________________
MINOR DEITIES
1. INDRA (Pls. 92-93)
DIK-PĀLAS OR LOKA-PĀLAS
(THE GUARDIANS OF THE QUARTERS) INDRA. Agni, Yama, Nirruti, Varuna, Väyu. Kubera and isäna are the eight guardians of the Quarters.
The Sun rises in the east. It is the source of all Energy. All the gods, therefore, live in the east. So Indra, the King of the Gods, became the guardian of the Eastern Quarter.
The Aryans had a great contempt for the nonAryans. They lived in South India. The south was therefore considered inauspicious because it was inhabited by people who did not follow Aryan worship. Death is most inauspicious: therefore Yama, the God of Death, became the guardian of the Southern Quarter.
On the west, India is girdled by the (Arabian) sea. Varuna is the water-deity and so the guardian of the Western Quarter.
The Yakshās are supposed to live in the north. So the chief of the Yakshās, Kubera, became the guardian of the Northern Quarter.
lśāna is another name of Siva. His vehicle is the Bull Nandi.
West
Indra was one of the most prominent deities of Vedic times. He is the 'rainer' or 'irrigator,' the word 'Indra' being derived from the word 'Indu' meaning drops of rain. He corresponds to the Roman Jupiter Pluvius. Indra is king of the starry heavens, the god of thunder and of the natural elements, with inferior genii at his command; he governs the Eastern Quarter of the world, and also presides over the celestial bands stationed on the golden Mount Meru where he solaces the gods with nectar and heavenly music. "He resides in the celestial city... There are to be found Apsaras, the celestial dancing girls ... His consort is Indrāni, and he rides the elephant Airāvata ...'
Indra's popularity as a rain-god can be appreciated only in the tropics, where the great heat of the sun dries up all vegetation, river systems, lakes, wells, and does not leave anything even for the starving cattle. For want of water all suffer-man, animal and Nature-and all call out for rain, the life-giving water. At such time, the people address hymns to the rain-god Indra to avert the calamity of famine and starvation and to break the power of the demon Vittra, who holds the waters in his coils. They offer him his favourite drink--the soma juice. Then a flash of lightning is seen as Indra begins to hurl his bolts against the demon Vittra. Vittra howls as he flees. Then the waters come pouring down on the parched dry land and all rejoice-man, beast, and vegetation.
Nirruti
Varuna
Väyu
South
Yama
Kubera
North
Agni
|
Indra
Isana
East
