duced her. Manu lived with her, and praying and fasting to obtain offspring, he begat upon her the race of Manu. In the Puranas she is daughter of the Manu Vaivaswata, wife of Budha (Mercury), and mother of Purūravas. The Manu Vaivaswata, before he had sons, instituted a sacrifice to Mitra and Varuna for the purpose of obtaining one; but the officiating priest mismanaged the performance, and the result was the birth of a daughter, Idā or Ila. Through the favour of the two deities her sex was changed, and she became a man, Su-dyumna. Under the malediction of Siva, Su-dyumna was again turned into a woman, and, as Ilā, married Budha or Mercury. After she had given birth to Pururavas, she, under the favour of Vishnu, once more became Su-dyumna, and was the father of three sons. According to another version of the legend, the Manu's eldest son was named Ila. He having trespassed on a grove sacred to Parvati, was changed into a female, Ila. Upon the supplications and prayers of Ila's friends, Siva and his consort conceded that the offender should be a male one month and a female another. There are other variations in the story which is apparently ancient.

IDAVIDĀ. Daughter of Trinabindu and the Apsaras Alambusha. There are different statements in the Purānas as regards her. She is represented to be the wife of Visravas and mother of Kuvera, or the wife of Pulastya and mother of Visravas.

IKSHWĀKU. Son of the Manu Vaivaswat, who was son of Vivaswat, the sun. "He was born from the nostril of the Manu as he happened to sneeze." Ikshwaku was founder of the Solar race of kings, and reigned in Ayodhya at the beginning of the second Yuga or age. He had a hundred sons, of whom the eldest was Vikukshi. Another son, named Nimi, founded the Mithila dynasty. According to Max Müller the name is mentioned once, and only once, in the Rig-veda. Respecting this he adds: "I take it, not as the name of a king, but as the name of a people, probably the people who inhabited Bhājeratha, the country washed by the northern Gangā or Bhagirathi." Others place the Ikshwākus in the north-west.

INDRA. The god of the firmament, the personified atmo

sphere. In the Vedas he stands in the first rank among the gods, but he is not uncreate, and is represented as having a father and mother: "a vigorous god begot him; a heroic female brought him forth." He is described as being of a ruddy or golden colour, and as having arms of enormous length; "but his forms are endless, and he can assume any shape at will." He rides in a bright golden car, drawn by two tawny or ruddy horses with flowing manes and tails. His weapon is the thunderbolt, which he carries in his right hand; he also uses arrows, a great hook, and a net, in which he is said to entangle his foes. The soma juice is his especial delight; he takes enormous draughts of it, and, stimulated by its exhilarating qualities, he goes forth to war against his foes, and to perform his other duties. As deity of the atmosphere, he governs the weather and dispenses the rain; he sends forth his lightnings and thunder, and he is continually at war with Vritra or Ahi, the demon of drought and inclement weather, whom he overcomes with his thunderbolts, and compels to pour down the rain. Strabo describes the Indians as worshipping Jupiter Pluvius, no doubt meaning Indra, and he has also been compared to Jupiter Tonans. One myth is that of his discovering and rescuing the cows of the priests or of the gods, which had been stolen by an Asura named Pani or Vala, whom he killed, and he is hence called Vala-bhid. He is frequently represented as destroying the "stone-built cities" of the Asuras or atmospheric demons, and of the Dasyus or aborigines of India. In his warfare he is sometimes represented as escorted by troops of Maruts, and attended by his comrade Vishnu. More hymns are addressed to Indra than to any other deity in the Vedas, with the exception of Agni. For he was reverenced in his beneficent character as the bestower of rain and the cause of fertility, and he was feared as the awful ruler of the storm and director of the lightning and thunder. In many places of the Rig-veda the highest divine functions and attributes are ascribed to him. There was a triad of godsAgni, Vayu, and Surya-which held a pre-eminence above the rest, and Indra frequently took the place of Vayu. In some parts of the Veda, as Dr. Muir remarks, the ideas expressed of Indra are grand and lofty; at other times he is treated with familiarity, and his devotion to the soma juice is dilated upon, though nothing debasing is perceived in his sensuality. Indra

is mentioned as having a wife, and the name of Indrāni or Aindri is invoked among the goddesses. In the Satapatha

Brahmana she is called Indra's beloved wife.

away.

In the later mythology Indra has fallen into the second rank. He is inferior to the triad, but he is the chief of all the other gods. He is the regent of the atmosphere and of the east quarter of the compass, and he reigns over Swarga, the heaven of the gods and of beatified spirits, which is a region of great magnificence and splendour. He retains many of his Vedic characteristics, and some of them are intensified. He sends the lightning and hurls the thunderbolt, and the rainbow is his bow. He is frequently at war with the Asuras, of whom he lives in constant dread, and by whom he is often worsted. But he slew the demon Vritra, who, being regarded as a Brahman, Indra had to conceal himself and make sacrifice until his guilt was purged His continued love for the soma juice is shown by a legend in the Mahā-bhārata, which represents him as being compelled by the sage Chyavana to allow the Aswins to partake of the soma libations, and his sensuality has now developed into an extreme lasciviousness. Many instances are recorded of his incontinence and adultery, and his example is frequently referred to as an excuse in cases of gallantry, as by King Nahusha when he tried to obtain Indra's wife while the latter was hiding in fear for having killed the Brahman in the person of the demon Vritra. According to the Maha-bharata he seduced, or endeavoured to seduce, Ahalya, the wife of the sage Gautama, and that sage's curse impressed upon him a thousand marks resembling the female organ, so he was called Sa-yoni; but these marks were afterwards changed to eyes, and he is hence called Netra-yoni, and Sahasraksha the thousand-eyed.' In the Ramayana it is related that Ravana, the Rakshasa king of Lanka or Ceylon, warred against Indra in his own heaven, and that Indra was defeated and carried off to Lanka by Ravana's son Megha-nada, who for this exploit received the title of Indra-jit (q.v.), 'conqueror of Indra.' Brahma and the gods had to sue for the release of Indra, and to purchase it with the boon of immortality to the victor. Brahma then told the humiliated god that his defeat was a punishment for the seduction of Ahalya. The Taittirīya Brahmana states that he chose Indrāni to be his wife in preference to other goddesses because of her

voluptuous attractions, and later authorities say that he ravished her, and slew her father, the Daitya Puloman, to escape his curse. Mythologically he was father of Arjuna (q.v.), and for him he cheated Karna of his divine coat of mail, but gave Kārna in recompense a javelin of deadly effect. His libertine character is also shown by his frequently sending celestial nymphs to excite the passions of holy men, and to beguile them. from the potent penances which he dreaded.

In the Purānas many stories are told of him, and he appears especially in rivalry with Krishna. He incurred the wrath of the choleric sage Dur-vāsas by slighting a garland of flowers which that sage presented to him, and so brought upon himself the curse that his whole dominion should be whelmed in ruin. He was utterly defeated by the Daityas, or rather by their ally, Raja, son of Ayus, and grandson of Pururavas, and he was reduced to such a forlorn condition that he, "the god of a hundred sacrifices," was compelled to beg for a little sacrificial butter. Puffed up by their victory, his conquerors neglected their duties, and so they became the easy prey of Indra, who recovered his dominion. The Bhāgavata Purana represents him as having killed a Brahman, and of being haunted by that crime, personified as a Chāndālī.

Indra had been an object of worship among the pastoral people of Vraja, but Krishna persuaded them to cease this worship. Indra was greatly enraged at this, and sent a deluge of rain to overwhelm them; but Krishna lifted up the mountain Govardhana on his finger to shelter them, and so held it for seven days, till Indra was baffled and rendered homage to Krishna. Again, when Krishna went to visit Swarga, and was about to carry off the Pārijāta tree, Indra resented its removal, and a fierce fight ensued, in which Indra was worsted, and the tree was carried off. Among the deeds of Indra recorded in the Puranas is that of the destruction of the offspring of Diti in her womb, and the production therefrom of the Maruts (see Diti); and there is a story of his cutting off the wings of the mountains with his thunderbolts, because they were refractory and troublesome. Indra is represented as a fair man riding on a white horse or an elephant, and bearing the vajra or thunderbolt in his hand. His son is named Jayanta. Indra is not the object of direct worship, but he receives incidental adoration,

INDRA-DYUMNA—INDRĀNĪ.

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and there is a festival kept in his honour called Sakra-dhwajotthana, the raising of the standard of Indra.'

Indra's names are many, as Mahendra, Sakra, Maghavan, Ribhuksha, Vasava, Arha, Datteya. His epithets or titles also are numerous. He is Vritra-han, the destroyer of Vritra;' Vajra-pani, of the thunderbolt hand;' Megha-vahana, 'borne upon the clouds;' Pāka-sāsana, the subduer of Paka;' Sata-kratu, of a hundred sacrifices;' Deva-pati and Surădhipa, chief of the gods;' Divas-pati, ruler of the atmosphere;' Marutwan, 'lord of the winds;' Swarga-pati, 'lord of paradise;' Jishnu, 'leader of the celestial host;' Puran-dara, destroyer of cities;' Ulūka, 'the owl;' Ugradhanwan, of the terrible bow,' and many others. The heaven of Indra is Swarga; its capital is Amaravati; his palace, Vaijayanta; his garden, Nandana, Kandasāra, or Pārushya; his elephant is Airavata; his horse, Uchchaih-sravas; his chariot, Vimana; his charioteer, Matali; his bow, the rainbow, Sakradhanus; and his sword, Paran-ja.

INDRA-DYUMNA.

Bharata.

Son of Su-mati and grandson of There were several of the name, among them a king of Avanti, by whom the temple of Vishnu was built, and the image of Jagan-natha was set up in Orissa.

INDRA-JIT. Megha-nada, son of Rāvana. When Ravana went against Indra's forces in Swarga, his son Megha-nāda accompanied him, and fought most valiantly. Indra himself was obliged to interfere, when Megha-nada, availing himself of the magical power of becoming invisible, which he had obtained from Siva, bound Indra and carried him off to Lanka. The gods, headed by Brahma, went thither to obtain the release of Indra, and Brahmā gave to Megha-nāda the name Indra-jit, 'conqueror of Indra.' Still the victor refused to release his prisoner for anything less than the boon of immortality. Brahma refused, but Indra-jit persisted in his demand and achieved his object. One version of the Rāmāyana states that Indra-jit was killed and had his head cut off by Lakshmana, who surprised him while he was engaged in a sacrifice.

INDRA-KĪLA. The mountain Mandara.

INDRA-LOKA. Indra's heaven, Swarga. See Loka.

INDRĀNĪ. Wife of Indra, and mother of Jayanta and Jayanti. She is also called Sachi and Aindri. She is men