The Story Of How Indra Got Rid Of His Sin

 

In an earlier posting I recounted episode 24 from the Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam; i.e. — 'Why Lord Nataraja changed his dancing posture'. Below is episode 1 of the Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam; i.e. — ' The story of how Indra got rid of his sin'. The moral of this episode is to always respect the Guru and Holy Ones.

 

 

The Story of How Indra Got Rid of His Sin 

Lord Indra the head of the Devas was in his Royal court at Indra Loka where many Devas and Sages had assembled. Indra the king of celestials was so absorbed watching the dancers in his paradise that when his guru Brahaspati arrived, he neglected to greet him and give him the proper attention. Brahaspati departed in a rage and Indra was condemned to lose both the support of his guru and his own prosperity because of such improper behaviour.

 

Realizing that this was a result of disrespect shown to the guru, Indra approached Brahma the Creator for guidance. Brahma advised Indra to go to Vichuvauruvan to perform a yagam in order to restore the glory of the Loka. Indra readily agreed and made all arrangements. During the course of the Yagam, Vichuvauruvan covertly sought the welfare of his own while pretending  to pray for the success of Indra Loka. Understanding what was occurring, in a fit of rage, Indra killed Vichuvauruvan. From that  moment, Indra was guilty of the sin of killing a Brahmin. Meanwhile Dhuvatta received the news about the death of his son at the hands of Indra and vowed revenge. He conducted a yagam to create a gigantic demon to kill Indra.

 

Indra could not withstand the onslaught of the demon. He ran to Brahma for assistance and was told to visit Sage Dadhichi, who was guardian of the weapons of the Devas and Asuras from the time of the churning of the ocean of milk. It was at that time that fearing the possibility of the weapons falling into the wrong hands, Sage Dadhichi swallowed them and the weapons had merged with his spinal column.

 

Lord Indra visiting Sage Dadhichi at his Ashram

On hearing Indra's request, Sage Dadhichi agreed to sacrifice his life for the sake of the Devas and through yogic power separated his soul from his body leaving the indestructible 'Vajrayutham' weapon – which had been made from his spine. Indra then challenged the gigantic demon and fought a bitter battle. On seeing the 'Vajrayutham' weapon, the demon dived into the ocean and plunged into its depths.

 

Vowing to help Indra, Sage Agasthiar shrunk the ocean into a droplet of water and drank it. This exposed the demon sitting on a hill doing penance. Without hesitation Indra killed the demon with his 'Vajrayutham'. 

 

Lord Indra killing demon with Vajrayutham

Though he vanquished his enemy, Indra was again guilty of the crime of killing a Brahmin. The repercussions of the crime haunted him and as relief from guilt and remorse, Indra hid himself in the stem of a lotus flower in a pond.

 

Indra's sudden disappearance caused chaos among the Devas and it stopped raining, the wind no longer blew and the lands became infertile. As a functionary of Indra, the Devas thought of placing someone in his seat to carry on with the celestial order until the time Indra would be located. In this regard the Devas decided to place the sage Nahush on the throne. Although Nahush was formerly a saintly person – as soon as he ascended to the office of Indra, his outlook towards life transformed and he started partaking in pleasure. He even demanded that Indra's wife Indrani should be called to please him. Indrani turned for help to Brihaspati the guru of all Devas. Brihaspati advised her to gain time by telling Nahush that she was willing to serve him but only after knowing whether her husband was alive or not. Brihaspati also advised Indrani to pray to Vishnu. Lord Vishnu, on being pleased, suggested to Indrani to worship the Goddess and perform an Ashwamedha Yaga to seek forgiveness from the Goddess for her husband's sin of killing a Brahmin.

 

Indrani started praying to the goddess with devotion. The goddess was happy and appeared before her as Indrani requested for reunion with her husband, the restoration of his powers and her salvation from Nahush — the goddess granted the boons. As a strategy to tackle the unacceptable demands of Nahush, Indrani went to him and told him that she was ready to please him provided he was able to locate Indra and also if he came to her in a unique palaquin carried by great sages. By this time the Maya of the Goddess over-powered Nahush. 

 

 

Nahush falling from palaquin

The palanquin carried by the sages left for Brihaspati's Ashram. The thought of possessing Indrani excited Nahush so much that he began to urge the sages to move faster by repeatedly saying 'Sarp' 'Sarp' — move faster but it also means 'snake'. Finally, when the anger of the saints could no longer be contained, they cursed Nahush to become a snake for a thousand years till he would meet Yudhishthira, the Pandava, who would release him of the curse. Brihaspati and the other Devas then went to the Lake and requested Indra to come out of hiding and retake his position as the king of Devloka.

 

Indra fell at the feet of his guru and apologised for his mistake. The guru forgave him and instructed Indra to worship Lord Siva at various shrines to get rid of his sin. Indra started on pilgrimage. After worshipping at various places, he reached Kadambavanam. As soon as he entered the forest, his sins left him. Kadambavanam was a lovely place and thrilled by its beauty, Indra asked his men to explore the area. They reported that they had sighted a naturally grown Siva Lingam under a Kadamba tree adjoining a beautiful pond. Indra rushed there and was overwhelmed. He prostrated in front of the lingam and after making arrangements, performed a grand pooja as per the scriptures to the lingam.

 

Pleased with his worship, Lord Siva appeared and asked Indra what he desired. Indra requested that he be granted the boon of worshipping the Lord at Kadambavanam forever. The Lord declared, "Worshipping me here on the full moon day of Chitrai month every year (Chitra Pournami day) is equivalent to worshipping me throughout the year. So come on that day every year to worship and now return to your Indra Lokam."

 

Indra again worshipped at the golden Lotus pond and then returned to his celestial Loka.