Aum Shri Maha Ganapathaye Namah
*THE STORY OF INDRA DEVA AND THE ANTS*
The story begins with how all the devas pleaded with lord Indra to stay back after the killing of an asura. At their request, Lord Indra decided to stay a bit longer as the king of devas.
However, he became proud of himself and his invincibility being the god of Gods.
One day, Indra thought, "I am the king of Devas and the lord of Weather. How can I live in such a small palace? I need a larger palace."
He then called Vishwakarma, the chief architects of the gods responsible for many creations or architectures (palaces and vehicles for Gods), and said, "Vishwakarma, can you make a grand palace for me."
To his request, Vishwakarma agreed to construct a grand palace in contrary to the one he was already dwelling in. As the months passed by, the palace was completed and Vishwakarma showed it to Indra. Upon seeing the palace, Indra was not satisfied at all. He wanted an even larger palace. So, he told Vishwakarma to rebuilt it.
This process continued and the building of the palace happened again. Every time, Vishwakarma would rebuild the palace, Indra was never satisfied and asked him to again come up with a more grander one.
Not knowing what to do and how to proceed regarding this, Vishwakarma decided to complain to Brahma. He told Brahma about everything that had happened.
"Even after what happened with Vishwarupa, Brihaspati and Vritra, Indra still hasn't learnt his lesson and has a lot of ego.
His arrogance is still controlling him. I will have to teach him a lesson," Brahma thought to himself.
Lord Brahma then went to Shiva and Shri Maha Vishnu and told them about what had happened.
Together, Shri Maha Vishnu and Shiva made a plan to get rid of Indra's arrogance and to teach him a lesson this time.
Soon after this event, as Indra passed by his palace, he noticed a boy admiring his beautiful palace. "Do you like my palace. I am getting it built because of my victory over Vritra. Of course, it isn't how I want it yet," Indra said proudly.
"Well, I got to say Indra, this is the grandest palace built by any Indra," the boy responded.
Lord Indra was confused when the boy said this. In order to remove his confusion, the boy then said, "Obviously, every time Brahma wakes up, the universe is re-created and a new Indra is born and during every Manvantara, there is a new Indra. Every time Brahma goes to sleep, the universe is destroyed and everyone dies, including Indra. I have seen all the Indras so far." After saying this, the boy looked at a row of ants and laughed. Indra asked the boy why he had laughed.
Upon asking about the ants and why he was laughing, "Those ants are all previous Indras. They start from tiny creatures and soon become enlightened. But then, they destroy one monster and think they're supreme, so they go back to being ants," the boy replied to Indra.
Hearing his response Lord Indra was surprised when the boy said this. Soon after this, he started feeling afraid. After saying this, the boy turned to meet a hermit. "Oh, great sir, what is the hair in your chest," the boy asked the hermit. "Every time an Indra dies, one of my chest hairs fall off. Soon, all of them will have fallen off," the hermit said.
"Please stop, I know what I have done wrong. I have been arrogant and have made many mistakes," Indra exclaimed.
Suddenly, the boy and the hermit turned into Shri Vishnu and Shiva. Upon their appearance, Indra realised his mistake and fell at their feet and said, "I am going to leave Swarga to meditate and repent for all my bad deeds."
Indra left Swarga and hid so that the other devas wouldn't be able to find him.
To God Alone Be All Praise
Aum Shri Saraswathi Deviye Namo Stuthe
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