The INDIAN TAROTS – 15 – The Devil: Indra

Indra has been mentioned as one of the prominent gods as per Rig Ved. Actually, Indra is not a single god, rather it is a post – like a king or a head of clan. The king of the devatas is called Indra. As per the Purans, in the lifetime of earth, there will be 14 manwantar (a measure of time). Each manwantar has 306720000 years. Basically, at the end of each manwantar, the earth gets destroyed and then again gets rebuilt. This is the 7^th manwantar out of 14. And in each Manwantar the post of Indra is taken by different individuals. Indra is the god of lightning and rain. His weapon is Bajra, we usually refer to lightening as bajrapaat. During the Samudra manthan incident, he took the Airavat (a divine white elephant with 7 trunks and 4 tusks) and this is his vehicle. Those who become Indra, they possess a huge number of qualities and they are the best fighters. Indra defeated demon Britra. Though, Indra used to be a respected god during ancient time (Satya yug); but through his ill actions, he gradually lost respect.

Some of the nuisance caused by Indra are taking disguises to have sex with other people’s wives, making sages break their pledges by luring them, and also disturbing normal human lives by not pouring regular rainfalls. Indra represents the desires and impulsive natures like the shat-ripu. He also represents self-entitlement because after earning the throne, he got engaged in ungodly practices like drinking too much alcohol, spending time to apsaras (dancers in heaven), gambling etc. On the other hands, other gods like Shiva, Vishnu were helping humans more and gaining their trust. This made Indra insecure because people were becoming less fond of him and worshipping other gods. This is one reason, he used to disturb saints passively so that they would worship Indra more.

Indra’s wife is Indrani and they have 3 children- Jayanta, Jayanti and Devsena. One thing is to understand that at the start of humanity, humans started to worship natural forces like fire, water, lightning etc. These forces were referred to as devatas. But as times passed by, we started to value qualities more and more. This is why we started to value Atma, Brahm etc. The gods we worship now- Shiva, Vishnu, Durga, Kali, they possess different qualities. They have often proved their worth of being worshipped with their actions- sometimes they made us understood the value of meditation, sometimes they saved us from demons, sometimes they simply listened to our prayers. This is how they have become closer to our hearts through their emotional intelligence. While the Vedic culture was about praising and fearing external forces, the Puranic culture focused on praising karma and qualities. This is a great example saying hard work and consistency beat talent. Also, it shows that humans make gods.

In this chapter, I will mention two major incidents, because of why Indra lost respect. The first one happened during Treta yug, before Ramayan happened. Sage Gautam lived with his wife Ahalya in an ashram. One day, when Gautam was away, Indra took his disguise and visited Ahalya. He wished to have sex with her. Even though Ahalya identified the disguise, out of curiosity and flattered by the king of devatas himself, she agreed to Indra’s wish. After they committed this adultery, Ahalya told Indra to leave the place before Gautam returns. However, both were caught by the sage. Sage Gautam was furious in this situation and cursed both of them. He cursed Indra that as he performed a sin with a Brahman’s wife, he will lose his testicles. Also, he cursed him that as he is so fond of sex, his whole body will be covered in 1000 vaginas. A troubled Indra came across Narad rishi. Narad advised him to worship goddess Shakti. Shakti manifested in form of Indrakshi and returned Indra’s manhood by giving him an animal’s testicles. She turned his vaginas into eyes. She did this to maintain the sage’s curse so that Indra remains unattractive to women. On the other hand, Gautam rishi also cursed Ahalya as she committed adultery. Ahalya was turned into stone. Now, this ‘stone’ is not in the sense rock, rather she was cursed to live like a stone- maintaining complete discipline in her life. Gautam told her that lord Raam will visit her after 1000 years and redeem her. Later Raam and Lakshman visited with sage Vasishta. Vasishta, who was their teacher, told them about the whole incident and told Raam to redeem her by touching her. Vashishta did not say bad things about Ahalya, rather he respected her because of her 1000-year penance. Raam touched her feet and redeemed her from her stone-like lifestyle. This incident shows that karma is for everyone including devatas and gods.

The other incident happened during Dwapar yug when Krishna was living in Gokul. In Gokuldham, for a long period, the citizens did not worship Indra and they were busy embracing Krishna. This made Indra angry and he started to curse the citizens with heavy storm and rainfall, demanding puja. Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu knew how to handle the situation. He simply lifted Gobardhan Mountain with his little finger and asked all Gokul citizens to stay under it. Krishna told them to worship the mountain instead of Indra. Indra’s pride was broken by Krishna’s valour. Indra ceased the storms and rains and the weather became pleasant again. Indra asked Krishna’s forgiveness at the end and Krishna blessed him. With this incident, people realized that worshipping Krishna will solve all their problems, even Krishna told in the Geeta that whoever takes his Sharan, will be redeemed. Krishna thus got the name Govardhangiridhari. And even today, the Govardhan Mountain is worshipped in Uttar Pradesh during Annakut festival (during Deepabali). In this festival, 56 dishe[AP1] s (rice, curries, fruits, sweets etc) are prepared in form of a mountain of food and devoted to the god.

Indra, thus lost most of his respect among earth-dwellers. However, in some places, people still have the culture to worship Indra. Indra is worshipped as Pottu Samy during Pongal in Tamil Nadu, especially in Kongu Nadu (west Tamil Nadu). The Devata is praised for his blessing of rain. On the other hand, Indra is actually a prominent figure in yagna. During most of the yagnas, we still give offering to Indra through Vedic mantras. So, Indra is far from being abandoned from our culture. We just don’t worship him as we worship Shiv, Durga or Ganesh. Indra is also well-known in Buddhist culture and he is known as Sakka/Shakra. He is depicted as a form of Maar, which is basically associated with lack of true knowledge, and later Buddha offers him true knowledge and asks him to protect his followers. The Buddhist Agam Tantra is heavily influenced by Vedic texts. Also, in Jainism, Indra appears as Shakrendra and he assists the Thirthankars.

In Nepal and Sikkim, a festival named Indra Yatra (Yenya) is celebrated every year, where the devata is worshipped for invoking good harvest. According to the legend, Dagini (Indra’s mother) had sent Indra to the Kathmandu Valley to get a flower which she wanted to use for a ritual. Indra was caught picking the flowers and was accused of stealing. Dagini came down to Earth and revealed Indra to be her son. Following his release, Dagini thanked the people and said that their crops will have dew every morning and people who had died in the previous year will be sent to heaven. As per the traditions of this festival, two young girls around the age of 3 years are selected as living embodiments of goddesses. They are carried around without touching their feet with ground. They cease to be considered as goddesses when they hit puberty. The young girls during the celebration are accompanied by two young boys who play the role of Lord Ganesha and Lord Bhairab. A huge procession is taken out which stops in front of 12 feet long Bhairab statue.

I have kept Indra as ‘the Devil’ because he often falls prey to temptation and insecurity.

Upright meaning

In tarot, the Devil card is often associated with temptation, materialism, and fear. When the card is upright, it generally signifies negative traits such as temptation, addiction, and materialism. The upright Devil may represent a person who is focused on material possessions or who is caught in a cycle of addiction or temptation.

Reverse meaning

On the other hand, when the Devil card is reversed, it may indicate positive traits such as freedom, release, or overcoming fear. The reversed Devil may represent a person who is breaking free from addiction or temptation, or who is overcoming fear and moving towards a more positive and fulfilling path. It could also suggest a need to let go of negative attachments or beliefs in order to embrace a more positive future.

Sources:

 [AP1]https://www.jagran.com/madhya-pradesh/bhopal-how-the-tradition-of-annakoot-started-know-which-dishes-are-included-in-56-bhog-23163073.html

Lectures of Ami Ganatra