Indra —Regent of the East

Indra —Regent of the East 

Indra is the king of the gods and was one of the major deities of the Rig Veda. A quarter of the hymns of the Rig Veda are dedicated to him and he is the national god of the Vedic people.

His most lauded activity was the destroying of the demon Vṛtra who had imprisoned the cows in the mountainous cave. Using his famed vajra — diamond thunderbolt.

Vṛtra means the obscurer or the “one who conceals.” The cows represent the streams of light or consciousness.

Indra represents the all-pervading electric energy (vidyut śakti), he is the ruler of the storm but also the cause of fertility.

The devas represent various aspects of our psychology and Indra is the king of all the senses and as such represents the mind. Indra assumes manifold forms and shape-shifts as he will. He has all the exuberance of youth and is addicted to pleasure and intoxicants. He has numerous love-affairs and sends Apsarās to disturb the meditation of sages.

Indra lives in the city of Amarāvati (immortality) with his wife is Śacī — (Divine Grace) and by her has 3 sons: Jayanta (victory) Ṛṣabha (excellence) and Mīḍhuṣa (liberality). Indra has two vehicles – an elephant with four tusks names Airāvata (born-of-the-ocean) and a horse named Uchchaiśravās (loud-neighing).

Symbols

Vajra (thunderbolt) — represents diamond like wisdom which destroys ignorance in the form of the demon-who-conceals.

Other attributes of Indra are - Ankuśa (elephant goad), Pāśa (noose), Dhanuṣ (bow), Khaḍga (sword)