Indra, the Supreme being from Śrutis:

In Ṛg Veda, 1st maṇḍala, 101st sūkta, 5th mantra, Indra is considered as the Supreme Being, Supreme reality, Absolute Truth. There it is said that Indra is the Lord of the Universe, he is the first among creators, who appeared in the vast empty space and he is the creator of mind, senses and worlds for living creatures. In the same Ṛg Veda in the 2nd maṇḍala, 12th sūkta, which is famous as the "Indra-sūkta", in the first mantra itself it is mentioned - O ! men, he, the Indra who appeared first, and no other Deva can match Him in power and excellence. It also mentions that Indra himself, created Pṛthvī and Nakṣatras and made them shine. It is by the sheer power of his potencies and actions that he dwells in the continuum between earth and unlimited space. Indra whom Hindus nowadays consider to be as a mere ruler of a middle class heaven, has been described in Vedas as all pervading Supreme Truth. So, let us dwell in to why Indra who is described in Śruti so vividly as the Supreme truth has gotten reduced to a mere person in the Paurāṇika literature, that too as a person who is attached to his svargīya position, a mere enjoyer of pleasures, with plenty a of character flaws.

Despite in Śruti, him being referred to as the Supreme absolute truth, nowadays he, the Indra does not find a prominent position in our temples, daily upāsanas etc. Forget about His upāsana, even whatever little we read about him in available scriptures is not very appealing and this has resulted in Indra becoming a subject of mere mockery and underestimation amongst the population of Hindus, the modern descendants of the Vaidika Āryans.

Ṛg Veda is uncompromisingly accepted by scholars of different disciplines as the oldest available grantha of the world. It contains 1028 sūktas or clusters of mantras. Each one of these sūktas has been revealed to the world through the Ṛṣis who are mantra-draṣṭās or the revealers of the mantras. These sūktas are dedicated to different Devatas. From the 1028 sūktas of the Ṛg Veda more than 250 are dedicated to glorify and describe Indra. That means one fourth of all the mantras are dedicated to Indra. If we take these mantras in to consideration it becomes self evident that Indra is not at all the personality that we perceive nowadays. Infact it's quite opposite to the modern day concept of Indra.

In Vedas, Indra is not a physical or perceivable object, rather he is an all pervasive divine entity, which sets very nature into motion, starting with lightning, rain and rivers. In many mantras found in the Vedas, it is described how Indra separates and smashes the clouds, roars like thunder cuts down the mountains and paves way for the rivers to flow unhindered.

If we observe the 32 nd sūkta of the first maṇḍala of Ṛg Veda, ṚŚI says - I hereby recite the highst glories and deeds of Indra, the Lord of Vajra, who smashes the clouds, who are in the form of his enemies and releases the waters opening the streams of water to flow from the mountains. To Him I bow! Vajra that we see in the recent paintings of Indra is actually inspired from such mantras found in Ṛg Veda. This Vajra is the symbolic representation of Indra's potency to crack open the clouds and release the rains. In Vedas along with Indra being the omnipotent or the omnipresent Supreme element, he is also the very reason for rains, life and fertility on earth.

Many later day scholars have tried to interpret Indra as another epithet for Sūrya, considering Sun's role in creating the rains etc. In the Brāhmaṇa portions of the Vedas we also find Indra being compared to the sun, mind and the senses. In Kaṭhopaniṣad, Indra is described as the prāṇa. In Aitreya-upaniṣad he is described as the Ātman. So, in most Vedic texts Indra is described as an invisible force that operates the universe and also the mind and senses of living beings. However in thr post Vedic period, with the manifestation of Purāṇas, Indra started get depicted as an intoxicated, sensual king of the lower heaven who is extremely attached to his pada or post.

In later day schools of Sanātana Dharma such as Śaiva, Vaiṣṇava, Śākta etc, Indra has been reduced to the position of a mere upadeva. In Buddhism Indra is accepted as the topmost among Devas, still they depict Him as a personality suffering from insecurities and an intense sense enjoyer. Even in Itihāsas like Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata, Indra is depicted in the same Paurāṇika form. Eg. - Ahalyā episode in Rāmāyaṇa and Menakā-Viśvāmitra narrative in Mahābhārata, both depict Indra as an self obsessed, insecure, sense enjoyer.

What is the reason for this contradiction found between Vedas and Purāṇas ?

Is it reasonable that the very Āryans who glorified Indra as the greatest among Devas who made way for the Sindhu river by cracking mountains in halves and made lives of Āryans prosperous ans auspicious in a later period reduced Him in to a minor Devatā. Only possible conclusion we can arrive is that the Indra described in Śruti and Indra described in Purāṇas/Itihāsas are two different subject matters altogether.

In Śruti, Indra is the word used for the Supreme Being, authority and the Power. But in Purāṇas it is a position that can be acquired by any deserving person. In Puraṇas Indra is not one single entity. In Viṣṇu Purāṇa and Bhāgavata Purāṇa, 14 Indras have been mentioned. These 14 Indras take birth in different Manvantaras. While the position of Indra or the Indra pada is the same as described in the Vedas. The person who ascends to that post is different in various time periods. The glorification or the vilification of Indra is dependent upon the particular person adorning the post of Indratva in a given span of time.

Why is it that Indra is considered as a post occupied by different personalities in Purāṇas ? Answer to this is also hidden in some of the Veda mantras. In a few Veda mantras the draṣṭa Ṛṣi desires Indra to be born as their son. In Ṛg veda, Ṛṣi Madhucchandā refers to Indra as son of Kuśika and in another place Śunaḥśepa Ṛṣi addresses Indra as his own son. So it can be seen that the personification of the Supreme absolute truth Indra has begun from mūla śrutis themselves.

In Puruṣa Sūkta also Indra and Agni are described as manifestation of the potency of Primordial Puruṣa and this mūla Indra takes birth through different Ṛiṣis in different periods. And the legends found in Purāṇas are the life stories of those appearances of Indra as the sons of sages such as Kashyapa, Kuśika, Vikuṇḍu and Śunaḥśepa.

This is how we conclude with the establishment of supremacy of Indra in shrutis and his secondary nature in puranas. The devatas like Bramha, Vishnu and Rudra are dealt with, in their natural form in the smritis but the major 33 Aryan deities are looked as aspects of supreme bramhan who are depending upon the trinity to carry out their duties successfully and live peacefully.

As the time progresses, according to the yugachakra human physic, intellect and consciousness deteriorates. From 100,000 years of age it goes down to 100 years, from height of 30-40 feet it goes down to 2-3 feet. Like wise upasanas, sadhanas and siddhis also get degraded in due course of time. The devatas which were perceivable in satyayuga become a subject beyond understanding and hence face ignorance or mockery from people living in Kaliyuga. The level of spiritual and material growth that was achievable in previous yugas just remains as a distant memory in the age of Kali.

But we still have karma in our hands. If we collectively work in right direction, the golden age and the dharmik order can be restored. If shrutis are followed as they're without any adulteration based on victorian morals, chaturvarnas are established, yadnya and yagas are carried out at mass level then the golden age can be brought back, atleast till the ghora kaliyuga starts

🙏 Jayatu Indra 🙏

🙏 Namo Narasimha 🙏