Indra was the beloved son of Aditi, the mother of the gods, the most powerful of her sons. They say that he was born not like her other children, but in an unusual way, almost killing his mother at birth. As soon as he was born, he grabbed his weapon. Frightened by the unusual birth of her son and his formidable appearance, Aditi hid Indra; but he appeared before everyone in golden armor immediately after his birth, filling the universe with himself; and the mother was filled with pride for her mighty son. And he became a great, invincible warrior, before whom both gods and asuras trembled. While still very young, he defeated the insidious demon Emushu. This demon in the guise of a boar once stole grain from the gods, intended for sacrifice, and hid it among the treasures of the asuras, which were kept behind the three times seven mountains. Emusha had already begun to cook porridge from the stolen grain when Indra pulled his bow, pierced twenty-one mountains with an arrow and killed the boar Emusha. Vishnu, the youngest of the Adityas, took the sacrificial food from the possessions of the asuras and returned it to the gods.
Another feat of Indra was the victory over Shushna, the Wither, a horned serpent who laid eggs from which evil was born and who swallowed up the waters of heaven. Indra killed him and released the waters, pouring from the heavens as life-giving rain.
And Indra defeated many more evil and dangerous enemies with his courage and strength. He became the ruler of the heavenly kingdom; the gods themselves asked Brahma to make him king over them. The formidable Maruts became Indra's squad. His brother Tvashtar made him a golden chariot and forged him a thunder weapon - a vajra. This incomparable weapon shone like the sun in the right hand of Indra and caused his enemies to tremble. Vayu, the god of wind, became the charioteer of
Indra and accompanied him in battles.
The beautiful-armed Tvashtar, the most skillful of the celestials, also made a wonderful cup for soma, a divine drink, which in time immemorial was brought to earth by the eagle, the bird of Indra. Indra was fed by soma, which replaced his mother's milk. He set out for his exploits, accompanied by the army of the Maruts, on a golden chariot, with a vajra in his hand, inspired by abundant libations of soma. And then no one could resist him, and the earth and sky shook with Indra's rage as he struck the enemy with his vajra.
In the battles of the gods with the asuras - and they lasted many hundreds and thousands of years - Indra, at the head of the army of the celestials, more than once crushed the enemy force, and he defeated many leaders of the Daityas and Danavas. He defeated Shambara in single combat, the most insidious of the asuras, who blinded the enemy in battle with a thousand witchcraft tricks; Indra cast him down from the mountains where his abode was and destroyed ninety-nine of his citadels. He scattered the army of the mighty Varchin, defeated the terrible giant Jambha, and defeated the evil Puloman to death. Puloman's daughter, the beautiful Shachi, who fled from her cruel father, became the wife of her savior, Indra, and the mistress of the heavenly kingdom.
He killed Indra and Namuchi, the most powerful of the asuras, who had previously been his friend.
Namuchi, the son of Danu, was an invincible warrior, the first in battle among the asuras, as Indra was the first among the gods. Once Namuchi and Indra entered into an alliance with each other. They swore that neither would strike the other, neither day nor night, neither on water nor on land, neither with dry weapons nor covered with moisture. And they were friends for a long time. But Namuchi was the spirit of the sinful intoxicating drink - sura, and one day he gave Indra soma mixed with drunken sura, and deprived the hero of his strength. Indra then came for advice and help to the Ashvins, twin brothers, the sons of his brother Vivasvat - the Ashvins were the gods of the dawn and evening twilight and divine healers. “What should I do?” Indra asked them. “Namui betrayed our friendship, he drank my strength. But I swore an oath not to raise weapons against him, neither dry nor wet.” Then the Ashvins covered Indra's vajra with sea foam. And so, at the hour of twilight - neither day nor night - on the ocean shore, at the very surf - neither on water nor on land, Indra killed Namuchi, cutting off his head with his vajra, covered with sea foam, with a weapon neither dry nor wet. The Ashwins prepared a healing drink from the blood of the murdered Namuchi, which restored Indra’s strength.
Another time, intoxicated by the lakes of soma he had drunk, Indra, in a fit of reckless anger, struck the blow of his vajra at the chariot of Ushas, the goddess of the dawn, who measures out the days of mortals. Ushas, the beautiful daughter of Heaven, fled in fear, leaving her broken chariot, and hid, trembling, from the gaze of the formidable warrior.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru