Indra

Indra riding his elephant mount, Airavata.

Indra (P. Inda; T. dbang po དབང་པོ་; C. yintuoluo/di-shi 因陀羅/帝釋) refers to one of the principal gods or deities of the Vedic tradition, who is commonly regarded as the chief of all the deities in Indian popular religion.. The full name for Indra is Śakro Devānām Indrah, which translates as "Shakra, king of the gods." Indra is the common abbreviation of this name.

Indra is incoporated within Buddhist cosmology as the ruler of the Heaven of the Thirty-three, which is one of the six heavens of the sensuous realm. In the Buddhist scriptures, he is also presented as a Dharma protector (dharmapāla), and is always shown as subservient to the Buddha. For example, Indra is shown as worshipping the Buddha, holding an umbrella to protect the Buddha from the sun, or carrying an alms bowl for the Buddha.

In Buddhist texts, Indra is also referred to as Shakra (Skt. Śakra; T. brgya sbyin བརྒྱ་སྦྱིན་) which means “Mighty One.” This epithet often appears together with the title “King of Gods.”

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University