Studies in the Origins of Buddhism c13.83

c13.83

rally believed to have been a god of thunderstorm.⁷¹ Pt. K. Chaṭṭopādhyāya, however, believes that Indra was originally the god of strength and war. The name is probably Indo-European;⁷² the deity is clearly as old as the Indo-Iranian times, since the Verethraghna of the Avesta and the Vahagn of the Armenians are clearly the same as the Vṛtrahan of the ṚS.⁷³ Verethraghna is known to have been the god of victory.⁷⁴ As to the Avestan reference to the demon Indra, it occurs in fact only once, not twice, in the very late text of the Vendidad⁷⁵ and is not evidence for the state of affairs contemporaneous with the ṚS. The connection of Indra with war and might is plain in the ṚS.⁷⁶ and “Indriya” was even in early Buddhist texts, synonymous with “Bala”.⁷⁷ The transmutation of Indra into a rain-god, effected within the ṚS, appears to have been the result of two facts: lightning—Vajra—was a symbol of strength and the storm-gods—Rudra, Maruts, Apām Napāt—were considered on that account mighty. Indra clearly, being the mighty par excellence, must possess the Vajra. Further as the need of a war-god became less prominently felt, the other aspects of the war-god—Indra—were more attended to.