by Vic DiCara
Seeing this, Indra realized the boy was Viṣṇu, and came running to apologize. A few decades later, however, he again attacked Krishna, even knowing him to be Viṣṇu.
That incident began when an āsura named Naraka infiltrated paradise and humiliated Indra by stealing his mother’s magic earrings and his own royal umbrella. Since Naraka was infamous as a violator of women, Indra requested Krishna and his warrior-wife Satyabhama to defeat him.
Krishna and Satyabhama indeed slayed Naraka and retrieved the stolen items. While in paradise, returning the earrings and umbrella to Indra, Satyabhama noticed a particularly exquisite flower-tree growing in Indra’s delightful garden.
“Where did he get that?” she asked Krishna.
“That is one of the many treasures that came out of the ocean, long ago.” Krishna explained.
“Since it came out of the ocean, it should remain on earth.” Satyabhāmā said. “Since both the gods and āsuras together churned it from the ocean, it should not be hidden away here in Indra’s garden. Let’s take it to earth and share its flowers with everyone.”
Krishna uprooted the tree and began to depart, but Indra’s guards protested.
Satyabhāmā ridiculed them and openly challenged their master, Indra, to fight for the tree with all the gods to back him up.
Indra was enraged. “He may be Viṣṇu,” he said, “but in this avatāra he plays the role of a human, and should behave as a human! I will show him his place!”
Taking his lightning bolt and calling all the gods to battle, Indra strode out to attack Krishna and Satyabhāmā - completely overlooking the important service they had just rendered by retrieving his stolen treasures from Naraka.
The battle against Krishna, however, was hopeless. He decimated every weapon they launched at him, forcing a humiliated Indra to apologize to Satyabhāmā.
“Please, take the tree,” he said.
“No, that’s alright,” Krishna replied, “let it stay here.”
“No, please take it,” Indra persisted.
“Alright, we will take it for now. But when I depart from the world, it will return to you.”
The Nature of Politicians
Indra’s character may baffle us.
Shouldn’t a god be good, noble, and honorable?
The fact that the Vedas portray the king of the gods as such a flawed and faulty person is instructive. It is an important message to help us realize that people in positions of power are seldom those who really deserve to be there. Most often, those in seats of power are simply the most ruthless, manipulative, and opportunistic people in the world.
Depicting Indra they way they do, the Vedas show us the true nature of politics, politicians, and all those who seek power; and warns us not to be naive about the nature of leaders.
Indra’s Mother & Brothers
Rebirth (Punarvasu & Aditi)
Indra’s mother Aditi is an extremely important goddess. Her name, Aditi, means “indivisible” and “irreducible.” It refers to space, the indivisible, irreducible element. Space is the foundation of all tangible reality and the source of all the tangible elements used to create tangible things.
Aditi is the goddess of space, which makes her the goddess of the materials used to create tangible things. The creator, Brahmā, the original creator, must draw upon her. Brahmā is like the ultimate forefather, and Aditi the ultimate foremother. She is the mother of all the beings Brahmā creates. The most astonishing thing of all, however, is that Brahmā eventually creates her!
Aditi exists eternally as the creative potential of empty space. The creator, Brahmā, uses her potential form to create a progenitor named Dakṣa, who later fathers Aditi in a specific, embodied form. Thus Ṛg Veda famously says,
Aditi comes from Dakṣa, but Dakṣa comes from Aditi.
This act of cycling through intangible and tangible states, being put back together after being broken down, being reborn after death, is why she is known as Punarvasu, one who “exists tangibly once again.”
In her intangible, primordial form, Aditi mothered Brahmā’s initial creations. In her subsequent tangible form as a daughter of Dakṣa, she mothered many divine beings, enabling them to also move, like her, from their intangible form into a tangible embodiment.
The counts and reckonings of her children vary with the teller’s scope and perspective. Her foremost children bear her name (Āditya) and take up her profession. Aditi is the goddess of space, and the Ādityas become gods of the “sky,” the local space in which the Sun constantly revolves.
We are accustomed to counting 12 Āditya, but the oldest texts, Ṛg and Yajur, count 8. The difference is due to different ways of dividing local space. When we conceive of local space in terms of how the sun moves through it over the course of a day, we see 8 Āditya (Vedic culture divided a day into 4 daylight and 4 nighttime segments). When we instead conceive of local space in terms of how the sun moves through it over the course of a year, we see 12 Āditya (one for each month).
When seen as eight, the Ādityas are:
Rules the sky when the sun enters…
1 Aryaman The nether-regions leading to midnight
2 Varuṇa The region beginning from midnight
3 Mitra The region leading to sunrise
4 Savita (Aṁśa) The region beginning from sunrise
5 Tvaṣṭa (Dhātṛ) The region leading to noon
6 Indra The region beginning from noon
7 Bhaga The region leading to sunset
8 Mārtaṇḍa The region beginning from sunset
The first seven reside in their own Nakṣatra, but the 8th stays in Punarvasu with his mother, Aditi. As such, his story vividly illustrates the nature of Punarvasu - so we will hear about that first, then we will turn our attention to Aryaman, Mitra, Savita, and Bhaga, who we have not discussed so far.
While Aditi was pregnant with her eighth son, the moon-god Candra arrived at her door, expecting hospitality. Since she was experiencing pains from the pregnancy, it took Aditi a very long time to answer the door, which irritated Candra.
He gave up and stormed off, saying, “this child causes Aditi to neglect her friendships and duties - so she would be better off without it. May it die immediately.”
Just then Aditi’s child did in fact die in her womb, and she began weeping incessantly.
Her Husband, the sage Kaśyapa, soon returned from his practices and found her sobbing. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Our child is dead,” she told him. “Candra cursed him.”
“Dear lady, you have done no wrong,” the sage reassured, “and the gods cannot curse us sages. I will reverse Candra’s foolish curse here and now.”
The child came back to life, and soon was born. To commemorate how the child had died and was brought back to life, Kaśyapa named him Mārtaṇḍa - which means “from the womb of death.” Aditi gave Mārtaṇḍa a special role, different from his 7 brothers whom she sent out to dwell in their own nakṣatra. She kept Mārtaṇḍa with her in her own nakṣatra and made him the progenitor of the mortal race, humans, who are born and die again and again (“punarvasu”).
Thus Ṛg Veda says,
Aditi has eight sons,
but took only seven to meet the gods.
She kept Mārtaṇḍa
making him the source of those who spring to life from death
again and again.
During the current creation-period50 Mārtaṇḍa takes the post of Sūrya, becomes known as Vivasvan, marries the cloud-goddess Saraṇyu, and fathers Vaivasvata Manu - the prime progenitor of human mortals.
Aditi also gave Mārtaṇḍa rulership of local space (the “sky”), along with his seven brothers. He rules the sky when the Sun falls below the western horizon and “dies,” to be “born” once again in the east.
Promises (Uttara Phalguṇī & Aryaman)
The name Aryaman means “friendly.” Friends are partners who keep promises. Making alliances and keeping promises i
s Aryaman’s primary concern. Vedic culture is often described as “aryan culture” because it is a culture of friendship, based on mutual respect and promises kept to one another. In Vedic culture, all contracts and promises were made in Aryaman’s name. Aryaman is especially important in marriage and the marriage ceremony, because marriage is society’s most significant alliance and promise.
The Vedas consider Aryaman to be the foremost Pitṛ, because of his friendly nature and trustworthiness of his promise. His promise to us in our most difficult time - to lead us through death, onward to our next life - is a promise we can trust. Similarly, as an Āditya, he rules the sky when the Sun drops below the Western horizon (symbolising death), and enters the netherworld headed for Varuṇa’s court of judgement. It is he who promises to bring the Sun through that dark region and return it to the Eastern, sky, where it can be reborn.
Affection (Anurādhā & Mitra)
The word mitra means “that which unites.” Love unites, and Mitra is the god of love, affection, and friendship.
Mitra cannot tolerate being disunited. If not united in romance, he will seek the unity of friendship, usually with his brothers - especially Varuṇa. Mitra’s unity takes physical expression and he literally unites with his partners. He and Varuṇa, for example, often manifest themselves in a single body.
Once, while combined in a single form, Mitra-Varuṇa strolled along the seashore and happened to cross paths with Ūrvaśī, the most beautiful and alluring of all the courtesans of paradise. Though combined in one form, the two gods had opposite emotional impulses towards her. Both wanted to unite with her, but Varuṇa’s desire was fueled by sensual hunger, while Mitra’s was fueled by desire to better appreciate her beauty.
Ūrvaśī was quite inclined towards the beautiful combined deity of Mitra-Varuṇa and made love with them. Being gods, they could all realize immediately that the union had resulted in conception.
Mitra was fully satisfied by the experience, but Varuṇa still felt plagued by sensual hunger. The two beings separated into distinct forms and Varuṇa began to flirt with Ūrvaśī again.
Disinterested, Ūrvaśī turned Varuṇa away again and again, but even in her refusals she was so attractive and stimulating that Varuṇa ejaculated anyway. Ūrvaśī felt ashamed that she had turned away Varuṇa, who was so needy for her company. She took his semen and put it in a pot along with the fertilized egg from her womb, and the two sages Agastya and Vaisiṣṭha took birth.
Mitra, the god of affection, is the one who fulfills all his promises. As an Āditya, he rules the sky when the sun begins its ascent to the eastern horizon, enabling Aryaman to fulfill his promise of its rebirth.
Alertness (Hasta & Savita)
Savita’s name means “The Awakener.” He is the Āditya who rules the sky when the sun rises, awakening creatures and stirring them to life. He is the god of expanding alertness and awareness, increased attention to detail, and stimulation to interact with the world and utilize it in more and more refined, dextrous, and detailed ways.
The most famous mantra from the Veda, Brahma-Gāyatrī, is addressed to Savita.
oṁ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tat savitur vareṇiyam
bharga devasya dhīmahī
dhīyo yo naḥ pracchoḍayāt
“We contemplate that supreme awakener (Savitā), the divine effulgence illuminating all things on earth, in the sky, and in space. This contemplation increases our awakeness.”
Human beings have the most fully awakened consciousness of all life on earth, and this manifests physically in their having the most articulate hands (hasta). Savitā increases the alertness and clarity of consciousness and this gives us greater ability to interact deftly and expertly with the world.
Ṛg Veda says,
Divine Savitā gives us sight as if from the mountaintop,
enabling us to create.
Enjoyment (Pūrva Phalguṇī & Bhaga)
Bhaga means, “attractive, enjoyable things” and refers to everything from money, to power, to beauty, to sex, to the vulva itself. He is a brother and very close friend to both Mitra and Aryaman. This shows that enjoyment is always paired with love (Mitra) and requires mutual agreement (aryaman) between the enjoyer and enjoyed.
As an Āditya, Bhaga rules the sky as the sun descends to the western horizon, the time of day when work is over and we set our mind towards relaxation and enjoyment.
Bhaga was once punished violently by Rudra, as a part of the clash between the archetype renunciate, Rudra, and the archetype sensualist, Dakṣa. This punishment illustrates the principle that conventional pleasures should not be allowed to encroach upon spiritual principles.
Fulfillment (Revatī & Pūṣan)
Pūṣan is another important son of Aditi, counted by the Purāṇas amongst the 12 Āditya in charge of the sky through the 12 months of the year. The word Pūṣan means nourisher, protector, grower, and he is the god of abundance, fructification, and prosperity.
Ṛg Veda praises him often as a prosperous being, devoted to pleasing others and protecting them when they are lost or in need.
Individualism (Svātī & Vāyu)
Aditi also mothered the Vasu, eight elemental gods. The air-god, Vāyu, is among them.
Air has two forms: wind and breath. In the form of wind Vāyu is extremely strong and adventurous, going boldly in its own direction. In the form of breath Vāyu keeps us alive, which we can describe more precisely as keeping our consciousness linked to our mind and body.
Vāyu does this in the form of prāṇa - oxygen and its metabolic derivatives - which links the nervous system to the supra-physical mental self, enabling it to regulate the circulatory system, and thus control the body.
The Upaniṣads illustrate the importance of Prāṇa with this story: The gods once held a contest to see which of them was the most essential for maintaining life. Sūrya, the god of vision, left a man’s body, and the man immediately became blind. Then Candra, the god of the mind, left; not only could that man not see, he couldn’t use any sense at all. Finally Vāyu got up to leave. The very moment he rose from his seat every other god was forced to rise from theirs. Vāyu then sat back down, and the other gods could return to their seats. Everyone admitted that nothing is more important to an individual’s existence than Vāyu: god of breath.
Because prāṇa is what links consciousness to its mind, and links the mind to its body, it is the individualizing force: the agent that allows consciousness to see itself as a specific individual with a unique identity.
The “Trinity”
Why Aren’t They Bigger?
The tale of the nakṣatra divinities began with Varuṇa and revolved mostly around Indra and the Āditya gods of the sky. Yet, when we hear about “Hinduism” we are almost always told it is led by an “Indian Trinity”: Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva. If these three are so important in Hinduism, why didn’t they play a bigger role in the tale of the nakṣatra?
The Vedas have two major themes, pūrva (“initial”) and uttara (“ultimate”). The “initial” themes of the Veda focus on actions or rituals (karma). The “ultimate” themes focus on knowledge and philosophy (jñāna). Astrology (jyotiṣa) plays a significant role in the initial, pūrva school, for it enables us to determine when we should perform certain actions and when we should not. On the other hand, jyotiṣa played little or no role in the ultimate, uttara school, because that school is relatively uninvolved with rituals and prescribed actions.
Thus the gods of jyotiṣa are mainly those that the pūrva school considers important: those who fulfill the desires and grant the blessings that ordinary people seek on a practical level. Thus the gods of the nakṣatra are mainly those involved in marriage, sex, career, wealth, fame, power, and prestige.
The uttara school has a very different flavor, and focuses mainly on the three super-beings beyond the conventional gods: Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva, and also on Sarasvatī, the goddess of wisdom. Nonetheless, Brahmā, Vi�
�ṇu, and Śiva do appear in the pūrva-oriented texts, where they play more conventional roles. In their nakṣatra they function in the conventional role associated with the pūrva approach, and their supreme roles associated with the uttara approach to the Vedas.
Each of them possess more than one nakṣatra.
Brahmā (Rohiṇī & Abhijit)
Brahmā has two nakṣatra: Rohiṇī and Abhijit.
Unlike the other nakṣatra, Abhijit is not near the ecliptic. Its primary star is Vega, which at some points in history is the polestar itself, the northern point furthest from the ecliptic. Abhijit is named along with the Nakṣatra because celestial north is an essential point for calculating the borders of the nakṣatra, yet it is not quite a nakṣatra in and of itself.
Brahmā resides in his full fledged form as the wisest of all living entities (brahmā means “knowledgable”) in Abhijit, signifying the ability to conquer all challenges by virtue of knowledge and wisdom (abhijit means “victory”).
Besides Abhijit, Brahmā’s primary nakṣatra is Rohiṇī. There he is not known as Brahmā the Wise, but as Ka the Procreator, the foremost Prajāpati (Master of Procreation), and the most creatively fertile of all beings. Oddly, although the progenitor, Brahmā doesn’t directly participate in sexual reproduction. A controversial story from his early life explains why.
Very early in his creative process, Brahmā created a tangible, embodied form for the goddess of speech, Vāk, and immediately became absolutely infatuated with her.
It is completely natural that the god of wisdom will be infatuated with the goddess of speech, because wisdom requires excellent words to express and shape itself. It is also exceedingly natural and understandable that the original procreator, Kā, would be quite interested in procreating. The problem, however, was that the goddess did not feel anything similar for Brahmā.
“You have brought me into a manifest form,” she explained, “so I cannot help but see you as my father. That’s why I can’t kindle any interest in a romance with you.”
