devendra he did not do so. Still he decided to gain secret entrance into Nala's body and to bring about the loss of his Kingdom. (M.B. Vana Parva, Chapter 58).

19) Indra and Māndhātā. A King named Yuvanāśva was born in the Ikṣvāku dynasty. He earned great reputation by performing many Aśvamedha yāgas. But he was very much distressed because he had no child- ren. So he entrusted his kingly duties to his ministers and proceeded to the forest. One day during his wande- ring he arrived at the āśrama of the sage Bhṛgu. He was tired and thirsty. Bhṛgu had filled a pot with water by reciting a mantra and placing it on a low stool, he had gone to sleep. Not knowing that it was a pot of water intended to cause pregnancy, and in his intense thirst, Yuvanāśva drank water from it. He be- came pregnant and in due course Yuvanāśva brought forth a son. Indra, accompanied by other gods came to see the child. When the Devas asked how the child was going to drink milk, Indra put his index finger into the child's mouth and the child began to suck it. Indra said “The child will drink me”. The Sanskrit words “Māṁ dhātā” mean “one who drinks me”. Thus the child was named “Māndhātā” by Indra and the other gods. (M.B. Araṇya Parva Chapter 126).

20) Indra and Śibi. Once Indra and Agni tested the strength of Emperor Śibi's ‘dharma’. Indra took the form of an eagle and Agni that of a dove. The dove flew down into the lap of Śibi. The eagle pursued it. The dove entreated Śibi to save it from the eagle. Śibi pro- mised to do so. The eagle argued that the dove was its prey and should be returned to it. But Śibi offered to give the eagle his own flesh, equal in weight to that of the dove. Accordingly, the dove was placed in one pan, but even when all the flesh from his body was cut and placed in the other pan, it did not weigh equal to the dove. At this stage, Indra and Agni appeared to Śibi in their own forms and blessed him to be more happy and prosperous than before. (M.B. Vana Parva, Chap- ter 131).

21) Indra and Yavakrīta. Long ago there was a sage named Yavakrīta. He started a tapas with the ambition of acquiring all knowledge by himself, without the help of a Guru. Indra was alarmed at the sternness and rigour of the tapas. He induced Yavakrīta to stop tapas, but it was in vain. At last Indra disguised him- self as an old Brahmin and went to the bank of the Gaṅgā where Yavakrīta was performing tapas. He began to build a dam across the river with sand. Seeing this Yavakrīta ridiculed him. The old Brahmin retorted that Yavakrīta's tapas was also equally ridiculous. But Yavakrīta was not shaken even by his taunt. He resum- ed his tapas with renewed strength. At last finding no other alternative, Indra appeared to Yavakrīta and granted his wish. (M.B. Vana Parva, Chapter 135).

22) Loss of Indra's umbrella. Once Narakāsura went to heaven, fought with the gods and robbed Indra of his umbrella and the earrings of Aditi, Indra's mother. Grief-stricken Indra complained to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Accom- panied by Satyabhāmā and riding on the back of Garuḍa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa went to the city of Prāgjyotiṣa, the residence of Narakāsura and razed it to the ground. He recovered the umbrella and ear-rings and returned to heaven with Satyabhāmā. Indra and Aditi were over- joyed on getting back the lost articles. On their return journey, Śrī Kṛṣṇa at the request of Satyabhāmā cut for her a twig of the Pārijāta tree. This made Indra angry and he fought against Śrī Kṛṣṇa. After defeating Indra and other gods, Śrī Kṛṣṇa accompanied by Sat- yabhāmā returned to Dvārakā with the Pārijāta. (Bhā- gavata, 10th Skandha).

23) Indra and Narakāsura. The Asura called Naraka once performed a very severe penance on the Gandha- mādana mountain with the object of usurping Indra's place. Indra was alarmed and rushed to Mahāviṣṇu for help. Viṣṇu went to Gandhamādana mountain and killed Narakāsura. (M.B. Vana Parva, Chapter 142).

24) Indra and the sage Baka. After the war between Devas and Asuras, Indra, in a peaceful state of mind, was going around the world, riding on his elephant, Airāvata. When he reached an Āśrama on the eastern coast of the sea, he met the great sage Baka. A conver- sation about the happiness of longevity took place between Indra and sage Baka who was hundred thousand years old. After that Indra returned to Devaloka. (M.B. Vana Parva, Chapter 193).

25) Indra and Keśī. Long ago a terrible war took place between Devas and Asuras. At that time an Asura called Keśī attempted to abduct Devasenā, daughter of a Prajāpati. Hearing her shrieks, Indra rushed to the spot. In the clash between Keśī and Indra, Keśī's club was broken into two with Indra's weapon Vajra. Suddenly Keśī lifted a mountain and threw it at Indra.

Indra broke that mountain also into two. One part of it fell on Keśī himself, who fled frightened. After that, Indra asked Devasenā how she happened to fall in Keśī's hands. Devasenā answered thus:--“I am the daughter of Prajāpati. My name is Devasenā. Keśī had abducted my elder sister, Daityasenā. My sister and I used to come to take our bath in this Mānasa lake. Keśī had expressed his wish to abduct both of us. My father has given me his blessing that a person who is worshipped by gods and asuras will become my husband. Having heard these facts, Indra held consultations with Brahmā and arranged the marriage between Subrah- maṇya and Devasenā. See also the word “Subrah- maṇya”. (M.B. Vana Parva, Chapter 223).

26) Indra and Aṅgiras. After killing Vṛtrāsura, Indra hid himself in a lotus flower in the Mānasa lake, to expiate for the sin of Brahmahatyā (killing a Brahmin). It was at that time that Nahuṣa became Indra. After Nahuṣa had been forced to go back to the earth as a serpent by the curse of Agastya, the Devas brought back Indra. At that time, Aṅgiras praised Indra with mantras from Atharvaveda. From that day Aṅgiras got the name of ‘Atharvāṅgiras’. Indra was pleased and blessed Aṅgiras that his name would become famous throughout the world. (M.B. Udyoga Parva, Chapter 18).

27) Indra and the Bow called Vijaya. Karṇa had a bow called Vijaya. It was made by Viśvakarmā accor- ding to Indra's liking. (M.B. Karṇa Parva, Chapter 31. Verse 42).

28) Indra and the Tripuras. The Tripurāsuras perform- ed penance and received boons from Brahmā. After that they clashed with Indra. Indra was not able to kill them. The vanquished Indra had the Tripuras killed by Śiva. See the word “Tripura”. (M.B. Karṇa Parva, Chapter 33).

29) Indra and Sūrya (the sun-god). When Karṇa and Arjuna came into conflict at the Bhārata battle, a con- troversy raged in heaven between Indra and Sūrya. Indra argued that Arjuna would win, while Sūrya as- serted that Karṇa would gain victory. The Devas joined the side of Arjuna and Asuras joined Karṇa's side. In the end, Arjuna came out victorious and thus Sūrya was defeated by Indra. (M.B. Karṇa Parva, Chapter 87).

30) Indra and Namuci. The Rākṣasa Namuci once evaded capture by Indra by remaining hidden in the rays of the Sun. Indra went to him and pretending friendship, promised not to kill him either with wet thing or dry things or at night or in day time. Trusting his words, Namuci came out. Then Indra cut off Namuci's head with the froth scraped from the waves of the sea at the time of dusk. The head pursued him shouting, “You murderer of a friend, by breaking your promise!” Indra sought refuge under Brahmā. Brahmā advised him to bathe in Śoṇapuṇya tīrtha to expiate for the sin. Accordingly Indra bathed in the river Sarasvatī and washed off his sin.

River Sarasvatī. There is a story about how Sarasvatī river became Śoṇapuṇya tīrtha. There were frequent quarrels between Vasiṣṭha and Viśvāmitra. Once Viśvāmitra got angry when he came to know that Vasiṣṭha was performing a penance on the banks of the river Sarasvatī. He summoned Sarasvatī and ordered her to produce Vasiṣṭha before him immediately. Sarasvatī was in a dilemma. If she brought Vasiṣṭha to Viśvāmitra, Vasiṣṭha would curse her; if on the other hand, she did not bring him Viśvāmitra would curse her. At last she decided to produce Vasiṣṭha before Viśvāmi- tra. By eroding the earth on her bank little by little near the place where Vasiṣṭha was performing his penance, Sarasvatī managed to bring him down into her own current. Then she carried him floating down to the place where Viśvāmitra was waiting. When Vasiṣṭha reached his presence, Viśvāmitra was pleased. But without allowing Viśvāmitra to capture Vasiṣṭha she took him away in her current, eastwards. Enraged at this, Viśvāmitra pronounced a curse that blood should flow through the river Sarasvatī. Thus the water in the river became blood-red. The great sages who came there afterwards sympathised with Sarasvatī in her ill-luck and as a result of their prayers Śiva made her Śoṇapuṇyatīrtha.

It was in this river that Indra took his bath and washed off his sin. (M.B. Śalya Parva, Chapter 43).

31) Indra and Śrutāvatī. Bharadvāja's daughter Śrutāvatī (Śruvāvatī) performed a very severe penance to get Indra as her husband. To test her character, Indra assumed the shape of Vasiṣṭha and went to Śrutāvatī. She received the guest with due reverence. Pleased with her treatment, the guest handed her five raw fruits and asked her to cook them for him. Śrutāvatī gladly undertook that service. She proceeded to cook the fruits but even after burning all the fuel she had, the fruits were not properly cooked. So she began to use her limbs one by one as fuel and burned them up. Indra was deeply impressed by her self- sacrifice and appearing to her in his own form married Śrutāvatī, (M.B. Śalya Parva, Chapter 48).

32) Indra became Śatakratu. Indra performed one hundred sacrifices at the place called Indratīrtha. Thus he became Śatakratu. It was there that he gave much wealth to Bṛhaspati. (M.B. Śalya Parva, Chapter 49, Verse 2).

33) Indra became a bird. Once Indra took the form of a bird and went to the forest and preached moral and spiritual duties to the sages who had gathered there. (M.B. Śānti Parva, Chapter 11).

34) Indra and Dantideva. Once Dantideva received a boon from Indra that he should have plenty of food and enough travellers to eat it. (M.B. Śānti Parva, Chapter 29, Verses 120, 121).

35) Indra and Bṛhaspati. Once Bṛhaspati told Indra that everything in the world could be achieved with soothing speech. (M.B. Śalya Parva, Chapter 84, Verse 2).

Bṛhaspati's wife Tārā once fell in love with Candra (the Moon god). She deserted Bṛhaspati and went to live in Candra's residence. Bṛhaspati complained about it to Indra. Indra promised to bring her back and to restore her to Bṛhaspati by whatever means possible. Accordingly he sent a messenger to Candra. Compromise talks with Candra ended in failure. So preparations were started for a dreadful war between Indra and Candra. Śukra, the preceptor of Asuras also joined the side of Indra. Brahmā who came to know of all this, came riding on his swan and recon- ciled Indra and Candra. As directed by Brahmā, Candra agreed to restore Tārā to her lawful husband, Bṛhaspati, (Devī Bhāgavata, First Skandha).

36) Indra and Prahlāda. The great King Prahlāda once conquered Heaven. Indra, who lost his kingdom and glory, accepted Bṛhaspati's advice and went to meet Śukrācārya. Śukra told Indra that Prahlāda was the noblest person and that he had earned that nobility by his good qualities. Indra decided to acquire those good qualities from Prahlāda.

Indra disguised himself as a Brahmin boy and approa- ched Prahlāda with a request for moral and spiritual advice. Prahlāda accepted him as his pupil and gave him moral and spiritual advice. Pleased with the pupil's devotion, Prahlāda agreed to give him whatever boon he wanted. The pupil said that he wanted only the good qualities of the Guru. Prahlāda agreed to it. Then a shadow-like figure appeared to emerge from Prahlāda's body. Prahlāda who was puzzled asked the figure:--“Who are you” “The figure answered:--“I am your virtuous character. Now I am leaving you and entering this boy's body.” Saying thus it left Prahlāda's body and entered Indra's body. Following it, all the good qualities of Prahlāda, like charity, truth, glory etc. entered Indra's body one after another. It was only in the end that Prahlāda came to know that the cunning pupil was Indra. Thus from that day, Prahlāda began to decline in his good qualities and Indra began to prosper. (M.B. Śānti Parva, Chapter 124).

37) Indra and Gautama. There is a story in the Mahā- bhārata, of how Indra restored life to a dead Brahmin. Gautama was a Brahmin who had left his own home and settled down to live in the village of Dasyus (an aboriginal tribe). He married from a low caste and followed the customs of Dasyus. At that time another Brahmin happened to come there. He ridiculed Gautama who had lost his caste. Next morning Gautama left his residence and went to another place. Tired after his long journey, he fell asleep under a banyan tree. A King of birds named Nāḍījaṁgha lived on that tree. Nāḍījaṁgha who was the son of Kaśyapa, became very friendly with Gautama. He brought fish from the river Gaṅgā to feed Gautama and fanned him with his wings. Gautama told the bird that he was a poor Brahmin and that he was anxious to get some wealth. There was a wealthy Rākṣasa King named Virūpākṣa in that country, who was a close friend of Nāḍījaṁgha. Nāḍījaṁgha sent Gautama to Virūpākṣa with a request to give Gautama some wealth. Virūpākṣa gave plenty of gold to Gautama. He returned to the foot of the banyan tree carrying the gold on his head. Gautama who was quite tired after his long walk, was hospitably received by Nāḍījaṁgha. That kingly bird lay asleep close by Gautama. An evil desire to eat the flesh of Nāḍī- jaṁgha dawned upon the mind of Gautama. He killed that King of birds in his sleep. Virūpākṣa who came to know of this, killed Gautama and gave his flesh as food for Dasyus. Virūpākṣa, with tears in his eyes, made a funeral pyre and cremated Nādījaṁgha's body. At that time, as directed by Brahmā, Surabhi caused milk to flow from heaven and revived Nāḍījaṁgha. Virūpākṣa told the whole story to Indra who came there at that time. Indra said that Nāḍījaṁgha died as the result of Brahmā's curse. He had offended Brahmā on a former occasion by refusing to attend Brahmā's assembly, although he was invited. Nāḍījaṁgha who was restored to life, was noble enough to request Indra to bring back Gautama also to life. Accordingly Indra revived Gautama. Nāḍījaṁgha returned the gold to Gautama and sent him away with his good wishes. Indra returned to heaven. (M.B. Śānti Parva, Chapter 173).

38) Indra and Ahalyā. Indra, once fell in love with Ahalyā, the wife of Gautama. Sage Gautama who came to know of it, cursed Indra. For further details, see under Ahalyā.

39) Indra turned into a Fox. Once a haughty Vaiśya knocked down a young sage named Kaśyapa, with his chariot. The disgraced sage decided to commit suicide. Knowing this Indra went to the sage in the form of a fox and spoke to him, dwelling upon the evil aspects of suicide. At last the young sage gave up the idea of committing suicide and returned to his hermitage. (M.B. Śānti Parva, Chapter 130).

40) Indra and Subrahmaṇya. Long ago the Asuras led by Tārakāsura, persecuted the gods in many ways. Tārakāsura had received a boon from Brahmā that only the son born to Śiva could slay him. So, to dis- tract Parameśvara from his penance, in order to make it possible for him to beget a son, Indra sent Kāmadeva (god of love) to him. But Kāmadeva was burnt up in the fire from the third eye of Śiva. After that Pārvatī won Śiva as her husband as a result of her austere penance. She prayed to Śiva that Kāmadeva should be brought back to life and that a son should be born to her. Śiva replied to her:--

“Kāma was born from Brahmā's mind. As soon as he was born, he asked Brahmā “Kaṁ Darpam?” which means--whom shall I tempt and conquer?” So Brahmā called him “Kandarpa”. Brahmā had advised him even at that time that he should never tempt me. Disregarding that advice he came to attack me and I burned him up. Now it is not possible for him to be born in a physical form I shall beget of you a son with my spiritual power. I do not need the urge of Kāmadeva for this, as in the case of ordinary mortals”.

As they were discussing this problem, Indra and Brahmā arrived there. At their request Śiva agreed to beget a son by Pārvatī. Since it is not desirable that all living beings should perish, Śiva allowed Kāmadeva to be born in the minds of all creatures. Brahmā and Indra returned quite happy. One day, Śiva and Pārvatī began their amorous dalliance. They did not stop it even after a hundred years. The whole world began to shake to its very foundations. Fearing that the world might perish, the devas, as ordered by Brahmā prayed to Agni, to interrupt the amorous play of Śiva and Pārvatī. Agni, who understood that it was not possible to achieve their object, fled and concealed himself under water. The Devas went out in search of Agni. By that time, the creatures in the water who could not bear the heat of Agni, told them the secret. Then Agni deprived them of the power of speech by a curse. After that he went and hid himself on the Mandara mountain. Elephants and parrots disclosed the secrets of Agni, who was hiding within the hollow of the trunk of a tree. Agni deprived them of their tongues by a curse. At last the gods discovered Agni. They sent him at once to Śiva to stop him in his amorous dalliance. Agni succeeded in his mission by his intense heat. Śiva transferred his semen to Agni who became pregnant. Being unable to bear its weight Agni deposited it in the river Gaṅgā, who at the behest of Śiva himself, left it in the woods on the Mahāmeru mountain. Śiva's attendant bhūtas (spirits) offered Pūjā to it there. After a thousand years a boy with six faces (Subrahmaṇya) was born out of it. He was suck- led by the Kṛttikās employed for that purpose by Pārvatī and the boy grew up with astonishing rapidity within a few days. Having been suckled by the Kṛttikās, the boy got the name “Kārttikeya”.

In those days, Devendra who was defeated by Tārakā- sura, decided to give up war and was living in Mahā- meru. The Devas and the sages used to go to Subrah- maṇya for protection. When Devendra knew it, he became angry and went to war with Subrahmaṇya. Subrahmaṇya was wounded on the face with Indra's weapon. From the wound two sons named Śākha and Viśākha were born to Subrahmaṇya. With their help Subrahmaṇya encountered Indra again. At this stage Śiva appeared there and informed Indra that Subrah- maṇya had been born with a mission to kill Tārakāsura and to restore Indra's kingdom to him. It was then that Indra recognized Subrahmaṇya. He begged pardon of Subrahmaṇya and expressed his desire to instal him as his military commander. When he tried to perform the ceremony of installation by sprinkling the holy water on Subrahmaṇya's head, the water refused to come out of the pot. Śiva told Indra that it was because he had tried to perform the installation before propitiating Gaṇapati. Indra then offered worship to Vighneśvara (Gaṇapati) and the ceremony went off without any hitch. Subrahmaṇya who thus became Indra's commander, killed Tārakāsura shortly after- wards. (Kathāsaritsāgara, Lāvāṇakalaṁbaka, 6th Taraṅga).

41) Indra and Mahābali. The vanquished Mahābali who had left his home and country was in gloom and despair when once Indra paid him a visit. At that time Mahālakṣmī emerged from Mahābali's body and entered Indra's body. (M.B. Śānti Parva, Chapter 224).

42) Indra and Godāna (gift of cow). Once Indra asked Brahmā about the efficacy of godāna or giving a cow as gift. Brahmā told him that there is a world free from the infirmities of old age and diseases and it is called “Goloka”. He added that those who perform Godāna would get a place in Goloka.

43) Indra and a bird. A hunter in Kāśī once went to shoot birds with poisoned arrows. One of his arrows hit a big tree accidentally and the powerful poison dried up the whole tree. In the hollow of the trunk of that tree there lived a bird with mystic powers. It did not like to leave that tree which had been its refuge ever since its birth. One day Devendra, in the guise of a Brahmin came to the bird, who recognized him by its mystic power. In the conversation between them Devendra advised the bird to leave the tree and find some other suitable place for its residence. The bird did not accept his advice. Indra was pleased at the bird's loyalty and gratitude towards that tree which had been its shelter all along. So he took the bird along with him to Devaloka. (M.B. Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 5).

44) How Indra turned Bhaṁgāśva into a woman. There was a King named Bhaṁgāśva. Once he performed a sacrifice called “Indradviṣṭa” which was believed to have the power of blessing him with children. Indra being not invited was displeased with him and was wait- ing for an opportunity to wreak vengeance on him.

One hundred sons were born to Bhaṁgāśva. Once he went to the forest after entrusting the affairs of the kingdom to his sons. Indra cunningly misguided him and made him lose his way in the forest. Wandering alone with his horse in the forest, he reached the bank of a river. Weary and thirsty, he stepped down into the river. To his amazement, he was instantly transformed into a woman! The bewildered “woman” somehow reached Bhaṁgāśva's palace. All the members of his family were deeply grieved over his change of sex. To avoid embarrassment to himself and others, Bhaṁgāśva returned as a woman to the forest and there lived as the wife of a sage and became the mother of a hundred sons. After some years “she” went back to the palace with the sons and leaving them there returned again to the forest.

Indra went to the palace at this time and made the two sets of hundred sons quarrel with one another until all of them perished in fighting. Hearing about this the mother who was in the forest, wept bitterly. Indra visited her (Bhaṁgāśva) there and she told him the whole story of her misfortunes and begged his pardon for performing Indradviṣṭa sacrifice without inviting Indra. Pleased with her repentance Indra promised to resuscitate one set of her hundred sons. She wanted all the hundred sons who were born when she was a woman, to be restored to life. Indra was ready to restore her manhood too, but she preferred to continue as a woman. Indra restored to life all the 200 sons of Bhaṁgāśva and leaving Bhaṁgāśva as a woman, returned to Devaloka. (M.B. Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 12).

45) Indra and Mataṁga. A story is found in the Mahā- Bhārata under the title of “Indra-Mataṁga-Saṁvāda” which illustrates that a Kṣatriya, Vaiśya or Śūdra can never become a Brāhmaṇa by any means. It was told by Bhīṣma to Arjuna as follows:--

“Long ago a Brāhmaṇa's wife gave birth to a boy. The boy was given the name Mataṁga. His father sent him in a chariot drawn by a donkey, in connection with a yāga which he wanted to perform. Mataṁga whipped the donkey mercilessly. Seeing this, the donkey's mother said to Mataṁga--“You are not a Brāhmaṇa. Brāhmaṇas cannot be so cruel. You are a Caṇḍāla (a man of the lowest caste) born to your mother by a barber.”

Mataṁga sadly returned to his father and after telling him what he had heard from the mother-donkey set out to perform an austere penance with the object of becoming a Brāhmaṇa. Devendra appeared to him and asked him what he wanted. Mataṁga asked for a boon whereby he could become a Brāhmaṇa; Indra vanished after saying that it was impossible. After that Mataṁga performed penance for hundred years, standing on one foot. Indra appeared again and repeated that it was impossible for Mataṁga to be- come a Brāhmaṇa. Then Mataṁga continued his penance for a thousand years, standing on his toe. Indra appeared again and transformed Mataṁga into a Deva named “Chandodeva”. Indra told him that though he could become a Deva, he could never achieve Brahminhood. In his extreme grief Mataṁga renounced his life and entered Heaven. (M.B. Anuśā- sana Parva, Chapters 27, 28 and 29).

46) Indra and Śaṁbara. There is a story in the Mahā Bhārata in which an Asura named Śaṁbara explained the greatness of Brahminhood to Indra. Once Indra approached the Asura, Śaṁbara and asked him what was the source of his glory and prosperity. Śaṁbara replied that it was all due to his whole-hearted worship of Brāhmaṇas. From that time Indra began to offer worship to Brāhmaṇas and thus he won the place of Indra. (M.B. Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 36).

47) Indra loved Ruci. There is a story in the Mahā- bhārata of how a sage named Vipula who was born in the family of Bhṛgu once saved Ruci, his Guru's wife from Indra. Long ago, a great sage named Devaśarmā lived in a forest. His wife Ruci being enchantingly beautiful, many suitors were attracted to her. Chief among them was Indra. Devaśarmā was aware of this. Once he had to leave his āśrama in connection with a yāga. So he ordered his disciple Vipula to guard his wife Ruci during his absence. He had given a hint to Vipula that Indra who was an expert in disguises, might appear in the āśrama in any form. Vipula, by means of his mystic power entered into his guru's wife and guarded her.

After some time, Indra reached the Āśrama in the guise of a handsome youth. He disclosed his real identity to Ruci and told her that he had come there to spend a night with her. Ruci fell in love with him. But since she was under the mystic control of Vipula, Indra was unable to fulfil his desire. At last Vipula sent him away in disgrace. (M.B. Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 4, 44).

48) Indra's theft of Lotus. Indra once stole Agastya's lotuses. (See under Agastya).

49) Indra's theft of an Elephant. Indra once stole an elephant belonging to the great sage Gautama. The sage complained to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, who advised him to offer prayers to Indra. Accordingly Gautama pleased Indra by his prayers. Indra appeared and after return- ing the elephant took both the elephant and Gautama along with him to Devaloka. (M.B. Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 102).

50) Indra and Marutta. Long ago there was a famous king named Marutta. Indra was closely associated with him in many of his activities. (For more details see Marutta).

51) Indra and Dharmaputra. Another anecdote about Indra which deals with the last part of Dharmaputra's life is given in the Mahābhārata.

The Pāṇḍavas, towards the end of their lives entered the forest and were travelling to the north. Dharma- putra who was walking in front, was followed by a dog. On the way the four brothers and Pāñcātī fell down dead. Dharmaputra continued his journey accompanied by the dog without turning back or looking behind. At the end of the journey, Indra was waiting for him with his chariot. He told Dharmaputra that his brothers and wife had already taken their places in Heaven and that he should leave behind the dog and get into the chariot to go to Devaloka. Dharmaputra pleaded that it was not right for him to enter Devaloka after deserting the dog which had followed him so far. Even though Indra pressed him very much to enter the chariot without the dog, Dharmaputra did not yield. At last the dog assum- ed the form of Yama who appeared and explained to them that he had taken the form of a dog and followed his son Dharmaputra to test his noble nature. They were all happy and all the three of them proceeded in the chariot to Devaloka. (M.B. Mahāprasthānika Parva, Chapter 3).

52) Indra and Bāli. In Uttara Rāmāyaṇa there is a story as given below, about the birth of Bāli, a son of Indra:--

Aruṇa, the charioteer of Sūrya (the sun-god) went one night to Indraloka to see the goddesses dancing. Men were not allowed to enter the dancing hall. So, Aruṇa managed to enter the hall by disguising himself as a beautiful lady. The moment Indra saw her he fell in love with her. The name she assumed at that time was Aruṇī. Indra secretly took her outside and they had a sexual union. Bāli was the son born from their union.

53) Indra's theft of a Horse. A King named Sagara once performed a sacrifice. Devendra stole the sacrificial horse. Sagara sent all his 60,000 sons in search of the horse. They dug up the earth and went to the Nether worlds where they saw the horse tied in front of the sage Kapila. The enraged sons of Sagara tried to capture and bind the sage. But Kapila reduced all the 60,000 princes to ashes by his curse. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bālakāṇḍa, Chapter 39).

54) Indra cut an embryo to pieces. Diti and Aditi were the daughters of Dakṣa. Kaśyapa married them. Indra was born as the son of Aditi. At this birth of a son to Aditi, Diti became jealous of her sister. One day she told her husband Kaśyapa that she too wanted to have a virtuous, heroic and brave son who would be equal to Indra in every respect. Kaśyapa promised to grant her wish.

In due course, Diti became pregnant. Now it was Aditi's turn to become jealous of Diti. She could not bear the thought of Diti having a son equal to her own son Indra, in glory and splendour. So she called Indra and secretly instructed him to destroy Diti's child in the womb, by whatever means.

In obedience to his mother, Indra approached Diti pretending friendship and spent a lot of time in her company. He soon won her confidence and love by his affectionate attentions. On one occasion, when she was in sound sleep, Indra, by his mystic power, entered into Diti's womb with his weapon Vajra and cut the child in the womb into seven pieces. The child began to cry loudly, but Indra said “Mā ruda” which means “do not cry” and cut each of the pieces again into seven parts. Thus the embryo (child) was finally cut into fortynine pieces, which later became the fortynine “Mārutas” or “Maruts”. When she woke up, Diti realized Indra's treachery and in her fury she cursed Indra and Aditi. She cursed that Indra would lose his kingdom of Devaloka and that Aditi would be im- prisoned and her sons would be killed. As a result of this curse Devendra lost his kingdom on one occasion. Aditi, in her next birth, was born as Devakī, wife of Vasudeva and was imprisoned by Kaṁsa who killed her children. (Devī Bhāgavata, Fourth Skandha).

55) Indra and Aṁbarīṣa.

(1) King Aṁbarīṣa had a minister named Sudeva. Sudeva fell fighting in the battle-field. After some years, Aṁbarīṣa also died. When Aṁbarīṣa arrived in Heaven, he was surprised to find that Sudeva had already secured a place there long ago. Ambarīṣa had performed many more acts of holiness than Sudeva. Yet Sudeva attained Heaven earlier than Aṁbarīṣa. Aṁbarīṣa asked Indra why it was so. Indra answered that just as Aṁbarīṣa had performed many sacifices, Sudeva had performed many war-sacrifices. He added that war-sacrifices were as efficacious for attaining Heaven as other kinds of sacrifices (M.B. Śānti Parva, Chapter 98).

(2) Aṁbarīṣa, King of Ayodhyā was performing a sacrifice. At that time, Indra had stolen the sacrificial animal. To continue the sacrifice without interruption, the King decided to substitute Śunaśśepha, the son of Ṛcīka, for the cow. But Śunaśśepha prayed to Indra who came and rescued him from the jaws of death. (This story is given in other Purāṇas with slight varia- tions. Vālṃīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, 61st Sarga).

56) Indra and Triśaṅku. There is a story that Indra once pushed down from Heaven, Triśaṅku a King of the Sūrya vaṁśa (Solar dynasty). See under TRIŚAṄKU.

57) Indra and Viśvāmitra. Once Viśvāmitra observed a vow of silence for a period of one thousand years. At the end of that period, when he was about to take his food, Indra appeared in the form of a Brahmin and asked for that food. Viśvāmitra gave that food to the Brahmin and resumed his austere penance. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, 65th Sarga).

58) Indra, Śrī Rāma and Śarabhaṅga.

(1). At the time when Śrī Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa were leading their life in the forest, one day Indra paid a visit to the Āśrama of the sage Śarabhaṅga. Devendra wished to take the sage with him to Devaloka. As they were talking, they saw Śrī Rāma coming to the Āśrama. Indra advised Śarabhaṅga to speak to Śrī Rāma and left the place. As suggested by Indra, the sage had a conversa- tion with Śrī Rāma. After it Śarabhaṅga offered his body to the fire and went to Devaloka. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, 5th Sarga).

(2) When the battle between Śrī Rāma and Rāvaṇa was in progress, Indra presented to Śrī Rāma, an excellent chariot along with the horses. The chariot and horses were handed over to Śrī Rāma on the battlefield by Mātali; Indra's charioteer. Śrī Rāma fought against Rāvaṇa from that chariot and slew him. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Sarga 103).

(3) After the war with Rāvaṇa, Indra appeared before Śrī Rāma and asked him what boon he wanted. Śrī Rāma replied that all those monkeys who died in the war should come back to life and the forests in which they lived should abound in fruits and flowers in all the seasons of the year. Indra restored all those monkeys to life and made all the forests in which they lived, green and rich with luxuriant vegetation. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Sarga 129).

59) Indra gives his sword for safe-custody. During their life in the forest Śrī Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, accompanied by Sītā entered Daṇḍakāraṇya. Śrī Rāma's chief object in going there was to give protection to the sages and their hermitages in the forest. But seeing that he had made the killing of Rākṣasas his main purpose, Sītā told him that this change in the objective would spoil other important matters. To illustrate this she told him the following story:--

‘Once upon a time, a great sage was observing holy rites with great austerity. Indra was alarmed at it. He went to the sage's hermitage in the form of a warrior armed with a sword. Indra handed over his sword to the sage for safe custody. The sage accepted it and from that time all his attention was concentrated on the sword. All his time was spent in guarding the sword and he began to neglect his devotional duties as a sage. As a result of it his mystic power declined and ultimately he fell into Hell. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, 9th Sarga).

60) Indra and Kabandha. See under Kabandha.

61) The Post or Office of Indra. Indra was anointed as King of Devas on Meghavān mountain. In the 42nd Sarga of Kiṣkindhā kāṇḍa of Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa we find that Sugrīva had ordered the monkeys to search for Sītā on that mountain also.

62) Indra and Maya. Maya, the carpenter of the Asuras, performed penance to Brahmā and acquired complete mastery in the science of carpentry and architecture. After that he constructed a forest mansion of golden colour and took up his residence in it. Once Maya set his eyes on a goddess named Hemā. When Indra knew this he became angry and killed Maya with his weapon--Vajra. From that time Hemā got Maya's golden mansion. This was told by Hemā's maid, Svayaṁprabhā to Hanūmān. (Vālmīki Rāmā- yaṇa, Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa, 51st Sarga).

63). Indra cut off the wings of Mountains. In Kṛtayuga all the Mountains in the world had wings. They used to fly about here and there like Garuḍa with the speed of wind. The sages and the Devas feared that they might fall on their heads. The Devas held a con- ference and elected Indra to find a remedy for this. Indra cut off the wings of the mountains with his Vajra. The Maināka mountain was a friend of wind. When Indra was about to cut off the wings of that mountain, Wind suddenly removed it and deposited it in the ocean. It is out of his gratitude for this that the Maināka mountain rose up from the ocean and pro- vided a resting place for Hanūmān, the son of Wind god, when he jumped to Laṅkā. This story was told by Maināka mountain to Hanūmān. (Vālmīki Rāmā- yaṇa, Sundara Kāṇḍa, 1st Sarga).

64) Indra cut off his preceptor's head Once Devendra accepted a sage named Viśvarūpa as his preceptor for a sacrifice. Viśvarūpa's mother was a Dānava partisan. So this priest, as directed by his mother, performed the sacrifice with the prayer--“May the gods and the Asuras prosper.” As a result of the prayer, both the gods who performed the sacrifice and the Asuras who did not perform it, prospered. At this Devendra became furious and he cut off the head of the Guru. (Devī Bhāgavata, 3rd Skandha).

65) Indra and Mahiṣāsura. See under Mahiṣāsura.

66) Indra became a bull. Long ago there was a King called Kakutstha in the Ikṣvāku dynasty. When he was ruling over the kingdom of Ayodhyā, a war broke out between Devas and Asuras. In that war, the Devas were not able to defeat the Asuras. Indra in distress approached Viṣṇu for refuge. Viṣṇu advised him to seek the help of Kakutstha, King of Ayodhyā. So Indra with the other gods went to Ayodhyā. When Kakutstha heard about their appeal for help, he glady offered his help but only on condition that Indra became his vehicle. Seeing no other way, Indra assumed the form of a bull and Kakutstha, riding on the back of the bull fought against the Asuras and defeated them. It is from that day that the King came to be called “Kakutstha”, “Indra-vāhana” and “Purañjaya”. (His original name is unknown). “Kakut” means the “hamp of a bull”. Because he was seated on the “Kakut” he got the name “Kakutstha”. Because he made Indra “vāhana” (vehicle) he got the name of “Indravāhana”. As he defeated the Asuras and conquered their city (pura) he was called “Purañjaya”. Kakutstha was the son of Śaśāda and the father of Pṛthu. Śrī Rāma is called “Kākutstha” because he was born in the family of Kakutstha. (Devī Bhāgavata, 7th Skandha).

67) Indra's Task. Devī Bhāgavata, 8th Skandha says that Indra is one of the “Aṣṭadikpālakas (the eight protectors of the quarters) and the name of his city is “Amarāvatī”.

68). Indra's term of Life. The Devī Bhāgavata 5th Skandha says that two life-spans of Brahmā make Viṣṇu's life-span. Śiva has double the life-span of Viṣṇu, that during the life of Brahmā, fourteen Indras will drop down from Heaven and perish, and one day of Brahmā is made up of one thousand “Caturyugas.”

There are fourteen Manvantaras during the life of the present Brahmā (See under Manvantara). This means that fourteen Manus will be born and will die one after another during this period. Each Manvantara will have its own Indra and the Devas. The first Manu was Svāyambhuva. After him five more Manus, Svārociṣa, Uttama, Tāmasa, Raivata and Cākṣuṣa, have passed away. The present Manu is Vaivasvata the son of Sūrya. The current Vaivasvata Manvantara is the seventh. At the end of seven more Manvantaras, the present Brahmā will perish and a new Brahmā will be born. For the names of the Indras of different Manvantaras, see under Manvantara. (Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Part 2, Chapter 1).

69) Indra became a Calf. (See under Pṛthu).

70) The name Purandara. Sardar K.M. Panikkar in his preface to Ṛgveda Saṁhitā says that Indra got the name Purandara because he destroyed the cities (Puras) of the Dasyus. But in Chapter 71, of Vāmana Purāṇa, we are told that he got this name because he killed “Pura”, the son of Mahābali.

71) Indra in the land of Koṅkaṇa. Once an Asura named Śūrapadma obtained from Brahmā, a boon to enable him to conquer the whole world. He persecuted the inhabitants of all the three worlds. He sent his followers to bring Indrāṇī (Indra's wife) to him as a captive. Indra, who came to know of this, secretly went away with Indrāṇī to the Koṅkaṇa land and lived in a temple there. After some days, entrusting Indrāṇī to the protection of Śāstā, he went to Kailāsa. Just at this time, Śūrapadma's sister Ajāmukhī came there and tempted Indrāṇī. Śāstā cut off the hands of Ajāmukhī and took Indrāṇī to Kailāsa. (Skanda Purāṇa, Asura Kāṇḍa).

72) Indra and Mucukunda. Mucukunda, a King of the Ikṣvāku dynasty, once went to Devaloka at the invita- tion of Indra. In the war between the Devas and Asuras, Mucukunda helped Indra and the Asuras were defeated. Indra was pleased and asked Mucukunda what boon he wanted. Mucukunda asked for a boon which would give him long and sound sleep. Indra granted it and in addition declared that anyone who disturbed Mucukunda's sleep would be reduced to ashes. After that Mucukunda went to sleep in a cave in the middle of a dense forest.

A King of the tribe Yavana performed penance to Brahmā and obtained his boon which would enable him to defeat the Yādavas (Śrī Kṛṣṇa's clan) and he began to fight with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Because of Brahmā's boon, Śrī Kṛṣṇa was not able to kill him. He drove Yavana into the cave in which Mucukunda was sleeping. Mucukunda suddenly woke up from his sleep and looked at him with great anger. Yavana was at once reduced to ashes. (Bhāgavata, 10th Skandha).

73) Indra's favourite Drink. The juice of the Soma Plant is the favourite drink of Indra. (Ṛgveda, 1st Maṇḍala, 1st Anuvāka, 1st Sūkta).

74) Indra became a Goat. Sage Aṅgiras began wor- shipping the Devas, hoping to have a son who will be equal in glory to Indra. Indra who did not like another person to be his equal, took birth himself as the son of Aṅgiras. Savya is the name of that son. Once Savya assumed the form of a goat and ate up the soma plant of a sage called Medhātithi. The sage then called him Meṣa (goat). Indra is still known by the name, Meṣa. (Ṛgveda, 1st Maṇḍala, 1st Anuvāka, 5 1st Sūkta).

75) Indra turns woman. Once Indra took birth as the daughter of a king named Vṛṣaṇāśva and assumed the name Menā. (Ṛgveda, 1st Maṇḍala, 1st Anuvāka, 52nd Sūkta).

76) Indra and Ṛjiśvan. Once Indra helped a King named Ṛjiśvā to defeat the Asuras, Karañja, Parṇaya and Vaṁgṛda. (Ṛgveda, 1st Maṇḍala, 1st Anuvāka, 53rd Sūkta).

77) Indra and Sūrya. A King named Svaśva offered prayers to Sūrya to bless him with children. Sūrya himself took birth as his son. Once a great sage called Etaśa got involved in a fight with this son (Sūrya). When the sage was about to collapse, Indra came to his rescue. (Ṛgveda, 1st Maṇḍala, 11th Anuvāka, 62nd Sūkta).

78) Indra and Saramā. Once an asura called Paṇi stole some cows and hid them in some unknown place. Indra asked Saramā, the bitch of the Devas to find out and inform him where the cows were kept concealed. Sara- mā replied that she was prepared to do so, if Indra would give milk to her child and look after it in her absence. Indra undertook that task and the bitch went out and found out the place where the cows were hidden and reported it to Indra, (Ṛgveda, 1st Maṇḍala, 11th Anuvāka, 62nd Sūkta).

79) Indra and Dadhīca. Dadhīca (Dadhīci) was the son of Atharva. He used to scare away the Asuras by his eerrible look. Once when he had gone to Heaven, the earth became infested with Asuras. Indra set out to fight them. He tried to find out whether Dadhīca had left behind anything to be used as a weapon. “Dadhīca had with him a horse-head”, he was told. Indra went in search of it and at last found it in a lake at a place called Śaraṇya. It is with its bone that he killed the Asuras. (Ṛgveda, 1st Maṇḍala, 13th Anuvāka, 84th Sūkta).

80) Indra and Dadhyaṅ. Indra taught Madhuvidyā (The science of intoxicating drinks) to Dadhyaṅ. He was warned by Indra that if he communicated that lore to anyone else, his head would be cut off. Once the Aśvinīs wanted to learn it. Since Indra had denied Soma drinking to Aśvinīs, they were not on good terms with Indra. So they approached Dadhyaṅ to acquire that Knowledge. But he refused to teach them due to his fear that Indra would cut off his head. So the Aśvinīs cut off Dadhyaṅ's head and fixed a horse's head in its place. With that horse-head Dadhyaṅ taught the Aśvinīs Madhu Vidyā. After they had learnt the knowledge, they replaced his own head after remo- ving the horse-head. (Ṛgveda, 1st Maṇḍala, 17th Anuvāka, 116th Sūkta).

81) It is said that once, in a light mood, Indra made a mare give birth to a cow. (Ṛgveda, 1st Maṇḍala, 18th Anuvāka, 121st Sūkta).

82) Indra and Śatānīka. Śatānīka was a King of the Lunar dynasty who ruled over the city of Kauśāmbī. Indra who was highly impressed by his heroic exploits once invited him to Devaloka to suppress the Asuras. In the war with Asuras, Śatānīka was killed. After that Śatānīka's son, Sahasrānīka went to Devaloka and killed the Asuras. Indra who was pleased declared that Sahasrānīka would marry the beautiful Mṛgāvatī and they were married. See under Mṛgāvatī. (Kathāsaritsāgara, Kathāmukha laṁbaka, 1st Taraṅga).

83) Indra and Vāsavadattā. Vāsavadattā who was the wife of Udayana was born in the world by Indra's blessing. See under “Vāsavadattā”. (Kathāsaritsāgara, Kathāmukha laṁbaka, 1st Taraṅga).

84) Indra and Meghanāda. Rāvaṇa conquered the world with the help of Brahmā's blessing. In his pride he came into conflict with Indra. After a fierce battle, Rāvaṇa's son, Meghanāda defeated Indra. He took Indra to Laṅkā as a prisoner. Rāvaṇa chained Īndra's hands and feet and tied him to his flagstaff. The Devas in distress approached Brahmā for help. Brahmā went to Laṅkā and secured the release of Indra. After giving the title of Indrajit to Meghanāda, Brahmā returned to Brahmaloka.

Sometime before this Devendra had committed adultery with Ahalyā, Sage Gautama's wife. At that time Gautama had uttered a curse on him, that he would have to spend a year in prison, chained by an enemy. His life in Rāvaṇa's prison in Laṅkā was in fulfilment of that curse. (Uttara Rāmāyaṇa).

85) Indra and Hanūmān. Hanūmān, the son of Vāyu (wind) sprang up into the sky as soon as he was born, seeing the brilliant rising sun, and mistaking it to be some delicious food. He saw Rāhu who was standing near the sun and made a leap towards him. When he came near, he saw Airāvata, Indra's elephant, standing in Devaloka. At once he turned towards that elephant to swallow him. Seeing the struggle between Hanūmān and Airāvata Indra used his weapon Vajra which cut the monkey's “hanu” (jaw bone) and he fell down dead on the earth. Vāyu, in deep sorrow, took the dead body of his son and went to Pātāla. When Vāyu (wind) left the world, the creatures of the world underwent great suffering. Then the Devas led by Brahmā went to Pātāla, consoled Vāyu and revived Hanūmān. Since his “Hanu” was cut with Vajra, the monkey was named “Hanūmān” by Indra. Besides, Indra gave him a blessing that Hanūmān would die only when he wished. (Uttara Rāmāyaṇa, Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa; Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa; 66th Sarga).

86) Indra and Govardhana. For the story of how the people of Gokula (Cowherds' colony) stopped the wor- ship of Indra, how Indra caused a heavy shower of rain, and how Śrī Kṛṣṇa used the Govardhana mountain as an umbrella, see under “Kṛṣṇa”.

87) Indra becomes victim of old age. Once the sage Durvāsas went to Devaloka. The goddesses gave him a grand reception at which Menakā presented him with a garland made of fragrant flowers. The sage gave it to Devendra. Indra placed it on Airāvata's tusk. The fragrance of the garland attracted a large number of bees to it. They swarmed round the head of the ele- phant and annoyed it. Airāvata picked up the garland trampled it under his foot, pulled it to pieces and threw it away. Durvāsas took this as an insult to himself and pronounced a curse that all the gods would be subject- ed to wrinkles and grey hair of old age.

Indra and the other gods fell victims to old age. Indra requested Durvāsas to release him from his curse. The sage relented and told him that if the Devas drank Amṛta obtained by churning the ocean of milk they would recover their youth. Accordingly, the ocean of milk was churned by the joint effort of the Devas and Asuras and in the end the Devas snatched it away. When the Devas drank Amṛta, the symptoms of old age disappeared and they recovered their youth. (Uttara Rāmāyana).

88) Indra and Daṇḍakāraṇya. Daṇḍa the son of Ikṣvāku, a King of the Solar dynasty, ruled over the territory between the Vindhya and the Himālayas. Once when he was out ahunting in the neighbourhood of the moun- tains, he saw a charming woman. She was “Arā”, the daughter of the sage Śukra. The King was fascinated by her beauty and fell desperately in love with her at the very first sight. He seized her by force and commi- tted rape on her. When Śukra knew about this, he was furious and uttered a curse that Indra should shower a rain of fire on Daṇḍa's kingdom. Thus the whole country of Daṇḍa was destroyed by Indra's rain of fire. In course of time that region was turned into a dense forest and came to be called “Daṇḍakāraṇya”. (Uttara Rāmāyaṇa).

89) Other names of Indra. Indra; Marutvān, Maghavān, Biḍaujas, Pākaśāsana, Vṛddhaśravas, Sunāsīra, Puru- hūta, Purandara, Jiṣṇu, Lekharṣabha, Śakra, Śata- manyu, Divaspati, Sutrāmā, Gotrabhit, Vajṛī, Vāsava, Vṛtrahā, Vṛṣā, Vāstoṣpati, Surapaṭi Valārāti, Śacīpati, Jambhabhedin, Harihaya, Svārāt, Namucisūdana, Saṁ- krandana, Duścyavana, Turāṣāt Meghavāhana, Ākhaṇ- ḍala, Sahasrākṣa, Ṛbhukṣā.

90) Indra's Divinity. In the earliest stage of Hinduism, Indra had occupied one of the most eminent places among the gods. Mahāviṣṇu had only the place of younger brother of Indra at that time. In Amara Kośa we find “Upendra Indrāvaraja” as the synonym of Viṣṇu. In Ṛgveda Indra has a more important place. Although Rudra is a divinity or deity and although there are references to Kapardin, there is not even a single stuti (praise) about Śiva in the Ṛgveda. Ṛg- veda does not recognize Devīpūjā and idol worship. But in the Purāṇic age, Indra was transformed into a lascivious “Deva Prabhu” (Lord among the gods). Sardar K.M. Panikkar, in his preface to “Ṛgveda Saṁhitā” says about Indra:--“The main actor in Ṛg- veda is Indra. In the war against the Dasyus the Āryas seek the help chiefly of Indra. Indra is represented as very handsome and of a golden complexion. His weapon is Vajra, thunderbolt which was made by Tvaṣṭā. Vāyu (wind) is his charioteer. He is constantly travel- ling about in the sky driving in his golden chariot. Indra likes drinking Soma juice more than the other gods. Indra is even referred to as “Somapa”. He is also sometimes described as the twin brother of Agni. Sages have sung unendingly about the exploits of Indra. Hiraṇyastūpa, a sage, has composed a work entitled “Indrastuti” which celebrates many of the heroic deeds of Indra. Indra was Vajrapāṇi who had slain the Asuras like Ahi, Tuṣṇa, Śaṁbara, Vala, Vṛtra and others.

There are also several stories in the Vedas about the birth of this hero. At the time of Indra's birth, some- how, his mother felt that he was incapable of being killed. So she decided to abandon him. Fearing trouble for herself, she asked the child to leave her and go to some other place. Indra refused to do so and followed her to the house of Tvaṣṭā. There he drank the juice of the soma plant and gained strength to kill his ene- mies. But unaware of this, his mother, tried to keep him concealed. Indra, however, came out of the place in his dazzling attire and encountered the enemies. Vṛtra who met Indra got ready for a fight. In the fight Vyaṁsa struck down Indra. The devas fled in fear. Indra who was left alone called upon Viṣṇu and sought his aid.

Although Indra needed help in his fight with Vṛtra, he was the chief support to the Ārynas in their fight against the Dasyus. It was Indra's Vajra which broke up the for- tresses of many Dasyu kings. That was why he got the name “Purandara”. Once Indra dried up the whole river to enable his army to cross it for the sake of Sud- ās. When Suśravas became helpless, Indra destroyed twenty kings and 60099 soldiers with his chariot wheel. Thus we see Indra in the Ṛgveda as the destroyer of the Dasyus and the protector of Āryans.”

Indrāṇī, Śacī and Pulomajā are the names of Indra's wife. Indra's son, Jayanta is also known by the name of Pākaśāsani. Indra's city is Amarāvatī; his chariot “Vimāna”, his charioteer Mātali, and his garden Nan- danavana. “Vaijayanta” is the name of his mansion. Indra's weapon has several other names, such as, Hrā- dinī, Kuliśa, Bhidura, Pavi, Śatakoṭi, Svaru, Śāmba, Dambholi, Aśani etc. Indra's assembly is called “Su- dharmā”. Indra's bow is the rainbow, his sword is Parañjaya and his residence is Heaven. The trees in Heaven are, Mandāra, Pārijāta, Santāna, Kalpavṛkṣa and Haricandana. The festival celebrated in honour of Indra is called “Śakradhvajotthāna” or “Indrotsava”.

91) Indra and Uttaṅka. See under Uttaṅka.

92) Indra and Kabandha. See the second para under the name Kabandha.

93) Indra was born as Gādhi. See under Gādhi.

94) Śiva ended Indra's pride. See under Pāṇḍavas.

95) Indra stole the cows. For the story of how Indra stole the cows from Gokula see under Kṛṣṇa.

96) Indra and Mahāśani. Once Mahāśani, the son of Hiraṇya defeated the gods in a battle and took Indra and Indrāṇī to Pātāla as captives. The Devas who knew that Mahāśani was a relative of Varuṇa, sought the help of Varuṇa. At the instance. of Varuṇa, Indra was released. The revengeful Indra prayed to Śiva. Śiva appeared and asked Indra to submit his complaint to Viṣṇu. Indra offered his prayers to Viṣṇu. As a result of it, a man who had the elements of Śiva and Viṣṇu, in him, took his birth from the water of the Gaṅgā. He killed Mahāśani. (Brah- māṇḍa Purāṇa).


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*1st word in right half of page 318 (+offset) in original book.