Indravijaya
The Indravijaya is the account of Indra’s victories and of the fall of Nahusha. It is told in the Udyoga Parva of the Mahābhārata as part of Śalya’s talk to Yudhishṭhira. It tells how Indra killed Triśiras, how Vṛtra was born and killed, how the brahmahatyā (the pāpa of killing a brāhmaṇa) drove Indra into hiding, and how Nahusha ruled in his place and then fell.
Triśiras and Indra
Triśiras was the three-headed son of Tvashṭā, the divine craftsman of the devas. He had great tapas (austerity) and brahma-tejas (the radiance of a brāhmaṇa). With his three heads, one recited the Vedas, one drank soma, and one drank wine.
Indra became alarmed at the growing power and piety of Triśiras and saw a threat to his own rule. In a moment of pride, Indra struck Triśiras dead with his thunderbolt. Triśiras had no hatred for Indra and was at that time engaged in tapas.
(Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, chapter 9)
Tvashṭā’s yajña and the birth of Vṛtra
Tvashṭā was full of grief and anger at the killing of his son, and he decided on revenge. He performed a great yajña (fire ritual) to destroy Indra, an Indra-śatru (enemy of Indra) yajña. From its fire rose a huge and terrible being, Vṛtrāsura, also called simply Vṛtra. He was an asura of enormous size and strength, born only to destroy Indra.
There was a small error in the speaking of the formula. It was meant to make the new being “the slayer of Indra”, but it was said slightly wrongly, and he became one who would be “slain by Indra”.
(Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, chapters 9–10)
The war between Vṛtra and Indra
Vṛtra grew very strong and threatened the devas. The war between Vṛtra and Indra was long and terrible. Indra could not defeat Vṛtra by ordinary means, and the army of the devas was scattered. The ṛshis, alarmed for the world, stepped in as peacemakers.
Through the saptaṛshis (the seven ṛshis), a truce was agreed. Indra swore that he would not attack Vṛtra with anything made of wood, stone or iron; nor with water, earth, fire, wind or sky; nor with anything wet or dry. Vṛtra trusted Indra’s sworn word and accepted the truce.
Indra began to plan as soon as the truce was made. He saw that the foam of the ocean is neither wet like water nor dry like solid matter, so it lay outside his oath. On a chosen occasion he struck Vṛtra with a weapon charged into the ocean foam, and Vṛtra fell.
(Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, chapters 10–11)
Brahmahatyā and Indra’s hiding
Vṛtra’s death had a result Indra had not fully weighed. Vṛtra was born as an asura from Tvashṭā’s yajña, but he carried the brāhmaṇa nature of his father. His death at Indra’s hands, brought about by trickery and a broken oath, made the pāpa of brahmahatyā cling to Indra.
The brahmahatyā appeared as a terrible visible force that followed Indra through the worlds. Indra could not face this pāpa. He fled the three worlds and hid inside a lotus stalk in the sacred Lake Mānasa (Mānasarovara). He stayed there, weak, afraid and hidden, while the three worlds fell into adharma and disorder because they had no king.
(Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, chapters 12–13)
Nahusha made king of the devas
The devas, the ṛshis and Bṛhaspati met in urgent council. The worlds needed a ruler, and Indra was hidden. After talking it over, they chose Nahusha, a great and righteous king of the Candra-vaṃśa (the lunar dynasty), to be Indra for a time. He was brought to svarga and set on the seat, and all Indra’s powers and honours were given to him.
At first Nahusha ruled with justice and good conduct, and the worlds were relieved.
(Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, chapters 13–14)
Nahusha desires Śacī
Power then spoiled Nahusha. He began to look with desire at Śacī, the wife of the true Indra, and he called her to come to him as his queen. Śacī was deeply troubled. Her husband was in hiding, and she could not simply obey without breaking her pativratā-dharma (the duty of a faithful wife). Yet it was dangerous to refuse the one who held Indra’s seat.
Śacī went to Bṛhaspati, the preceptor of the devas, and asked for his protection and advice. Bṛhaspati took her under his care and declared that she was protected and must not be touched. He said Nahusha’s demand was improper and against the law.
(Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, chapters 14–15)
Upāśruti guides Śacī to Indra
Bṛhaspati wanted to end the crisis. He sent the devī of the night, Upāśruti (also called Niśā-devī), to guide Śacī. In the darkness Upāśruti led Śacī to the sacred Lake Mānasa, where Indra lay hidden in his lotus stalk. She found him there, weakened and afraid.
Śacī urged Indra to purify himself. She advised him to make the right atonement for brahmahatyā: ārādhanā of Vishṇu, Agni and Mahādeva, and giving up the pāpa into the earth, the trees, the rivers and women. These accepted shares of the pāpa in return for varas (boons) granted by Indra. In this way the brahmahatyā-pāpa was shared out, and Indra’s power slowly came back.
(Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, chapters 15–16)
Śacī asks for time
Śacī returned from meeting Indra and again faced Nahusha’s impatient demand. She agreed to come to him on one condition. He must come to receive her in a palanquin carried by the seven great ṛshis, the saptaṛshis.
Nahusha, drunk with power, agreed. He had the saptaṛshis, who have great tapas and dignity, yoked to his palanquin, and he rode on them. The ṛshis moved slowly. Nahusha, impatient and scornful, kicked the ṛshi Agastya on the head and shouted “sarpa, sarpa” (move fast, move fast).
(Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, chapter 17)
Agastya’s śāpa: Nahusha falls
Agastya, one of the greatest of the ṛshis, could not let this insult pass. He had been struck on the head by the foot of the man whose palanquin he was carrying. He turned and spoke his śāpa (curse): “Sarpa bhava“, which means “become a serpent”. Nahusha, who was Indra for a time, was at once thrown down from the worlds of the devas and fell to earth as a great serpent.
In this serpent form Nahusha would spend ages coiled in the forests of the Himālaya. In time he would meet the Pāṇḍavas in their forest exile. Yudhishṭhira would answer his questions correctly, and Nahusha would be set free and return to his own form.
(Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, chapters 17–18)
Indra is restored
With Nahusha’s fall, Indra’s seat went back to its rightful holder. Indra came out of hiding at Mānasarovara, and his brahmahatyā-pāpa was largely cleansed. Bṛhaspati formally set him on the seat again, and the three worlds came back to order under his rule. Śacī was joined again with her husband.
(Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, chapter 18)
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, chapters 9–18 (Śalya’s account to Yudhishṭhira)