Story of Indra overtaking the reigns of the divine Kingdom from his father Dyaus pitar or Zeus:

कस्ते॑ मा॒तरं॑ वि॒धवा॑मचक्रच्छ॒युं कस्त्वाम॑जिघांस॒च्चर॑न्तम् ।

कस्ते॑ दे॒वो अधि॑ मार्डी॒क आ॑सी॒द्यत्प्राक्षि॑णाः पि॒तरं॑ पाद॒गृह्य॑ ॥ ४.०१८.१२

kaste̍ mā̱tara̍ṃ vi̱dhavā̍macakraccha̱yuṃ kastvāma̍jighāṃsa̱ccara̍ntam .

kaste̍ de̱vo adhi̍ mārḍī̱ka ā̍sī̱dyatprākṣi̍ṇāḥ pi̱tara̍ṃ pāda̱gṛhya̍ .. 4.018.12

"Who made thy mother a widow? Who has sought to slay the sleeping and the waking?

What god has been more gracious than you since you slew the father having seized him by his foot?!"

- Rig Veda, 4.18.12

Speaks the goddess Prithvi to her mighty son Indra(also known as son of heaven(Dyaus) and earth(Prithvi))

It is amazing to see how similar it is that Indra slew his father Dyaus(sky) who sought to slay him when a baby, like how the mighty Zeus(who's named after Dyaus/sky) overthrew Kronos(time) who sought to devour him.

But here the story symbolizes how Indra separates the once united Heaven and Earth, conquering the former and becomes the protector of the latter.

Which in turn is symbolic of how the Sun as the giver of life and rain(Indra as in this case) gives refuge to the earth(Prithvi) and conquers the sky(Dyaus).

Indra conquering Dyaus is also similar to Kronos(time) conquering Uranous(sky).

All in all ,this story surely will remind anyone familiar with Greek Mythology of how the Olymplians once overthrew the Titans and the titans overthrowing the primordials.

The god of fire, Agni, says in Rig Veda 10.124.3 and Rig Veda 10.124.4 :

पश्य॑न्न॒न्यस्या॒ अति॑थिं व॒याया॑ ऋ॒तस्य॒ धाम॒ वि मि॑मे पु॒रूणि॑ ।

शंसा॑मि पि॒त्रे असु॑राय॒ शेव॑मयज्ञि॒याद्य॒ज्ञियं॑ भा॒गमे॑मि ॥ १०.१२४.०३

ब॒ह्वीः समा॑ अकरम॒न्तर॑स्मि॒न्निन्द्रं॑ वृणा॒नः पि॒तरं॑ जहामि ।

अ॒ग्निः सोमो॒ वरु॑ण॒स्ते च्य॑वन्ते प॒र्याव॑र्द्रा॒ष्ट्रं तद॑वाम्या॒यन् ॥ १०.१२४.०४

paśya̍nna̱nyasyā̱ ati̍thiṃ va̱yāyā̍ ṛ̱tasya̱ dhāma̱ vi mi̍me pu̱rūṇi̍ .

śaṃsā̍mi pi̱tre asu̍rāya̱ śeva̍mayajñi̱yādya̱jñiya̍ṃ bhā̱game̍mi .. 10.124.03

ba̱hvīḥ samā̍ akarama̱ntara̍smi̱nnindra̍ṃ vṛṇā̱naḥ pi̱tara̍ṃ jahāmi .

a̱gniḥ somo̱ varu̍ṇa̱ste cya̍vante pa̱ryāva̍rdrā̱ṣṭraṃ tada̍vāmyā̱yan .. 10.124.04

"I behold the guest of another lineage, have founded many a rule of Law and Order.

I bid farewell to the Asura Father and, for neglect, obtain my share of worship."

"I have spent many years in this altar: I leave the Father for I prefer Indra.

Away pass Agni, Soma, Varuna for rule ever changes, this I come to favour."

The second passage reminds me of the tale of how after Zeus overthrows his father Kronos, his brother Poseidon and Hades are released, who would have been the natural heir for they were born before Zeus, but Zeus is the king for he saves them.

But what is astonishing is that the story of Zeus is very similar to Indra, his name comes instead from Indra's father, Dyaus(heaven). And the name of the Roman equal of Zeus: Jupiter, has come from Jove-Pater, which in turn is a parallel to Dyaus-Pita. What is more astonishing is that Jupiter is alternatively called Dies-Piter which is very similar to Dyaus-Pita.

In Latin , the word used for god or deity is Deus, which is again a parallel to the Vedic Dyaus.

The overthrowing of Dyaus in this case, may be an allusion to the worship of Dyaus coming to and end and the commencement of Indra's worship. Unfortunately there is not much in our scriptures about Dyaus other than his role as the Sky-Father who gets overthrown by Indra.

🙏 Jayatu Indra 🙏

🙏 Namo Narasiṁha 🙏