Hindus: Who is Indra in its true form ?

Is he just an unjust cruel, fighting head of Gods, as shown my Maxmullers %26amp; Co.





Or he has some deeper esoteric personalityHindus: Who is Indra in its true form ?
Indra is also a manifestation of ParaBrahman. He is also the king of the plane of another dimension called ';Swarga'; similar to heaven or Jannat.


In the Veda the name Indra was also used as the name of ParaBrahman called Parmeshwara the supreme God.


Idi Parmeshvarye Dhatu + ran prifix = Indra. So first meaning of Indra is Parmeshwara or God.


He is also a Dikpaala or Lokapala the protector of the directions called ';the east';.





From BrihatSamhita:-


Two arms, Vehicle is ';Eravata the elephant';, weapon is Vajra





From Vishnodharmottara Purana:-


Four arms, Vehicle is ';Eravata the elephant';, weapons and other arm positions are Lotus, Vajra, Ankusha and embracing Shachi(his wife) with his forth arm.





From BrihatSamhita and RoopMandana:-


Four arms, Vehicle is ';Eravata the elephant';, weapons and other arm positions are VardaMudra(giving blessings), Vajra, Ankusha and the vessel of water.





He is really the Vigorous manifestation of ParaBrahman.


Indra is also called YagyaPurush( the main reason of Yagya) of Yagya.


Coz he is the supreme God in the Sakar realm of ParaBrahman.





What is Vajra?


Vajra also called Srika, Hayshir and Trisandhi because it has three knots and thousands blades. It was prepared by Twashta to kill Vrittasura a Brahmin demon or BrahmRakshsas. It was made of the bones of Dadhichi that had later turned as hard as diomond and as solid as iron. That is why diamond is also called ';Vajra';.








Edit:-


Zuko, B'ful answer ! :)Hindus: Who is Indra in its true form ?
Indra - Characteristics


In art, Indra is depicted as a muscular, red man, sometimes with four very long arms.





Indra's weapon, which he used to kill Vritra, with the help of other gods), is the thunderbolt (Vajra), though he also uses a bow, a net and a hook. He rides a large, four-tusked albino elephant called Airavata. When portrayed having four arms, he has lances in two of his hands which resemble elephant goads. When he is shown to have two, he holds the Vajra and a bow (Masson-Oursel and Morin, 326).





Indra lives in Svarga in the clouds around Mt. Meru. Deceased warriors go to his hall after death, where they live without sadness, pain or fear. They watch the Apsaras and the Gandharvas dance, and play games. The gods of the elements, celestial sages, great kings and warriors enrich his court.








Indra - Relations with other gods


He is married to Indrani (whose father, Puloman, Indra killed), and is the father of Arjuna (by Kunti), Jayanta, Midhusa, Nilambara, Rbhus, Rsabha. Indra is also the father of Vali and Surya. He is attended to by the Maruts (and the Vasus), children of Diti and Rudra. Indra had murdered Diti's previous children, so she hoped her son would be more powerful than him and kept herself pregnant for a century, practicing magic to aid her fetal son. When Indra discovered this, he threw a thunderbolt at her and shattered the fetus into 7 or 49 parts; each part regenerated into a complete individual, and the parts grew into the Maruts, a group of storm gods, who are less powerful than Indra.





According to one belief, Indra pulled his father, Dyaus Pita, from the sky by the foot; he fell to his death; afterwards, Indra married his mother Prthivi, who supported the murder.





Zeus of Greece is very similar to Indra.








Indra - Stories about Indra





Indra is not a perfect being, and is ascribed with more human characteristics and vices than any other Vedic deity. Perhaps consequently, he also has the most hymns dedicated to him: 250 (Masson-Oursel and Morin, 326). A well-known story about Indra tells of a sin that he committed and how he was punished for it.





Indra had an affair with Ahalya, wife of Gautama Rishi. He was punished by Gautama with a curse that ten thousand phalluses would protrude of his body in a grotesque and vulgar display, and that his reign as king of gods would meet with disaster and catastrophe. Gautama later commuted the curse, upon the pleading of the gods of Heaven, to ten thousand eyes, instead of phalluses.





Due to this sin Indra's throne remains insecure forever. He is repeatedly humiliated by demonic kings like Ravana of Lanka, whose son Indrajit (whose name means victor over Indra) bound Indra in serpent nooses and dragged him across Lanka in a humiliating display. Ravana released Indra when Brahma convinced him to do so, but Indra, as the defeated, had to pay tribute and accept Ravana's supremacy. Indra realized the consequences of his sin, and was later avenged by the Avatara of Vishnu, Rama, who slew Ravana to deliver the three worlds from evil, as described in the epic Ramayana.








Vritra, an asura, stole all the water in the world and Indra drank much Soma to prepare himself for the battle with the huge serpent. He passed through Vritra's ninety-nine fortresses, slew the monster and brought water back to Earth.





In a later version of the story, Vritra was created by Tvashtri to get revenge for Indra's murder of his son, Trisiras, a pious Brahmin whose increase of power worried Indra. Vritra won the battle and swallowed Indra, but the other gods forced him to vomit Indra out. The battle continued and Indra fled. Vishnu and the rishis brokered a truce, and Indra swore he would not attack Vritra with anything made of metal, wood or stone, nor anything that was dry or wet, or during the day or the night. Indra used the foam from the waves of the ocean to kill him at twilight.





In yet another version, recounted in the Mahabharata, Vritra was a Brahmin who got hold of supernatural powers, went rogue and became a danger to the gods. Indra had to intervene, and slew him after a hard fight. A horrible goddess named Brāhmanahatya (personified sin of brahmin murder) came from the dead corpse of Vritra and pursued Indra, who hid inside a lotus flower. Indra went to Brahma and begged forgiveness for having killed a Brahmin.





';Vajrayudha'; which Indra possessed is believed to be prepared from backbone of a sage Dadhichi to kill Asuras.
Indra is God of lightning, king of Devas and head of Heaven


Personality wise he is golden in color and always drinking somras


Once Saint Gautam cursed him for having sex with his wife Ahalya so that his body is covered with 1000 vaginas and later the vaginas become 1000 eyes
Friend, i should say one thing, this Max mueller and other british scholars are cheaters! They were paid by British government, to show wrong info about, Hinduism!! Indra, is great, he was most worshipped by Vedic people, but many times, they gave wrong ideas about him! Indra and Rudra are similar, so you can't say he is cruel!





Shri Krishna says:





vedanam sama-vedo ’smi


devanam asmi vasavah


indriyanam manas casmi


bhutanam asmi cetana





Translation





Of the Vedas I am the Sama Veda; of the demigods I am Indra, the king of heaven; of the senses I am the mind; and in living beings I am the living force





Krishna himself, says that he is Indra. Then how can he be cruel?, There are some incidents, which shows that indra, used to rape wife's of Rishi's and sage's, but it was a play (leela)! When indra, wouldn't attack or do something wrong, then the creation would not go further,it would fall. Its all a play of, God-head!!





Edit:


Thanks Crimson! Nice answer guys!!
Maxmuller got it all wrong that he realized in his lost days almost on the death bed. Indra is the Lord of the heaven as he controls the heads of all the eight directions of the universe that enables people to reach heavenly abode.
In rig veda, it talk about Indra, But we worship Shiva and Krishna?





What is the connection here?





There is no Existence of Indra, It is all fabricated by man.





Trust you frist, then people - it is equally worship god
Oh, let us forget about old Maxmuller and Co.





You have all good answers, excellent! But I go with Mano, whose answer I really admire.


(No offense, Crimson and all you my dear friends!)