Indra, Vishvakarma and the parade of ants

Indra will not let Vishvakarma stop building his palace until Vishnu, as a boy, shows him a column of ants that were each once an Indra.

The story, beat by beat

1. After Vritra's death Indra orders Vishvakarma to rebuild the city of the gods.
2. Vishvakarma builds for a year; Indra keeps demanding more.
3. Vishvakarma appeals to Brahma, who goes to Vishnu.
4. A brahmin boy visits Indra and speaks of countless earlier Indras.
5. A column of ants crosses the hall; the boy laughs and says each was once an Indra.
6. An old hermit, Lomasha, explains that one hair falls from his chest each time an Indra dies.
7. Boy and hermit vanish; they were Vishnu and Shiva.
8. Indra rewards Vishvakarma and sends him home.
9. Indra wants to renounce; Shachi and Brihaspati persuade him to stay.

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