Though it is very difficult to attain the holy abodes of Lord Shiva and Vishnu, one can attain the holy abode of Lord Indra Bhagavan, if he has done good karmic deeds in his life. Lord Indra is being praised in the Vedas, Shastras and in the Upanishads, and he is known by various names like Devendra, Mahendra, Surendra, Amaresa, Amarendra and Amarapathi. Lord Indra is also praised in Jainism, and he has praised and sanctified the Jain Tirthankaras, for their simple and pious life.
Most of the warriors, who fought in the Kurukshetra war, had attained the abode of Lord Indra, the Swarga Loka, as a result of their heroic death. Lord Indra is also praised by the sages, saints and even by the demigods like Kubera, Varuna, Vayu, Yama and Agni, and he has got the powers even to give instructions to them. As per legend, once the great Prahalada, had sacrificed all of his good karmic deeds (Punya) to Lord Indra, as per his request, since even the pious Prahalada, had considered Lord Indra as a noble worshipful deity.
It is also mentioned in some holy texts of Hinduism, that Lord Indra eagerly waits for the new entrants, in order to welcome them to his Swarga Loka, and, hence the gates of the Swarga Loka would always be kept open. Lord Indra is also known as “AYIRAM KANNUDAYAVAN”, since Lord Indra contains thousand eyes on his body, which adds more beauty to him, also known as “DEVATHI DEVA”, Lord of the Devas, “RAJATHI RAJA”, king of the kings, “AZHAGESA”, a beautiful god, “GANDHARVA RAJA”, Lord of the celestial Gandharvas, “VAJRAYUDHA MOORTHY”, the Lord who holds the powerful Vajrayudha as his most favourite weapon on his hand. “DANAPATHY”, the Lord who contains lot of wealth in his SwarkaLoka.
Those who has done good karmic deeds alone are entitled to live in the Swarga Loka, since Indra Loka contains lot of attractive features like magical waterfalls, wonderful celestial dancers, cool breeze, beautiful palaces and many more.
Without knowing about the supremacy of Lord Indra, most of us, are commenting him badly, by referring to his past history. Similar to gold, which would never become rust, the significance of Lord Indra cannot be damaged by the way of criticising him. Indra is Indra only, and no one can occupy his position till the completion of his term. Hence similar to worshipping other deities, let us worship Lord Indra wholeheartedly, who always looks affectionately on his devotees, and let us place a picture of Lord Indra and his lovely consort Ma Indrani in our puja room, and worship them similar to other deities.
“OM MA INDRANI SAMEDHA SRI INDRA BHAGAVANE NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR