Srimad Bhagavatam — Shashtha Skandha, Shloka 26
Diti’s Puṁsavana Vow, Indra’s Intervention, and the Birth of the Maruts
आशासानस्य तस्येदं ध्रुवमुन्नद्धचेतस: । मदशोषक इन्द्रस्य भूयाद्येन सुतो हि मे ॥ २६ ॥
āśāsānasya tasyedaṁ dhruvam unnaddha-cetasaḥ mada-śoṣaka indrasya bhūyād yena suto hi me
Diti thought: Indra considers his body eternal, and thus he has become unrestrained. I therefore wish to have a son who can remove Indra’s madness. Let me adopt some means to help me in this.
One who is in the bodily conception of life is compared in the śāstras to animals like cows and asses. Diti wanted to punish Indra, who had become like a lower animal.
FAQs
This verse highlights the intent to “dry up Indra’s pride,” implying that arrogance is a spiritual impurity that inevitably meets correction through time, karma, and divine arrangement.
Indra is a powerful deva who sometimes becomes fearful or proud; the Bhagavatam uses his repeated tests to teach that even high position is unstable without humility and devotion.
Treat pride as something to be reduced, not fed: cultivate humility, accept feedback, and remember that power and achievement are temporary and meant for service, not self-exaltation.