indriya (literally "belonging to or agreeable to
Indra") is the
Sanskrit and
Pali term for physical strength or ability in general, and for the senses more specifically. In
Buddhism, the term refers to multiple intrapsychic processes and is generally translated as "faculty" or, in specific contexts, as "spiritual faculty" or "controlling principle."
[1] The term literally means "belonging to
Indra," chief deity in the
Rig Veda and lord of the
Trāyastriṃśa heaven (also known as
Śakra or Sakka in Buddhism) hence connoting supremacy, dominance and control, attested in the general meaning of "power, strength" from the
Rig Veda.
[2][3][4][5]
