Indra (; , ) is the supreme Vedic god and a major deity in Hinduism who is the king of the devas and Heaven (Known as Svar in Vedism and later Svarga in Hinduism). He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, sovereignty, power, kingship, truth, fertility, virtue, storms, rains, river flows, and war. [3 volumes]
Indra is the most frequently mentioned deity in the Rigveda. He is celebrated for his powers based on his status as a god of order, and as the one who killed the great evil, an asura named Vritra, who obstructed human prosperity and happiness. Indra destroys Vritra and his "deceiving forces", and thereby brings rain and sunshine as the saviour of mankind. Indra's significance diminishes in the post-Vedic Indian literature, but he still plays an important role in various religious accounts. He is depicted as a powerful hero.
According to the Vishnu Purana, Indra is the title borne by the king of the gods, which changes every Manvantara – a cyclic period of time in Hindu cosmology. Each Manvantara has its own Indra and the Indra of the current Manvantara is called Purandhara.
Indra is also depicted in Buddhist () and Jain texts. Indra rules over the much-sought Devas realm of rebirth within the Samsara doctrine of Buddhist traditions. However, like the post-Vedic Hindu texts, Indra is also a subject of ridicule and reduced to a figurehead status in Buddhist texts, shown as a god who suffers rebirth. In Jain traditions, unlike Buddhism and Hinduism, Indra is not the king of gods, but the king of superhumans residing in Svarga-Loka, and very much a part of Jain rebirth cosmology. He is also the one who appears with his consort Indrani to celebrate the auspicious moments in the life of a Jain Tirthankara, an iconography that suggests the king and queen of superhumans residing in Svarga reverentially marking the spiritual journey of a Jain.
Indra has similarities to various other Indo-European deities, such as Greek Zeus, Roman Jupiter, Armenian Aramazd, Germanic Odin and Thor, Slavic Perun, Baltic Perkūnas, Dacian Zalmoxis, and Celtic Taranis, part of the greater Proto-Indo-European mythology.
Indra's iconography shows him wielding his vajra and riding his vahana, Airavata. Indra's abode is in the capital city of Svarga, Amaravati, though he is also associated with Mount Meru (also called Sumeru).
Etymology and nomenclature
The etymological roots of Indra are unclear, and it has been a contested topic among scholars since the 19th-century, one with many proposals. The significant proposals have been: root ind-u, or "spirit", based on the Vedic mythology that he conquered rain and brought it down to earth. root ind, or "equipped with great power". This was proposed by Vopadeva. root idh or "spirit", and ina or "strong". root indha, or "igniter", for his ability to bring light and power (indriya) that ignites the vital forces of life (prana). This is based on Shatapatha Brahmana. root idam-dra, or "It seeing" which is a reference to the one who first perceived the self-sufficient metaphysical Brahman. This is based on Aitareya Upanishad. roots in ancient Indo-European, Indo-Aryan deities. For example, states John Colarusso, as a reflex of proto-Indo-European *h₂nḗr-, Greek anēr, Sabine nerō, Avestan nar-, Umbrian nerus, Old Irish nert, Pashto nər, Ossetic nart, and others which all refer to "most manly" or "hero". roots in ancient Proto-Uralic paganism, particularly the old Uralic sky god, whose modern reflexes include e.g. Finnish Ilmarinen and Udmurt .
Colonial era scholarship proposed that Indra shares etymological roots with Avestan Andra, Old High German *antra ("giant"), or Old Church Slavonic jedru ("strong"), but Max Muller critiqued these proposals as untenable. Later scholarship has linked Vedic Indra to Aynar (the Great One) of Circassian, Abaza and Ubykh mythology, and Innara of Hittite mythology. Colarusso suggests a Pontic origin and that both the phonology and the context of Indra in Indian religions is best explained from Indo-Aryan roots and a Circassian etymology (i.e. *inra). Modern scholarship suggests the name originated at the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex where the Aryans lived before settling in India.
Other languages In other languages, he is also known as
Ashkun: Indra Bengali: (Indro) Burmese: () Chinese: 因陀羅 (Yīntuóluó) or 帝釋天 (Dìshìtiān) Indonesian/Malay: (Indera) Japanese: (Taishakuten).Presidential Address W. H. D. Rouse Folklore, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Mar., 1907), pp. 12-23: "King of the Gods is Sakka, or Indra" Javanese: (Bathara Indra) Kamkata-vari: Inra Kannada: (Indra) Khmer: (Preah In ) Korean: (Jeseokcheon) Lanna: (Intha) or (Pha Nya In) Lao: (Pha In) or (Pha Nya In) Malayalam: (Indran) Mon: (In) Mongolian: (Indra) Odia: (Indrô) Prasun: Indr Sinhala: (In̆du) or (Indra) Tai Lue: (In) or (Pha Ya In) Tamil: (Inthiran) Telugu: (Indrun̆ḍu or Indrũḍu) Tibetan: དབང་པོ་ (dbang po) Thai: (Phra In) Waigali: Indr
Epithets Indra has many epithets in the Indian religions, notably Śakra (शक्र, powerful one). These epithets go beyond his role as a simple "warrior storm god" and to roles such as being a sage, priest, and creator, highlighting his multi-faceted nature.
Vṛṣan (वृषन्, mighty) Vṛtrahan (वृत्रहन्, slayer of Vṛtra) Meghavāhana (मेघवाहन, he whose vehicle is cloud) Devarāja (देवराज, king of deities) Devendra (देवेन्द्र, the lord of deities) Maghavan (मघवन्, the Generous One) Dātāram (दातारम्, the Giver) Puruhūta (पुरुहूत, the Most Invoked) Vāsava (वासव, the lord of the Vasus) Svargapati (स्वर्गपति, Lord of Heaven) Svarpati (स्वर्पति, Lord of the Illuminous World; epithet also means Lord of Heaven) Tūrvaṇ (तुर्वन्, He who overcomes) Vīra (वीर, the Hero) Ganapati (गणपति, Lord of Hosts; later became the name for the deity Ganesha) Śacīvan (शचीवन्, Lord of Power) Vṛṣabha(वृषभ, the Bull) Vipratamaḥ kavīnām (विप्रतमंकवीनाम्, the Sage of Sages) Subrahmanya (सुब्रह्मण्य, He who is most dear to the Brahmins) Kārudhāyaḥ (कारुधायः, Patron of poets, bards, and hymn composers Vipratamaḥ (विप्रतम, the Most Wise) Girvāṇa (गिर्वाण, lover of hymns; also means God) Marutvant (मरुत्वत्, He who is accompanied by the Maruts) Indha (इन्ध, the Igniter) Idandra (इदन्द्र, the Perciever of All) Satpati (सत्पति, Lord of Truth) Riteesh (रीतीश, Lord of Ṛta) Surendra (सुरेन्द्र, chief of deities) Svargapati (स्वर्गपति, the lord of heaven) Śatakratu (शतक्रतु one who performs 100 sacrifices). Vajrapāṇī (वज्रपाणि, wielder of Vajra, i.e., thunderbolt) Vāsava (वासव, lord of Vasus) Purandara (पुरंदर, the breaker of forts) Kaushika (कौशिक, Vishvamitra was born as the embodiment of Indra) Shachin or Shachindra (शचीन, the consort of Shachi).
Parjanya (पर्जन्य, Rain)
Origins
Indra is of ancient but unclear origin. Aspects of Indra as a deity are cognate to other Indo-European gods; there are thunder gods such as Thor, Perun, and Zeus who share parts of his heroic mythologies, act as king of gods, and all are linked to "rain and thunder". The similarities between Indra of Vedic mythology and of Thor of Nordic and Germanic mythologies are significant, states Max Müller. Both Indra and Thor are storm gods, with powers over lightning and thunder, both carry a hammer or an equivalent, for both the weapon returns to their hand after they hurl it, both are associated with bulls in the earliest layer of respective texts, both use thunder as a battle-cry, both are protectors of mankind, both are described with legends about "milking the cloud-cows", both are benevolent giants, gods of strength, of life, of marriage and the healing gods.
Michael Janda suggests that Indra has origins in the Indo-European *trigw-welumos [or rather *trigw-t-welumos] "smasher of the enclosure" (of Vritra, Vala) and diye-snūtyos "impeller of streams" (the liberated rivers, corresponding to Vedic apam ajas "agitator of the waters"). Brave and heroic Innara or Inra, which sounds like Indra, is mentioned among the gods of the Mitanni, a Hurrian-speaking people of Hittite region.
Indra as a deity was known in the capital of the Hittite Empire in northeastern Asia minor, as evidenced by the inscriptions on the Boghaz-köi clay tablets dated to about 1400 BCE. This tablet mentions a treaty, but its significance is in four names it includes reverentially as Mi-it-ra, U-ru-w-na, In-da-ra and Na-sa-at-ti-ia. These are respectively, Mitra, Varuna, Indra and Nasatya-Asvin of the Vedic pantheon as revered deities, and these are also found in Avestan pantheon but with Indra and Naonhaitya as demons. This at least suggests that Indra and his fellow deities were in vogue in South Asia and Asia minor by about mid 2nd-millennium BCE.
During the Vedic age, Indra’s prominence is underscored by his frequency in the Vedic hymns; he is the sole dedicatee of approximately 250 hymns, and is praised alongside other deities in an additional 50 hymns within the Rigveda – a Hindu scripture dated to have been composed sometime between 1700 and 1100 BCE. He is also mentioned in the ancient Indo-Iranian literature, but with a major inconsistency when contrasted with the Vedas. In the Vedic literature, Indra is a heroic god. In the Avestan (ancient, pre-Islamic Iranian) texts such as Vd. 10.9, Dk. 9.3 and Gbd 27.6-34.27, Indra – or accurately Andra – is a gigantic demon who opposes truth. In the Vedic texts, Indra kills the archenemy and demon Vritra who threatens mankind. In the Avestan texts, Vritra is not found.
According to David Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the Zeravshan River (present-day Uzbekistan) and (present-day) Iran. It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements", which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" from the Bactria–Margiana Culture. At least 383 non-Indo-European words were found in this culture, including the god Indra and the ritual drink Soma. According to Anthony,
However, according to Paul Thieme, "there is no valid justification for supposing that the Proto-Aryan adjective *vrtraghan was specifically connected with *Indra or any other particular god."
Iconography
In Rigveda, Indra is described as a strong willed, armed with a thunderbolt, riding a chariot:
Contrary to how he has been portrayed in post-Vedic works of art, Indra is described as having glowing golden hair, rather than the dark hair common among most Hindu gods:
Indra's weapon, which he used to kill the evil Vritra, is the vajra or thunderbolt. Other alternate iconographic symbolism for him includes a bow (sometimes as a colorful rainbow), a sword, a net, a noose, a hook, or a conch. The thunderbolt of Indra is called Bhaudhara.
In the post-Vedic period, he rides a large, four-tusked white elephant called Airavata. In sculpture and relief artworks in temples, he typically sits on an elephant or is near one. When he is shown to have two, he holds the vajra and a bow.
In the Shatapatha Brahmana and in Shaktism traditions, Indra is stated to be the same as the goddess Shodashi (Tripura Sundari), and her iconography is described similarly to that of Indra.
The rainbow is called Indra's Bow ( ).
Literature Vedic texts
Indra was the supreme deity of the Historical Vedic religion. In Vedic times Indra was described in Rig Veda 6.30.4 as superior to any other god. Sayana in his commentary on Rig Veda 6.47.18 described Indra assuming many forms, making Agni, Vishnu, and Rudra his illusory forms.