Indra
Indian mythology · deity · storms, rain, war, kingship of the devas
King of the gods in the Vedic age, wielder of the thunderbolt vajra and slayer of the dragon Vritra. In later Puranic literature his stature shrinks: he remains king of heaven but is repeatedly humbled by Vishnu, Shiva, and even mortals.
Stories
Ahalya's Release
Indra comes to Ahalya wearing her husband's form, and Gautama's curse falls on them both: shame without end for the god, stone stillness for the woman. Ages later Vishvamitra leads young Rama to the silent hermitage, and at the touch of his foot Ahalya rises, released and restored.
Indra and the Dragon
Vritra coils around the mountains and holds every river of the world inside him. Indra, strengthened by soma, splits the dragon open with the thunderbolt, and the waters rush out like bellowing cattle; the Rig Veda counts creation itself from this blow.
The Lifting of Govardhana
Krishna persuades the cowherds to honor their mountain and cattle instead of Indra, and the insulted storm god answers with a deluge. Krishna lifts Govardhana hill on his little finger and holds it as an umbrella over Nanda's people for seven days, until Indra descends and bows.
Garuda and the Nectar
To free his mother from slavery, Garuda storms heaven itself for the pot of amrita, scattering the gods and dousing the fire that guards it. Vishnu, impressed that the bird takes the nectar without drinking a drop, asks only his friendship; Indra's thunderbolt costs him a single feather, shed out of courtesy.