Indra’s Penance for Enlightenment
Do Devas need to engage in Tapas or Penance to gain Enlightenment? How did Indra, the ruler of the Devas perform Penance? Did Indra’s Penance last 101 years? Let us explore the episode related to Indra and his archrival Vairochani. The Chandogya Upanishad, one of the major texts in the Veda tradition presents the narration of how Brahma tricked Indra and Vairochani to seek self-knowledge. Long ago, the domain of the Devas or the celestials and the domain of the Asuras rivalled each other. Certainly, the rulers of these two domains were in severe competition to outdo each other. They sought unique objects, creatures, animals, birds and architecture to prove their superiority. Brahma, the creator, felt sad for these two rulers. He saw how these two were missing the point! He sent out a Dindora message (like the viral messages which propagate on social media today). Indra and his rival came to know that a person who knows about Atman,