00:00A thief caught stealing flowers was bound like a common criminal.
00:04You would never guess this prisoner was Indra, king of the gods.
00:08In the Kathmandu Valley, an ancient land, elders remember his fall.
00:13His mother needed sacred parijat flowers for a divine ritual.
00:17Indra disguised himself as a mortal and entered a valley garden at night.
00:22Beneath the moon, he plucked the white blossoms one by one.
00:26But watchful local farmers caught him stealing their yield.
00:30Think about that tension, the lord of thunder bound by human justice.
00:34Unaware of his rank, they tied his wrists with ghost rope.
00:38His mother, the goddess Dagini, descended searching for her son.
00:42She found the king of gods bound to a wooden post.
00:46She begged the farmers, offering a divine blessing for his freedom.
00:50Release my son, she promised, and I will bring winter mist to ripen your crops.
00:55They untied the god, and thick dew filled the morning air.
01:00Notice the trade, one stolen flower, bought a valley its harvest.
01:04Today during Indra Jatra, villagers still display the god bound in ropes.
01:08Even a god pays for what he takes.
01:10Entitlement cannot hide theft.
01:13Follow for more stories from Hindu mythology.
01:14Follow for more stories from Hindu mythology.
