Vedic Mythology c5.s2.36

c5.s2.36

Regarded as a whole the attributes of Indra are chiefly those of physical superiority and of dominion over the physical world. Energetic action is characteristic of him, while passive sway is distinctive of Varuṇa. Indra is a universal monarch, not as the applier of the eternal laws of the universe nor as a moral ruler, but as an irresistible warrior whose mighty arm wins victory, whose inexhaustible liberality bestows the highest goods on mankind, and who delighting in the exhileration of magnificent Soma sacrifices, confers rich rewards on the hosts of priests officiating in his worship. The numerous hymns which celebrate him dwell on these features in more or less stereotyped terms and are seldom free from references to the Soma offering. He is not usually described as possessing the moral elevation and grandeur of Varuṇa. There are, however, several passages which ascribe to Indra actions characteristic of Varuṇa³⁴. There are also a few, mostly in the later books, in which an ethical character is attributed to him and faith in him is confessed or enjoined (1, 55⁵ &c.), faith in the reality of his existence being sometimes expressed as against the disbelief of sceptics (2, 12⁵ &c.)³⁵. Once he is said in a late passage of the RV. to have attained heaven by austere fervour (10, 167¹ cp .159⁴).