Indra on Malaya
Malaya Indra
Indra on Malaya is the account, in Chapters 44 and 45 of the Vāmana Purāṇa, of how Indra (Devendra) won two of his names. After the war against Andhaka, the rākshasas led by Maya and Tāra, fleeing to Pātāla, stopped to rest on the cool and fragrant Malaya mountain, stayed there for good, and began to hate the devas. Bhagavān Śiva sent Indra there. On the way Indra went around Kāmadhenu in reverence; on Malaya he called the rākshasas to battle and covered them with his arrows. He slew the great asura Pāka, and so became Pākaśāsana, “the chastiser of Pāka”; he tore apart Pura, the son of Bāṇāsura, and so became Purandara. The rest of the rākshasas fled to Pātāla, and Indra went back to svarga.
Bhagavān Śiva’s charge
When the war against Andhaka was over and Andhaka had become the gaṇādhipati Bhṛṅgi, Gaurīvallabha, Bhagavān Śiva, embraced all the devas and gave them leave. “Go to your own abodes and enjoy happiness,” he said. “Only Indra is to go to the auspicious Malaya mountain, carry out his task there, and after that go to svarga.” Śatakratu finished his task on Malaya and then went to svarga.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 44
The rākshasas on Malaya
Nārada asked Pulastya Maharshi: “Best of brāhmaṇas, tell me in detail how Indra carried out his task on the Malaya mountain.” Pulastya answered that it was a task both for the good of the worlds and Indra’s own.
Among the followers of Andhakāsura, the rākshasas led by Maya and Tāra, defeated in the battle, were hurrying to Pātāla. On the way they saw the Malaya mountain. Its caves were the dwellings of siddhas; it was thick with creepers and full of animals in rut; great serpents coiled around its cool sandal trees, and the fragrance of mādhavī flowers filled it. On that mountain ṛshis were worshipping Bhagavān Śiva. Worn out by the battle, Maya, Tāra and the others sat in the shade of the trees in the cool air, and the fragrant southern wind blew gently over them. Charmed by that comfort, they stayed there for good, and began to hate the devas, whom the worlds revere. Knowing this, Bhagavān Śiva sent Indra and the devas there.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 45
Pākaśāsana and Purandara
On the way the king of the devas saw Kāmadhenu. He went around that Mother Cow in pradakshiṇa, and then he saw the lovely Malaya mountain and all the dānavas on it, sunk in the pleasures they loved.
At once Balāri, the enemy of Bala, called the rākshasas to battle, and they all rushed at him, raining arrows. Śakra, wondrous to see, seated in his chariot, covered those dānavas with his arrows as clouds cover the mountains. Having overwhelmed Maya and the other rākshasas, he slew the great asura named Pāka with sharp arrows fletched with vulture feathers. Because he chastised the dānava Pāka, from that day he was named Pākaśāsana. Another rākshasa hero, Pura, the son of Bāṇāsura, he tore apart with a stream of arrows, and so he also won the name Purandara.
When these two had fallen at the hands of Indra, the rest of the rākshasa host was defeated and went off to Pātāla. “It was to do this,” Pulastya told Nārada, “that the three-eyed Śiva sent Indra to Malayācala.”
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 45
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 44–45