Shloka 3
Matsya Purana — The Array of the Gods: Description of the Vaiṣṇava Host and the Lokapālas
पुरुहूतस्तु पुरतो लोकपालः सहस्रदृक् ग्रामणीः सर्वदेवानाम् आरुरोह सुरद्विपम् //
puruhūtastu purato lokapālaḥ sahasradṛk grāmaṇīḥ sarvadevānām āruroha suradvipam //
Then Puruhūta—Indra, the guardian of the worlds, the thousand-eyed leader of all the gods—advanced to the front and mounted the divine elephant.
FAQs
Nothing directly about Pralaya is stated here; the verse instead depicts Indra’s prominence among the gods and his ceremonial advance, a scene of divine order rather than cosmic dissolution.
By portraying Indra as a disciplined leader who goes “to the front” as the gods’ chief, the verse models rajadharma-like ideals: leadership, readiness to act, and assuming responsibility before one’s dependents.
No explicit Vāstu or temple-ritual rule is taught in this line; its primary value is iconographic and ritual-imagistic—Indra as Sahasrākṣa mounted on Airāvata—often reflected in festival processions and deity descriptions.