Indra

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The Buddha (middle) is flanked by Brahma (left) and Indra, possibly the oldest surviving Buddhist artwork.

Indra (/ˈɪndrə/, Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is a ancient Vedic deity, a deity in Hinduism, a guardian deity in Buddhism, and the king of the highest heaven called Saudharmakalpa in Jainism.

Quotes[edit]

He slew the dragon lying at the foot of the mountain. The creator fashioned for him his flashing thunderbolt. As milch cows bellowing as they flowed, directly the waters entered the ocean.

  • Indra was the god of the thunderstorm that puts an end to the oppressive summer heat and opens the rainy season.... However, the Buddha arrived just in time for Indra to play a role in his career. it was Indra himself who persuaded the freshly awakened Shakyamuni to start preaching his newfound path. Buddhist monks then spread the cult of Indra to foreign lands as far as Japan. Indra’s weapon, the lightning or vajra, became the emblem of instant Enlightenment. The sought-after “Self-nature” (Chinese zixing) is present all the time, deep in all of us; but when we embark on the path of meditation and finally awaken to it, it strikes like lightning.
    • Elst, Koenraad. Hindu dharma and the culture wars. (2019). New Delhi : Rupa.
  • “the legend of Indra’s slaying VRtra… in the Vedas is merely an allegorical narrative of the production of rain. VRtra, sometimes also named Ahi, is nothing more than the accumulation of vapour condensed or figuratively shut up in, or obstructed by, a cloud. Indra, with his thunderbolt, or atmospheric or electrical influence, divides the aggregate mass, and vent is given to the rain which then descends upon the earth.”
    • Wilson, quoted by Griffith, R. Hymns of the Rigveda (complete translation) by Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1889. (Edition used in this volume published by Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1987). Quoted in Talageri, S. (2000). The Rigveda: A historical analysis. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan.
  • Indra stands accused (of destroying the Harappan civilization).
    • Attributed to Sir Mortimer Wheeler. E.g., "All the same, a whole superstructure of invasionist readings of Indian symbols and mythology has been erected on the invasionist suspicion that, in Sir Mortimer Wheeler’s famous words, “Indra stands accused” of destroying the Harappan civilization." in Elst, Koenraad (1999). Update on the Aryan invasion debate New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan.

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

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