Indra, the King of Vedic Deities

Indra is the most powerful God in the pantheon of the Rigveda. He has been king of Devas and rules heaven (third of upper seven Lokas), with his capital in Amaravati. Indra is God thunder and lightning. His favourite weapon is the thunderbolt – Vajra. Twashta designed this deadly weapon for Indra. He is associated with somrasa, a kind of herbal medicine. Dyou is Indra’s father. Agni and Pusha are his brothers and Indraani (Shachi Devi) is his wife. His most lauded activity was the destroying of the demon Vṛtra using his famed vajra — diamond thunderbolt. Indra finds also mention in Buddhist and Jain literatures.
The appearance, importance, significance and a few select Rigvedic hymns are discussed hereunder.
Indra in Rigveda:
Indra is the king of all Devas in Rigveda. Indra has been extolled in 1028 suktas (250 hymns and about 300 hymns refer to him in association with other Gods) of Rigveda. A few verses in praise of Indra are mentioned here:

1. न नूनमस्ति नौ शवः कस्तद वेद यदद्भुतम | अन्यस्यचित्तमभि संचरेण्यमुताधीतं वि नश्यति|| (Rigveda I.170.1)

English translation:
It is not certain what today or tomorrow will yield to us. Who knows that what is wonderful? The mind of another person is unsteady and it must be comprehended well. Failing in its deep study also goes waste. 
 
Commentary –
The governing idea of the hymn belongs to a stage of spiritual progress when the human soul wishes by the sheer force of Thought to hasten forward beyond in order to reach prematurely the source of all things without full development of the being in all its progressive stages of conscious activity. The effort is opposed by the Gods who preside over the universe of man and of the world and a violent struggle takes place in the human consciousness between the individual soul in its egoistic eagerness and the universal Powers which seek to fulfil the divine purpose of the Cosmos.
 

1. तवं पाहीन्द्र सहीयसो नॄन भवा मरुद्भिरवयातहेळाः | सुप्रकेतेभिः सासहिर्दधानो विद्यामेषं व. ज. || (Rig Veda I.171.6)

 
English translation:
O Indra, you protect highly learned persons, who are preservers like the prana. Such persons have the power of endurance. You ward off anger and insult, and face all pains and challenges of opponents in the discharge of duties, and uphold truth. Support us, so that we may acquire true knowledge of soul and strength and comprehend the nature of the soul. 
 

1. इन्द्रं॑ मि॒त्रं वरु॑णम॒ग्निमा॑हु॒रथो॑ दि॒व्यः स सु॑प॒र्णो ग॒रुत्मा॑न् । एकं॒ सद्विप्रा॑ बहु॒धा व॑दन्त्य॒ग्निं य॒मं मा॑त॒रिश्वा॑नमाहुः ॥ (Rig Veda 1.164.46)

English translation:
“They have styled (him, the Sun), Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni, and he is the celestial, well-winged Garud (bird), for learned priests call one by many names as they speak of Agni, Yama, Wind.”

1. त्रा॒तार॒मिन्द्र॑मवि॒तार॒मिन्द्रं॒ हवे॑हवे सु॒हवं॒ शूर॒मिन्द्र॑म् । ह्वया॑मि श॒क्रं पु॑रुहू॒तमिन्द्रं॑ स्व॒स्ति नो॑ म॒घवा॑ धा॒त्विन्द्र॑: ॥ (Rig Veda 6.47.11)

English translation:
“I invoke, at repeated sacrifice, Indra, the preserver, the protector, the hero, who is easily propitiated, Indra, the powerful, the invoked of many; may Indra, the lord of affluence, bestow upon us prosperity.”

1. इन्द्रं॒ परेऽव॑रे मध्य॒मास॒ इन्द्रं॒ यान्तोऽव॑सितास॒ इन्द्र॑म् । इन्द्रं॑ क्षि॒यन्त॑ उ॒त युध्य॑माना॒ इन्द्रं॒ नरो॑ वाज॒यन्तो॑ हवन्ते ॥ (Rig Veda 4.25.8)

English translation:
“The most exalted, the humblest, (invoke) Indra; the middle (classes) invoke Indra; those going, those stopping, (invoke) Indra; those dwelling at home, those going in battle, (invoke) Indra; men needing food invoke Indra.”

1. यः स॑त्रा॒हा विच॑र्षणि॒रिन्द्रं॒ तं हू॑महे व॒यम् । सह॑स्रमुष्क॒ तुवि॑नृम्ण॒ सत्प॑ते॒ भवा॑ स॒मत्सु॑ नौ वृ॒धे ॥ (Rig Veda 6.46.3)

English translation:
“We invoke that Indra who is the destroyer of mighty foes, the supervisor (of all things); do you, the many organed, the protector of the good, the distributor of wealth, be unto us (the insurer of) success in combats.”
Appearance of Indra:
According to the Viṣṇudharmottarapuraṇa, an ancient Sanskrit text the image of Indra (also called Sakra) should be golden in complexion and should wear blue garments. The statue of Indra is placed on an elephant, Airavata (one of the fourteen gems found in Samundra Manthan) which have four tusks. The eyes of the image of Indra are made to show the eyes placed crookedly towards the forehead. Along with the image of Indra, the statue of his wife Shachi is also placed. The idol of Indra should have four hands holding a lotus and an elephant goad in right hands and the vajra (made of sage Dadhichi’s bones) in the left hand. Another hand of left side should be placed behind the idol of his wife.
Importance of Indra:

1. According to Rigveda Indra is endowed with three special characteristics –
   1. The accomplisher of great feats,
   2. Master of unparalleled might and
   3. The vanquisher of the Assura.
2. He reigns over the deities of the intermediate region or atmosphere; he fights against and conquers with his thunder-bolt [vajra] the demons of darkness, and is in general a symbol of generous heroism. He remained the chief of all other deities in the popular mind), [Rigveda; Atharva-Veda; Satapatha-brahmaṇa; Manu-Smrti; Mahabharata; Ramayana] etc. etc.
3. He is also guardian of the east quarter, and considered one of the twelve Aditya), [Manu-Smrti; Ramayana; Susruta] etc.
4. He is the lord over the new and full moon periods of the third six months, according to the Bṛhatsaṃhita (chapter 5), an encyclopaedic Sanskrit work written by Varahamihira mainly focusing on the science of ancient Indian astronomy (Jyotiṣa).
5. Indra represents the all-pervading electric energy; he is the ruler of the storm but also the cause of fertility. His symbol is Vajra (thunderbolt) — which represents diamond like wisdom which destroys ignorance in the form of the demon-who-conceals. (Source: Shodhganga: The saurapurana)
6. Almost all the yajnas include giving havis (ahutis) dedicated to Indra.

​Why Indra not so popular today:
There are many explanations given by scholars:
 

1. As mentioned, a Rigvedic hymn (1.164.46) above, Indra, Varuna, Agni all are names of One God. There is only One truth, people call him by different names. Hindus worship only one God which is called by hundreds of different names. In ancient times he was called Indra and Agni. Now called Vishnu or Shiva, but he in only one God.
2. Sri Aurobindo says that Indra represents the divine mind in each of us. Since the sense organs or indriyas are controlled by the mind, the desired goal is control of the senses, while succumbing to the wants of our indriyas is the undesirable side.
3. Indra, who occupied a prime place in the Vedic times, seems to have become a minor deity in the puranic times. Perhaps there was a shift in social thinking. Since Indra was associated with sacrifices and sacrifices became less important in the puranic times, perhaps that in a way was linked to the scenario of Indra becoming a minor deity over time.
4. Hinduism of today is a product of evolution for thousands of years. It has undergone many changes. Many deities were given up, new ones have come to be added. Vedic Samhitas do not contain a deity called Shiva. The hymn rudram, which is a very special prayer for Siva today is a praise for Rudra, who has more differences from Shiva than similarities. Narayana gets first mention only in the Brahmanas and not in the earlier Samhitas.
5. As per one of the stories in Bhagavatam, Lord Krishna conquer Indra’s ahamkara and stopped Indra puja and instead, he started "Govarthana giri pooja".
6. As per one of the stories, it was due curse of Gautama Rishi.

Significance:
All of us have certain negative traits such as anger, lust, jealousy, addiction, dishonesty etc. Like Indra, we should use our potential to destroy these negative traits and liberate ourselves.