Indra Riding Airaawat

Indra is the god of rain and thunder, and the weather is at his command supplying rains
in the universe. As controller of the megha (cloud), he is master of the clouds and is also
known as Maghavan.
The title "Lord of sacrifice" may refer to either Indra or Visnu. Visnu is the chief of the
primal demigods, including Brahma and Siva, and Indra is the chief of the administrative
demigods. Both Indra and Visnu are worshiped by yajna performances.
While Indra is the chief demigod of the heavenly planets, he is an ordinary living entity
in the material world and possesses the four defects of the conditioned soul. King Indra
is described as bhagavan, which is generally used in reference to the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. King Indra is addressed as bhagavan because he has so much
power in his hands.
Indra is the deity presiding over the hands. When the two hands of the universal form of
the Lord became manifested, with them came the power of grasping and dropping
things, and after that Lord Indra appeared. Indra is known as Vajra-dhara, the carrier of
the thunderbolt (vajra), his favorite weapon.
King Indra is also known as sata-kratu, which indicates that he has performed one
hundred horse sacrifices (asvamedha-yajna). One who desires powerful sex should

worship Indra. Also called Sacipati, the King of heaven is an incarnation of the lusty
feature of the Lord. He is also called Sahasraksa.
On Manasottara Mountain are the abodes of four demigods. East of Sumeru Mountain is
Devadhani, where King Indra lives, and south of Sumeru is Samyamani, the abode of
Yamaraja, the superintendent of death. Similarly, west of Sumeru is Nimlocani, the
abode of Varuna, the demigod who controls the water, and north of Sumeru is Vibhavari,
where the demigod of the moon lives.
As the demigod in charge of the eastern side of the universe, where the heavenly planet,
or paradise is situated, Indra as known as the ruler of Svargaloka. The planet in which
Indra reigns is called Indraloka.
Indra's consort is Indrani, and Brhaspati is Indra's priest. Indra rides on the king of the
elephants, Airawat haathi, who is white in color and has four tusks.

Indra was begot of the sage Kashyapa and his wife Aditi. Aditi had twelve sons, of whom
Indra was the eleventh. Indra's wife was named Paulomi (Sacidevi). She gave birth to
three sons--Jayanta, Rsabha and Midhusa.
Lord Vamanadeva is actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He appeared to
have been "born" as one of the brothers of Indra. Although Vamanadeva is sometimes
taken as a less important demigod, He is actually the maintainer of Indra, the King of
the demigods. Thus, although sometimes Vamanadeva is considered to be a subordinate
demigod, His actual position is that of the supreme whole, the source of the entire
demigod system.
Queen Kuntidevi, who could call for any one of the demigods, called for Indra and Arjuna
was born by him. Arjuna is therefore a plenary part of the heavenly King Indra. Indra
wanted Arjuna to come to the heavenly kingdom, the Indraloka planet beyond the moon
planet. In that planet he was cordially received by the local residents, and he was
awarded reception in the heavenly parliament of Indradeva. Then he met Indradeva,
who not only presented him with his vajra weapon, but also taught him the military and
musical science as used in the heavenly planet.

The first Manu of the Kalpa was Svayambhuva. During the period of Svayambhuva Manu
there was no suitable living being who could occupy the post of Indra, the King of the
Indraloka (heaven) planet. The Lord Himself at that time became Indra. Assisted by His
own sons like Yama and other demigods, Lord Yajna ruled the administration of the
universal affairs.
In the age of Svarocisa, the second Manu, Rocana became Indra.
In the age of Uttama, the third Manu, Satyajit became Indra.
In the age of Tamasa, the fourth Manu, Trisikha became Indra.
In the age of Raivata, the fifth Manu, Vibhu became Indra.
In the age of Caksusa, the sixth Manu, Mantradruma became Indra.

In the age of Sraddhadeva, the seventh Manu, Purandara became

Indra.
In the age of Savarni, the eighth Manu, Bali became Indra.
In the age of Daksa-savarni, the ninth Manu, Adbhuta became
Indra.
In the age of Brahma-savarni, the tenth Manu, Sambhu became
Indra.
In the age of Dharma-savarni, the eleventh Manu, Vaidhrta became
Indra.
In the age of Rudra-savarni, the twelfth Manu, Rtadhama became
Indra.
In the age of Deva-savarni, the thirteenth Manu, Divaspati became
Indra.
In the age of Indra-savarni, the fourteenth Manu, Suci became
Indra.
The total duration of the periods ruled by these Manus is calculated to be one thousand
catur-yugas, or 4,300,000 times 1,000 years.

Once Indra, the King of heaven, was cursed by his spiritual master, Brhaspati, on
account of his misbehavior, and he became a hog on this planet. After many days, when
Brahma wanted to recall him to his heavenly kingdom, Indra, in the form of a hog, forgot
everything of his royal position in the heavenly kingdom, and he refused to go back. This
is the spell of maya. Even Indra forgets his heavenly standard of life and is satisfied with
the standard of a hog's life.

Arjuna once satisfied the fire-god by setting fire to the Khandava Forest, and thus the
fire-god gave him one weapon. Indra was angry when the fire was set in the Khandava
Forest, and thus Indra, assisted by all other demigods, began fighting with Arjuna for his
great challenge. They were defeated by Arjuna, and Indradeva returned to his heavenly
kingdom. Arjuna also promised all protection to one Mayasura, and the latter presented
him one valuable conchshell celebrated as the Devadatta. Similarly, he received many
other valuable weapons from Indradeva when he was satisfied to see his chivalry.

When Ravana was engaged in the battle, the trunk of the elephant which carried the
King of heaven, Indra, broke in pieces, having collided with the chest of Ravana, and the
scattered broken parts illuminated all directions. Ravana therefore felt proud of his
prowess and began to loiter in the midst of the fighting soldiers, thinking himself the
conqueror of all directions. But his laughter, overtaken by joy, along with his very air of
life, suddenly ceased with the tingling sound of the bow of Ramacandra, the Personality
of Godhead.

The cowherd men of Vrndavana, under instruction of Krsna, stopped offering sacrifice to
the heavenly King, Indra. Indra, not knowing Lord Krsna in Vrajabhumi, was angry at the
inhabitants of Vrajabhumi and tried to avenge the offense, thus the whole tract of land
known as Vraja was threatened with being washed away by constant heavy rains for
seven days. Lord Krsna, out of His causeless mercy upon the inhabitants of Vraja, held
up the hill known as Govardhana with one hand only, although He was only seven years
old. He did this to protect the animals from the onslaught of water.

King Indra of the heavenly planets is in charge of distributing water over the earth and
other planetary systems. It is indicated that King Prthu would arrange for the distribution
of rainfall personally if Indra failed to discharge his duty properly. Sometimes the King of
heaven, Indra, would become angry at the inhabitants of the earth if they did not offer
sacrifices to appease him. King Prthu, however, being an incarnation of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, did not depend on the mercy of the heavenly King. It is foretold
herein that if there would be a scarcity of rain, King Prthu would manage to counteract
the deficiency by virtue of his godly powers. Such powers were also exhibited by Lord
Krsna when He was present in Vrndavana. Indeed, when Indra poured incessant water
on Vrndavana for seven days, the inhabitants were protected by Krsna, who raised
Govardhana Hill over their heads as a great umbrella. Thus Lord Krsna is also known as
Govardhana-dhari.
King Indra of the heavenly planets is in charge of throwing thunderbolts and giving
rainfall. Generally thunderbolts are thrown on the tops of hills in order to break them to
pieces. As these pieces are spread asunder in due course of time, the surface of the
globe gradually becomes fit for agriculture. Level land is especially conducive to the
production of grain. Thus the planet earth requested Maharaja Prthu to level the surface
of the earth, breaking up the high land and mountains.

Once upon a time, Garuda, the carrier of the Lord, snatched away a nectar pot from the
hands of the demigods in heaven in order to liberate his mother, Vinata, from the
clutches of his stepmother, Kadru, the mother of the serpents. On learning of this, Indra,
the King of heaven, hurled his thunderbolt against Garuda. With a view to respect the
infallibility of Indra's weapon, Garuda, though otherwise invincible, being the Lord's own
mount, dropped one of his wings, which was shattered to pieces by the thunderbolt. The
inhabitants of higher planets are so sensible that even in the process of fighting they
observe the preliminary rules and regulations of gentleness. In this case, Garuda wanted
to show respect for Indra; since he knew that Indra's weapon must destroy something,
he offered his wing.

All the demigods made Indra, the King of heaven, into a calf, and from the earth they
milked the beverage soma, which is nectar. Thus they became very powerful in mental
speculation and bodily and sensual strength.

Whenever a great sage undergoes severe austerities for material power, the King of
heaven, Indra, becomes very envious. All the demigods have responsible posts for the

management of universal affairs and are very highly qualified with pious activities.
Although they are ordinary living entities, they are able to attain responsible posts, like
Lord Brahma, Indra, Candra and Varuna. As is the nature of this material world, the King
of heaven, Indra, is very anxious if a great sage undergoes severe austerities. The whole
material world is filled with such envy that everyone becomes afraid of his neighbors.
Every businessman is afraid of his associates because this material world is the field of
activities for all kinds of envious people who have come here to compete with the
opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus Indra was very much afraid of
the severe austerities performed by the great sage Kandu, and he sent Pramloca to
break his vows and austerities. A similar incident took place in the case of Visvamitra.
From other incidents in the sastras, it appears that Indra has always been envious. When
King Prthu was celebrating various sacrifices, outdoing Indra, Indra became very
envious, and he disturbed King Prthu's sacrifice. This has already been discussed in
previous chapters. King Indra became successful in breaking the vow of the great sage
Kandu, who became attracted by the beauty of the heavenly society girl Pramloca and
begot a female child. This child is described herein as lotus-eyed and very beautiful.
Being thus successful in her mission, Pramloca returned to the heavenly planets, leaving
the newborn child to the care of the trees. Fortunately, the trees accepted the child and
agreed to raise her.

Bali Maharaja was so powerful that he fought with Indra and took possession of the three
worlds. Indra was certainly very advanced in knowledge, but instead of asking
Vamanadeva for engagement in His service, he used the Lord to beg for material
possessions that would lie finished at the end of one age of Manu. An age of Manu, which
is the duration of Manu's life, is calculated to last seventy-two yugas. One yuga consists
of 4,300,000 years, and therefore the duration of Manu's life is 309,600,000 years. The
demigods possess their material opulence only until the end of the life of Manu. Time is
insurmountable. The time one is allotted, even if it be millions of years, is quickly gone.
The demigods own their material possessions only within the limits of time. Therefore
Bali Maharaja lamented that although Indra was very learned, he did not know how to
use his intelligence properly, for instead of asking Vamanadeva to allow him to engage in
His service, Indra used Him to beg Bali Maharaja for material wealth. Although Indra was
learned and his prime minister, Brhaspati, was also learned, neither of them begged to
be able to render loving service to Lord Vamanadeva. Therefore Bali Maharaja lamented
for Indra.

Once upon a time, Indra, the King of the demigods, was sitting with his wife Sacidevi
and being praised by various demigods like the Siddhas, Caranas and Gandharvas when
Brhaspati, the spiritual master of the demigods, entered the assembly. Indra, being too
absorbed in material opulence, forgot himself and did not respect Brhaspati, who thus
became aware of Indra's pride in his material opulence and immediately disappeared
from the assembly to teach him a lesson. Indra became most repentant, understanding
that because of his opulence he had forgotten to respect his spiritual master. He left the
palace to beg pardon from his spiritual master, but could not find Brhaspati anywhere.
Because of his disrespectful behavior toward his spiritual master. Indra lost all his
opulence and was conquered by the demons, who defeated the demigods in a great fight
and occupied Indra's throne. King Indra, along with the other demigods, later took
shelter of Lord Brahma. Understanding the situation, Lord Brahma chastised the
demigods for their offense to their spiritual master. Following Lord Brahma's orders, the
demigods accepted Visvarupa, who was a brahmana and the son of Tvasta, as their

priest. Then they performed yajnas under the priesthood of Visvarupa and were able to
conquer the demons.

Always thinking of how he could be relieved from the sinful reaction for killing Vrtrasura,
a brahmana, King Indra, invisible to everyone, lived in the lake for one thousand years in
the subtle fibers of the stem of a lotus. The fire-god used to bring him his share of all
yajnas, but because the fire-god was afraid to enter the water, Indra was practically
starving. Indra's sins were diminished by the influence of Rudra, the demigod of all
directions. Because Indra was protected by the goddess of fortune, Lord Visnu's wife,
who resides in the lotus clusters of Manasa-sarovara Lake, Indra's sins could not affect
him. Indra was ultimately relieved of all the reactions of his sinful deeds by strictly
worshiping Lord Visnu. Then he was called back to the heavenly planets by the
brahmanas and reinstated in his position.

Puranjaya agreed to kill all the demons, on the condition that Indra would be his carrier.
Because of pride, Indra could not accept this proposal, but later, by the order of the
Supreme Lord, Visnu, Indra did accept it and became a great bull carrier for Puranjaya.

It is said that Indra, the King of heaven, is very lusty. Once he tactfully had sexual
intercourse with the wife of a great sage, and when the sage learned about this, he
cursed the lusty Indra with a curse that put vaginas all over his body. Being very
ashamed, Indra fell down at the lotus feet of the great sage and begged his pardon.
Being compassionate, the sage turned the vaginas into eyes; therefore Indra possesses
hundreds and thousands of eyes all over his body. Just as Lord Brahma and Lord Siva
have many faces, the King of heaven, Indra, has many eyes.
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Excerpted from various sources, including text and Purports of HDG A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.