The Tale of Dharma: Why Indra Dev is Not worshipped
religion faith: Have you ever pondered why, despite being considered the king of gods, Indra, the ruler of deities, does not receive worship? Even though he is one of the most prominent deities, why is there no temple dedicated to him? Hinduism boasts of 33 crore (330 million) gods and goddesses, each with their own mythological narratives found in ancient scriptures. Speaking of the king of gods, Indra is often referred to as the ruler of deities.
However, according to mythological accounts, Lord Krishna’s actions led to the cessation of worship dedicated to Indra. Initially, worship of Indra was observed during “Indrotsav,” but Lord Krishna redirected the worship towards the Govardhan mountain. This action incurred Indra’s wrath, resulting in heavy rainfall over the village of Braj. To protect the villagers, Lord Krishna lifted the Govardhan mountain with his little finger, thus ending the worship of Indra thereafter.
Indra Received a Curse of a Hundred Births In depictions of Indra, numerous eyes are visible all over his body. These eyes are the result of a curse bestowed upon him by Gautama Rishi. According to a tale described in the Padma Purana, Indra, surrounded by desires, once encountered Ahilya, the wife of Gautama Rishi, during his visit to Earth. Enchanted by Ahilya’s beauty, Indra, using deception, assumed the guise of Gautama Rishi and spent intimate moments with her. In his anger, Gautama Rishi cursed Ahilya to become a stone for eternity. He also cursed Indra, stating that if he desired women to such an extent, he would have thousands of genitals all over his body.
Lord Rama’s Redemption of Ahilya After receiving the curse from Gautama Rishi, Indra realized his mistake and sought forgiveness from the sage. Gautama Rishi, in his mercy, transformed a thousand genitals on Indra’s body into eyes. This is why most depictions of Indra feature numerous eyes. However, Gautama Rishi also cursed Indra, saying that he would never receive worship, hence the absence of worship dedicated to Indra.
In order to free Ahilya from her curse, Lord Vishnu incarnated as Lord Rama and, by touching her with his foot, restored her humanity from the stone form.
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