INDRA

Indra is invoked alone in about one-fourth of the hymns of the RV., far more than are addressed to any other deity; for he is the favourite national god of the Vedic people. He is more anthropomorphic on the physical side, and more invested with mythological imagery, than any other member of the pantheon. He is primarily a god of the thunderstorm who vanquishes the demons of drought or darkness, and sets free the waters or wing the light. He is secondarily the god of battle who aids the victorious Aryan in overcoming his aboriginal foes.

His physical features, such as body and head, are often referred to after he has drunk Soma he agitates his jaws and his beard; and his belly is many times mentioned in connexion with his great powers of drinking Soma. Being tawny (hári) in colour, he is also tawny-haired and tawny-bearded. His arms are especially often referred to because they wield the thunderbolt (vájra), which, mythologically representing the lightning stroke, is his exclusive weapon. This bolt was fashioned for him by Tvastr, being made of iron (ayasá), golden, tawny, sharp, many-pointed, sometimes spoken of as a stone or rock. Several epithets, compounds or derivatives of vájra, such as vájra-bahu bearing the bolt in his arm and vajrín wielder of the bolt are almost without exception applied to him. Sometimes he is described as armed with bow and arrows; he also carries a hook (ankusá).

Having a golden car, drawn by two tawny steeds (hári), he is a car-fighter (rathesthá). Both his car and his steeds were fashioned by the Rbhus, the divine artificers.

As Indra is more addicted to Soma than any of the other gods, the common epithet 'Soma-drinker' (Somapá) is characteristic of him. This beverage stimulates him to carry out his warlike deeds; thus for the slaughter of Vrtra he is said to have drunk three lakes of Soma. One whole hymn (x. 119) is a monologue in which Indra, intoxicated with Soma, boasts of his greatness and his might.

Indra is often spoken of as having been born, and two whole hymns deal with the subject of his birth. His father, the same as Agni's, appears to be Dyaus; but the inference from other passages is that he is Tvastr, the artificer among the gods. Agni is called Indra's twin brother, and Pusan (vi. 54) is also his brother. His wife, who is often mentioned, is Indrani. Indra is associated with various other deities. The Maruts, (i. 85) are his chief allies, who constantly help him in his conflicts. Hence the epithet Marútvant accompanied by the Maruts is characteristic of him. Agni is the god most often conjoined with him as a dual divinity. Indra is also often coupled with Varuna (vii. 86) and Vayu, god of Wind, less often with Soma (viii. 48), Brhaspati (iv. 50), Pusan, and Visnu.

Indra is of vast size; thus it is said that he would be equal to the earth even if it were ten times as large as it is. His greatness and power are constantly dwelt on: neither gods nor men have attained to the limit of his might; and no one like him is known among the gods. Thus various epithets such as sákrá and sácivant mighty, sácipáti lord of might, satákratu having a hundred powers, are characteristic of him.

The essential myth forming the basis of his nature is described with extreme frequency and much variation. Exhilarated by Soma and generally escorted by the Maruts, he attacks the chief demon of drought, usually called Vrtra, but often also the serpent (áhi). Heaven and Earth tremble when the mighty combat takes place. With his bolt be shatters Vrtra who encompasses the waters, hence receiving the exclusive epithet apsu-jit, conquering in the waters. The result of the conflict, which is regarded as being constantly renewed, is that he pierces the mountain and sets free the waters pent up like imprisoned cows. The physical elements in the conflict are nearly always the bolt, the mountain, waters or rivers, while lightning, thunder, cloud, rain are seldom directly named. The waters are often terrestrial, but also often aerial and celestial. The clouds are the mountains (párvata, girí), on which the demons lie or dwell, or from which Indra caste them down, or which he cleaves to release the waters. Or the cloud is a rock (ádri) which encompasses the cows (as the waters are sometimes called), and from which he releases them. Clouds, as containing the waters, figure as cows also; they further appear under the names of udder (údhar), spring (útsa), cask (kávandha), pail (kósa). The clouds, moreover, appear as the fortresses (púras) of the aerial demons, being described as moving, autumnal, made of iron or stone, and as 90, 99, or 100 in number. Indra. shatters them and is characteristically called the 'fort-destroyer' (parbhíd). But the chief and specific epithet of Indra is 'Vrtra-slayer' (Vrtra-hán), owing to the essential importance, in the myth, of the fight with the demon. In this fight the Maruts are his regular allies, but Agni, Soma, and Visnu also often assist him. Indra also engages in conflict with numerous minor demons; sometimes he is described as destroying demons in general, the Raksases or the Asuras.

With the release of the waters is connected the winning of light, sun, and dawn. Thus Indra is invoked to slay Vrtra and to win the light. When he had slain Vrtra, releasing the waters for man, he placed the sun visibly in the heavens. The sun shone forth when Indra blew the serpent from the air. There is here often no reference to the Vrtra fight. Indra is then simply said to find the light; he gained the sun or found it in the darkness, and made a path for it. He produces the dawn as well as the sun; he opens the darkness with the dawn and the sun. The cows. mentioned along with the sun and dawn, or with the sun alone, as found, released, or won by Indra, are here probably the morning beams, which are elsewhere compared with cattle coming out of their dark stalls. Thus when the dawns went to meet Indra, he became the lord of the cows; when be overcame Vrtra he made visible the cows of the nights. There seems to be a confusion between the restoration of the sun after the darkness of the thunderstorm, and the recovery of the sun from the darkness of night at dawn. The latter feature is probably an extension of the former. Indra's connexion with the thunderstorm is in a few passages divested of mythological imagery, as when he is said to have created the lightnings of heaven and to have directed the action of the waters downwards. With the Vrtra-fight, with the winning of the cows and of the sun, is also connected the gaining of Soma. Thus when Indra drove the serpent from the air, there shone forth fires, the sun. and Soma; he won Soma at the same time as the cows.

Great cosmic actions are often attributed to Indra. He settled the quaking mountains and plains. He stretches out heaven and earth like a hide; he holds asunder heaven and earth as two wheels are kept apart by the axle; he made the non-existent into the existent in a moment. Sometimes the separation and support of heaven and earth are described as a result of Indra's victory over a demon who held them together.

As the destroyer of demons in combat, Indra is constantly invoked by warriors. As the great god of battle he is more frequently called upon than any other deity to help the Aryans in their conflicts with earthly enemies. He protects the Aryan colour and subjects the black skin. He dispersed 50,000 of the black race. He subjected the Dasyus to the Aryan, and gave land to the Aryan.

More generally Indra is praised as the protector, helper, and friend of his worshippers. He is described as bestowing on them wealth, which is considered the result of victories. His liberality is so characteristic that the frequent attribute maghávan bountiful is almost exclusively his.

Besides the central myth of the Vrtra-fight, several minor stories are connected with Indra. In various passages he is described as shattering the car of Usas, goddess of Dawn (iv. 51); this trait is probably based on the notion of Indra's bringing the sun when kept back by the delaying dawn. He is also said to have stopped the steeds of the Sun, apparently by causing the latter to lose a wheel of his car. Indra is further associated with the myth of the winning of Soma; for it is to him that the eagle brings the draught of immortality from the highest heaven. Another myth in the capture by Indra, with the help of Sarama, of the cows confined in a cave by demons called Panis.

Various stories which, though mixed with mythological elements, probably have an historical basis, are told of Indra's having fought in aid of individual protégés, such as king Sudas, against terrestrial foes.

The attributes of Indra are chiefly those of physical superiority and rule over the physical world. He is energetic and violent in action, an irresistible fighter, an inexhaustible lavisher of the highest goods on mankind, but at the same time sensual and immoral in various ways, such as excess in eating and drinking, and cruelty in killing his own father Tvastr. He forms a marked contrast to Varuna, the other great universal monarch of the RV., who wields passive and peaceful sway, who uniformly applies the laws of nature, who upholds moral order, and whose character displays lofty ethical features.

The name of Indra is pre-Indian; for it occurs in the Avesta as that of a demon; the term verethraghna (=Vrtrahán) is also found there as the designation of the God of Victory, though unconnected with Indra. Thus it seems likely that there was already in the Indo-Iranian period a god resembling the Vrtra-slaying Indra of the RV. The etymology of the word is doubtful, but its radical portion ind may be connected with that in índ-u drop.