This is an artist's description of Indra.
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Indra
In the Rig Veda, which is a collection of antique Hindu hymns, Indra is
described as the king of the gods. He has authority over the sky and the
power to make rain using his weapon, the
thunderbolt. Indra is depicted as a
man with four long arms riding a white elephant.
Indra is the god of battle.
Before each battle, he drinks a vast quantity of soma which makes his belly
enormous. The soma is a divine juice. It is said that this juice empowers
him to accomplish his heroic missions. His strength defeated the serpent
Vritra who had swallowed all the waters of the world bringing a tremendous
drought.
Indra split the belly of the serpent with his thunderbolt, releasing
the waters and generating life. By killing the serpent, Indra separated land
from ocean, and caused the sun to rise. Indra was a parallel of the Greek
sky god Zeus.
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