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According to Rig Ved Verse 1.164.33 Indra is born of Dyaus and Prithvi - the Sky Father & Earth Mother:

33 Dyaus is my Father, my begetter: kinship is here. This great earth is my kin and Mother. Between the wide-spread world-halves is the birth-place: the Father laid the Daughter's germ within it.

Again RV Verse 4.17.4 mentions:

4 Thy Father Dyaus esteemed himself a hero: most noble was the work of Indra's Maker, His who begat the strong bolt's Lord who roareth, immovable like earth from her foundation.

Verse 1.191.6 also mentions the same:

6 Heaven is your Sire, your Mother Earth, Soma your Brother, Aditi Your Sister: seeing all, unseen, keep still and dwell ye happily.

It is interesting to note that Dhara or Prithvi is also one of the Ashta Vasu so my question is - Is Dyaus Pita the same as the Dyaus mentioned as a Vasu? Additionally, is he the same person who was cursed to have been born as Bhishma?

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    Yeah Shri Bhishma was incarnation of Dyaus pita. – Yogi Jul 26 '17 at 4:47
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    @Yogi yes that I know.. I was just wondering if the two Dyaus that are mentioned are the same people. If they are it would imply that Indra's father who was the former King of Heaven now serves his own son who is the new King of Heaven! – Dr. Vineet Aggarwal Jul 26 '17 at 4:58
  • Yeah that's true....gods have very typical relationships. – Yogi Jul 26 '17 at 6:39
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    @Yogi wonder why no one talks about it though.. Perhaps not a lot of people are familiar with Vedic legends since the Puranic stories are more popular. – Dr. Vineet Aggarwal Jul 26 '17 at 6:55
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    @Yogi yes he is my favorite rishi - a Kshatriya king who transcended caste barriers to become not just a Brahmin but a Brahma-rishi! – Dr. Vineet Aggarwal Jul 27 '17 at 4:55
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Only Richa 4.17.4 from mentioned Richas in question is dedicated to Indra but there seems some translation issue. Here is the Richa in Sanskrit and it's word-to-word translation by Arya Sahitya Mandala:

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Richas 1.164.33 and 1.191.6 are no where related to Indra, even your source also doesn't say that they are dedicated to Indra. So they are not talking about Indra's father.

The richas 1.164.01 to 1.164.41 are dedicated to Vishvdevas i.e. the various minor deities and not to Indra, if they are dedicated to Indra then the text must mention Indra as their Devta as Indra is most prominent deity in Rigveda and not clubbed in various minor deities as Vishvdevas. In RVS 1.164.33, the rishis are saying about themselves and other people which is clear from below translation:

enter image description here

For RVS 1.191.6, if we read one previous richa and one next richa, we can easily understand that it's talking about venomous and not about Indra:

enter image description here

5 Or these, these reptiles, are observed, like lurking thieves at evening time. Seers of all, themselves unseen: be therefore very vigilant.

6 Heaven is your Sire, your Mother Earth, Soma your Brother, Aditi Your Sister: seeing all, unseen, keep still and dwell ye happily.

7 Biters of shoulder or of limb, with needle-stings, most venomous, Unseen, whatever ye may be, vanish together and be gone.

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    Maybe the first and last verse are not clear about who it is referring to but they have been quoted at multiple places to show their relationship. Verse 4.17.4 is definitely about Indra and the translation you shared has removed the term Dyaus even though it is present in the Sanskrit verse - Dyaurindrasaya. As regards Aditi she is mentioned at many places related to Indra in different forms and last I checked we do have the freedom on this site to ask the questions we find pertinent! If you have an ACTUAL answer to the question please answer else kindly refrain from unnecessary comments. – Dr. Vineet Aggarwal Dec 26 '17 at 7:27
  • @Dr.VineetAggarwal I think u took it in wrong way..sorry..bdw I hv updated my answer with Bhasya which have original Sanskrit word in bracket..*Dhou means tejyukt/prakashmaan*..and it's visarg sandhi wich added "r" in between two words Dhou and Indra ..hope this helps...but it's highly surprising when a learned person like u take only one translation 100% correct and discard others with full confidence...Sorry again..and let me know if u feel this answer should be deleted.. i will be happy to delete this.. – YDS Dec 26 '17 at 9:27
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    I did not discard any but I am sure even you are aware Sanskrit verses can be interpreted in many ways. If one translation keeps the term Dyaus as it is and other instead uses a synopnym of it the entire meaning changes. In the word by word trnaslation that you shared thats what has been done. If we start changing all nouns to adjectives entire Rigved can be read in a completely different light so in the end its only one version of translation against others. – Dr. Vineet Aggarwal Dec 27 '17 at 6:17
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    @YDS I think your view and translation is on the right track. Any translation of a term should be meaningful for this term mentioned elsewhere as well. The term Dyau is also used in RV 4.17.1 & 2 and the translation provided by Dr. V Aggarwal does not fit there. – B.N. Bhaskar Jan 25 '18 at 16:48

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