It seems incontestable that in Vedic mythology Tvashtri is regarded as the father of Indra.[1] Thus (ii. 17, 6) Indra's thunderbolts are said to have been fashioned by his father. Other proofs are found in the account of the combat between father and son. Thus (iii. 48, 4) we read, "Powerful, victorious, he gives his body what shape he pleases. Thus Indra, having vanquished Tvashtri even at his birth, stole and drank the soma."[2] These anecdotes do not quite correspond with the version of Indra's guilt given in the Brahmanas. There it is stated[3] that Tvashtri had a three-headed son akin to the Asuras, named Vairupa. This Vairupa was suspected of betraying to the Asuras the secret of soma. Indra therefore cut off his three heads. Now Vairupa was a Brahman, and Indra was only purified of his awful guilt, Brahmanicide, when earth, trees, and women accepted each their share of the iniquity. Tvashtri, the father of Vairupa, still excluded Indra from a share of the soma, which, however, Indra seized by force. Tvashtri threw what remained of Indra's share into the fire with imprecations, and from the fire sprang Vritra, the enemy of
- ↑ On the parentage of Indra, Bergaigne writes, iii. 58.
- ↑ iii. 61. Bergaigne identifies Tvashtri and Vritra. Cf. Aitareya Brahmana, ii. 483, note 5.
- ↑ Aitareya Brahmana, ii. 483, note 5.
that is, apparently, rainy sky, the reverse of blue. It means originally "the giver of rain," and Benfey is quoted ut supra. In Chips, ii. 91, Indra becomes "the chief solar deity of India." Muir (Texts, v. 77) identifies the character of Indra with that of Jupiter Pluvius, the rainy Jove of Rome. Grassmann (Dictionary, s.v.) calls Indra "the god of the bright firmament." Mr. Perry takes a distinction, and regards Indra as a god, not of sky, but of air, a midgarth between earth and sky, who inherited the skyey functions of Dyu. In the Veda Mr. Perry finds him "the personification of the thunderstorm."
