Śukrācārya

Śukrācārya · śukra-ācārya, “the teacher Śukra”

Śukrācārya is the ācārya (teacher) of the asuras and one of the most powerful ṛshis (seers) in the Purāṇas. He is also called Uśanas, Kavi and Bhārgava. He knows the Saṃjīvanī vidyā, the knowledge that restores the dead to life. In the long wars between the devas and the asuras, this knowledge was the great strength of the asuras.

He is the father of Devayānī. He is linked with the śāpa (curse) on Yayāti. He is also known for a tapas (austerity) of a thousand years, in which he stood on one foot and lived on smoke to please Bhagavān Śiva. Several Purāṇas and the Mahābhārata tell of him.

The Vāmana Purāṇa shows him as the purohita (house priest) and guru of the daityas: of Andhaka, of Bali, whom he consecrated for the great yajña at Kurukshetra, and of Dhundhu, to whom he gave the dīkshā for a hundred aśvamedhas. There he wins the Sañjīvanī vidyā by tapas on the bank of the Oghavatī, and by it raises the fallen daityas in the war on Mandara; Bhagavān Śiva swallows him, and he comes forth from Śiva’s body as Śiva’s son, with the name Śukra. When King Daṇḍa, his own śishya, wrongs his daughter Arajā, Śukra’s śāpa turns Daṇḍa’s kingdom to ash. And when Bhagavān Vishṇu comes to Bali’s yajña as Vāmana, it is Śukra, knower of the three times, who reads the portents, knows who is coming, and counsels Bali to give him nothing. He is also the graha Śukra, who gained that rank at the Auśanasa tīrtha. His daughter Arajā says of him that he is very wrathful and can burn up even the devas, yet to his disciples he is ever the guru who speaks for their good, and he bears the name Śukra as the gift of Bhagavān Śiva.

Identity and lineage

Śukrācārya belongs to the line of Bhṛgu. He is the son of the great ṛshi Bhṛgu. The Vedic texts call him Uśanas. The Purāṇas call him Śukra, which means “bright” or “pure”. This name is joined with the planet Venus, which is taken to be his form in the sky.

He is the teacher of the asuras. Bṛhaspati has the same duty for the devas. The Matsya Purāṇa (Chapter 47) tells that each side has its own teacher.

Per Vāmana Purāṇa, the name Śukra was given to him by Bhagavān Śiva himself. When Śiva released Bhārgava from his own body and made him his son, he said that from that day all beings would praise him by the name Śukra (see below). The Vāmana Purāṇa also calls him Uśanas, Kavi, Bhārgava, Bhārgavendra (chief of the Bhārgavas), Brahmarshi, Tapodhana, Trikāla-jñānī (knower of the three times) and Mahāmedhāvī (the great intellect); the daitya kings address him as Gurudeva, Ācāryadeva, Ācārya-varya, Gurūttama, Dvijottama, Maharshi and best of the Bhṛgu line. He is of the lineage of Bhṛgu, and the brāhmaṇas of the Bhṛgu line are his disciples. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 36, 40, 43, 52, 62, 64; Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 10)

The Saṃjīvanī vidyā

The Saṃjīvanī vidyā is the mantra, or knowledge, by which the dead rise again. However many asuras fell in battle, Śukra could bring them back. The devas had no such knowledge and suffered losses that could not be made good.

The Vāmana Purāṇa (Chapter 36) tells how he gained it. After Bhagavān Śiva, standing as Sthāṇu in the waters of Kurukshetra, had given up his own tapas at the devas’ request, the earth still kept shaking. Rudra searched around Kurukshetra to find the cause and found Śukra performing severe tapas on the bank of the Oghavatī river. Bhava asked him: “O Uśanas! With what desire are you doing this tapas that shakes the world?” Śukra answered: “O Trinetra! I wish to know the auspicious Sañjīvanī vidyā. For that I am doing tapas, to please you.” Bhagavān Śiva said: “O Tapodhana! I am pleased. You will come to know the secret of the Sañjīvanī vidyā.” With this vara, that radiant one ended his tapas. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 36)

Kaca, the son of Bṛhaspati, came to Śukrācārya as a student to learn this vidyā. The asuras tried to stop him. They killed him three times, and in the end they put him inside Śukra’s own stomach. Śukrācārya taught the vidyā to Kaca from inside his own belly. Once the bond of guru and śishya (student) had been made, even an enemy who deserved death could receive the teaching. (Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 25)

The Liṅga Purāṇa (Pūrvārdha, Chapter 35) gives Śukrācārya’s own words about where this knowledge came from. It names it the Mṛtasañjīvanī vidyā, the highest knowledge for bringing back the dead. Maheśvara (Bhagavān Śiva) himself taught it to Śukrācārya, and by practising it Śukrācārya won over death. In the verse as it is kept, he says:

Mahēśvarḍu nāku ī sañjīvinī vidyanu upadēśinchinduna nēnu mṛtyuvunu gelicitini — Śivabhaktulaku mṛtyu bhayamu ṇḍadu.

It means: “Because Maheśvara taught me this Sañjīvanī vidyā, I conquered death. Those who love Bhagavān Śiva have no fear of death.” This shows that his great power comes from the grace (anugraha) of Parameśvara, and not only from his own effort.

Devayānī and her marriage

His daughter Devayānī was one of the most beautiful and strong-willed women of her time. She loved Kaca, but he did not return her love. She laid a śāpa on him, and he laid one on her. This led to her marriage with Yayāti.

Śarmishṭhā, the daughter of the asura king Vṛshaparvan, pushed Devayānī into a well. The king Yayāti was passing by and pulled her out. Devayānī then asked Yayāti to marry her. Śukrācārya knew that it was not usual for a brāhmaṇa woman to marry a kshatriya, but he agreed. He set one strict condition. Yayāti must never touch Śarmishṭhā, who was given to Devayānī as her attendant. (Matsya Purāṇa, Chapters 26–27)

Yayāti broke the condition and had children with Śarmishṭhā. Devayānī went back to her father in anger. Śukrācārya laid on Yayāti a śāpa of jarā, old age before its time. When Yayāti begged him, Śukrācārya softened it. Yayāti could give his old age to a son who was willing, and so get his youth back. (Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 27)

Tapas and Jayantī

In one long period of war between devas and asuras, Śukrācārya began a very hard tapas. He wished to win from Bhagavān Śiva a weapon or a power that would make the asuras unbeatable by the devas. The Matsya Purāṇa (Chapter 47) says he stood on one foot for a thousand years. He lived on smoke alone (dhūmāhāra), his arms raised and his eyes fixed upward. Bhagavān Śiva was pleased with this tapas.

Jayantī, the daughter of Indra, served Śukrācārya with devotion all through this time and looked after all his needs. When the tapas was done, Śukrācārya was grateful to Jayantī and spent ten years with her. During those years Bṛhaspati used Śukra’s absence. He took Śukra’s form and served as the teacher of the asuras in his place. The asuras were greatly confused when the real Śukra came back. (Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 47)

The Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa (Madhyama Bhāga, Chapters 72–73) also tells of this tapas. Śukrācārya wished to strengthen his tapas-bala (power of tapas) and his protection of the asuras. He kept a dhūma-vrata (vow of smoke) toward Bhagavān Śiva for a thousand years. He lived entirely on smoke and took no solid food. He stood on one leg (ekapāda) with his arms raised. Jayantī, the daughter of Indra, served him all that time as his devoted student and attendant, doing śuśrūshā (service).

Bṛhaspati, the guru of the devas, learned that Śukra had been away from the asura court for a thousand years. He took Śukra’s form and became the teacher of the asuras. He taught them a wrong dharma and led them astray. When Śukra’s tapas was over and he came back, the asuras had already been fooled. Śukra pronounced a śāpa on the asuras: “Since you were so easily fooled by another in my form, you shall suffer for it.”

At the end of his tapas Śukrācārya made a stotra (hymn of praise) to Bhagavān Śiva as Parameśvara. It calls on Bhagavān Śiva by more than fifteen names, among them Śitikaṇṭha, Mahāvarcas, Kapardī, Ūrdhvaroma, Raudra, Tīrtha, Sahasrāksha, Mīḍa and Vasuretas. Through this stotra Bhagavān Śiva gave him great vara (boons). These made his Mṛtasañjīvanī vidyā stronger and his power to protect the asuras greater.

The Śiva Triśatī

The Matsya Purāṇa (Chapter 47) says that after his tapas Śukrācārya brought forth the Śiva Triśatī, the stotra of the three hundred names of Bhagavān Śiva. It shows the greatness of Bhagavān Śiva and Śukra’s own devotion. The Matsya Purāṇa keeps it as a teaching for those who seek the grace of Bhagavān Śiva, and as a record of the names by which Bhagavān Śiva is pleased.

Bhṛgu’s śāpa on Bhagavān Vishṇu

The Matsya Purāṇa (Chapter 47) tells that Bhagavān Vishṇu killed the wife of Bhṛgu, who had given shelter to an asura. Śukra, as a son of Bhṛgu, is closely tied to the śāpa that Bhṛgu then laid on Bhagavān Vishṇu. By that śāpa, Bhagavān Vishṇu would have to be born in the human world seven times.

The Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa (Madhyama Bhāga, Chapters 72–73) gives the account in more detail. In an escalating war between devas and asuras, the asuras fled to the āśrama (hermitage) of Bhṛgu. Bhṛgu’s wife kept the dharma of protecting those who come for shelter, and she took the asuras under her protection. When the devas came after them, Bhagavān Vishṇu saw that if the asuras stayed, the war would only grow longer. He cut off the head of Bhṛgu’s wife with his Sudarśana Cakra. Bhṛgu was overcome with grief and anger. He said: “You who killed a woman seeking shelter, you shall be born seven times on earth, parted from your wife!” This is the source of the seven earthly births of Bhagavān Vishṇu, in which he is parted from Lakshmī. Later, through his tapas, Bhṛgu brought his wife back to life.

Teaching Bali on gifts of flowers, incense and lamps

The Anuśāsana Parva of the Mahābhārata (Chapter 98) tells that Bali, then ruler of the three worlds, asked Śukra about the puṇya (merit) of offering flowers, incense and lamps to the devas. Śukra taught him:

• the origin of tapas and dharma, and the herbs and vines that came from them
• the kinds of flowers fit for devas, for yakshas, gandharvas and nāgas, for enemies (used in abhicāra rites), for bhūtas, and for humans
• the three kinds of incense and who receives each
• that dīpa-dāna, the gift of a lamp, is the gift of tejas (radiance) itself

This teaching passed on through Manu, Suvarṇa and Nārada to Bhīshma.

The oath at Prabhāsa

Śukra is also among the great gathering of ṛshis and royal ṛshis at Prabhāsa in the Anuśāsana Parva (Chapter 94). There the lotus of Agastya was found stolen. Each swore a śāpa on himself to prove his innocence. Śukra said that whoever took the lotus should be one who eats meat without need, has intercourse by day, and serves a king for pay. Indra later admitted that he had taken it, to test the dharma of the gathering.

Śukra and the wisdom of Vidura

In the Āśramavāsika Parva (Chapter 28), Vyāsa shows that Vidura is Dharma in person. He says that neither Bṛhaspati among the devas nor Śukra among the asuras had understanding equal to Vidura’s. Here Śukra is named as the measure of wisdom among the asuras.

The Dadhīci account in the Purāṇas

The Liṅga Purāṇa (Pūrvārdha, Chapters 35–36) tells that the great devotee of Bhagavān Śiva, Dadhīci, was struck down in the quarrel with Kshupa. Kshupa used the vajra of Indra, and it split Dadhīci’s body in two. As he fell, Dadhīci remembered Śukrācārya. Śukrācārya saw Dadhīci’s need through his yoga-dṛshṭi (yogic sight). He came secretly and quickly, by the power of yoga (yogaśaktichē guptamuggā nētecchi), to the place where Dadhīci lay. He joined the two halves of the body and used the Mṛtasañjīvanī vidyā to give Dadhīci his full life again.

Then Śukrācārya gave Dadhīci the whole Mṛtyuñjaya Mahāmantra, with its meaning word by word:

Tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ pushṭivardhanam
Urvārukamiva bandhanān mṛtyormukshīya māmṛtāt

• Tryambaka: the father (ambaka, from pitṛ) of the three worlds, meaning Brahmā, Vishṇu and Rudra. It also means the three-eyed Parameśvara, who is the father of all three lokas.
• Sugandha: the fine, all-pervading divine fragrance. Parameśvara fills all creation as a fragrance fills the air. It is not a fragrance of matter. It is the divine essence that touches all beings.
• Pushṭivardhanam: the one who increases the pushṭi (strength, life and nourishment) of all beings. By his grace all creatures grow and flourish.
• Yajāmahe: “we worship”. It means all forms of upāsanā (worship): dhyāna (meditation), japa (repeating the name) and arcanā (offering), and not only the ritual yajña.
• Urvārukamiva bandhanāt: as a ripe gourd falls from the vine of its own accord when its time has come, without harm to the plant.
• Mṛtyormukshīya: “may I be freed from mṛtyu (death)”. It means not only the death of the body but the whole round of saṃsāra that grows from ignorance.
• Māmṛtāt: “into immortality” (amṛta), the state of deathless awareness that is Parameśvara himself.

The whole verse means: “We worship the three-eyed one, who is fragrant and who increases the strength of all. As a ripe gourd is freed from its stalk, may he free me from death and not from immortality.”

Śukrācārya said that when this mantra is said with water held in cupped hands near a Śivaliṅga, it takes away from the devotee all fear of apamṛtyu (early or unnatural death).

After reviving Dadhīci, Śukrācārya also urged him: “Dadhīci! Worship Umāpati, who is honoured even by Brahmā, who is the deva of the devas, and who is the pure Parameśvara. Through the grace of Bhagavān Śiva, become one who cannot be killed and conquer death!” The Liṅga Purāṇa shows here that Śukrācārya passed on the grace he had himself received, first as the vidyā that revived Dadhīci’s body, and then as the mantra that makes his ātmā (soul) deathless.

The Śiva Purāṇa (Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 38) gives a parallel account of the same revival. Here King Kshuva, and not Kshupa, struck Dadhīci with his vajra and split his body. Śukrācārya revived him with the Mṛtasañjīvanī vidyā. He then gave him the Mahāmṛtyuñjaya mantra, Tryambakaṃ yajāmahe…, with its dhyāna-śloka (the verse for meditating on the three-eyed Bhagavān Śiva before the mantra) and the full meaning word by word.

Bhava and Bhārgava: Bhagavān Śiva swallows Śukra

The Mokshadharma Parva of the Mahābhārata (Chapter 289) tells the dialogue of Bhava (Bhagavān Śiva) and Bhārgava (Śukra). Bhīshma tells it to Yudhishṭhira to explain why Uśanas, though a brahmarshi, took the side of the asuras.

How the enmity began. The asuras were beaten by the devas and fled to the āśrama of Bhṛgu. Bhṛgu’s wife gave them shelter. Bhagavān Vishṇu cut off the head of Bhṛgu’s wife with his Sudarśana Cakra, so that the āśrama would not be a shield for the asuras. The asuras then came to Śukra, the son of Bhṛgu, for shelter. His service to the asuras was born of grief and anger at the killing of his mother, and became a duty of dharma.

The theft from Kubera. By his great yoga, Śukra entered the body of Kubera, the king of the yakshas and keeper of the treasure of the devas. From inside he drained Kubera’s wealth. Kubera went to Mahādeva in distress.

Bhagavān Śiva swallows Śukra. He rose with his śūla (trident) in hand to face Uśanas. As he bent his śūla to strike, Śukra was too close to be hit. So Bhagavān Śiva opened his mouth and swallowed the Bhārgava. Śukra went into the belly of Bhagavān Śiva.

The years inside. Inside the stomach of Bhagavān Śiva, Śukra wandered through the wide inner space and was not dissolved. Bhagavān Śiva went into deep tapas in the cosmic waters and stayed still for crores of years. Śukra shared in this great tapas, and his own power grew from being near it.

Pārvatī speaks. When Śukra asked to be let out, Bhagavān Śiva refused. Devī Pārvatī then spoke: “One who has come out of your body is as your son. Let him not be destroyed.” Bhagavān Śiva was moved and let him go. Because of Devī Pārvatī’s words, Śukra came to be regarded as their adopted son.

The result. Uśanas came out of the body of Mahādeva carrying the gathered tapas-śakti (power of tapas) of Bhagavān Śiva. He became the most powerful being in the three worlds. This is the account of his Mṛtasañjīvanī vidyā, of his power to keep the army of the asuras standing against the devas, and of his place in the sky as the planet Śukra (Venus).

Per Vāmana Purāṇa: in the war of Andhaka

The Vāmana Purāṇa tells of Bhagavān Śiva swallowing Śukra during the war of the daitya Andhaka against Śiva’s pramathas on Mount Mandara. Pulastya Maharshi tells it to Nārada Maharshi.

Purohita of Andhaka

Andhaka, son of Hiraṇyāksha, pleased Mahādeva, the bearer of the śūla, by tapas and received varas: that he could not be conquered or slain by devas, siddhas, ṛshis or serpents, and that he would have no fear from fire or water. Then he made Śukrācārya his purohita and began to rule. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 9)

The dead rise

When Kumāra and the Rudra-gaṇas crushed the dānava army, it fled in fear and took refuge with Śukrācārya. Andhaka came to Śukra, the guru of the rākshasas, and said: “Relying on your support we slay devas, kinnaras, gandharvas and the rest. Brahmarshi, look! The whole army I protect has been defeated by the pramathas and has come fleeing like orphans. My brothers, Kujambha and the others, are dead. O Bhārgava, the pramathas are inexhaustible, like the fruit of Kurukshetra. Devise a fitting means, so that we are not defeated by the enemy.”

Śukra consoled him: “Andhaka, take comfort. I will strive for your good. I will do what is dear to you.” Then that Kavi made himself pure and applied the Sañjīvanī vidyā according to rule. All the best of the daityas and dānavas who had died in the battle rose and sat up, and Kujambha and the others came back to fight.

Nandīśvara told Śaṅkara of the wonder: “Mahādeva, hear this. It is beyond thought: the dead have come to life again. All the daityas who died in battle by the might of the pramathas, Bhārgava has brought back to life by his vidyā, and the whole great battle we fought has been made useless.” Bhagavān Śiva sent Nandī: “Go and bring that Śukra before me. I will speak to him as the occasion requires and restrain him.” (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 42–43)

Nandī seizes Śukra

The rākshasa hero Hayakandhara blocked Nandī’s way, and Nandī struck him senseless with his vajra of a hundred edges. Five tigers among the daityas, Kujambha, Jambha, Bali, Vṛtra and Ayaḥśiras, surrounded Nandī, and the dānava heroes led by Maya and Hlāda attacked him. Seeing this from the sky, Brahmā sent Indra and the devas to help Śaṅkara, and they dropped from the sky and merged with Śiva’s army as great rivers fall into the ocean. In that confusion Nandīśvara got free and, as a lion drags off a hare, seized Śukra from his chariot, threw to the ground all who came to protect him, and set him down before Bhagavān Śiva. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 43)

In the belly of Bhagavān Śiva

Bhagavān Śiva at once put Śukra into his mouth and swallowed him. Held fast in Śiva’s belly, Bhārgava praised Mahādeva with bhakti and reverence. These are the names of his stotra, in the text’s order:

• Hara, Varada (giver of varas), Guṇaśālī (rich in every quality): “namaskāra to you.”
• Śaṅkara, Tryambaka (the three-eyed), Maheśa: “namas to you.”
• Jīvana (life itself), Lokeśvara (lord of the worlds), Vṛshākapi, Madanāntaka (ender of Madana), Kālanāśana (destroyer of Kāla), Vāmadeva: “añjali to you.”
• Sthāṇu (the steadfast), Viśvarūpa (whose form is the universe), Sadāgati, Vāmana, Mahādeva, Śarva, Īśvara: “words of homage to you.”
• Trinetra (the three-eyed), Hara, Bhava, Śaṅkara, Umādhava (lord of Umā), Jīmūtaketu (whose banner is the cloud), Guhāvāsī (dweller in the cave), Śmaśānapriya (fond of the cremation ground), Bhasmadhara (bearer of ash), Śūladhara (bearer of the śūla), Paśupati (lord of beings), Gopati, Tatpurushottama: “salutations to you again and again.”

Pleased with the stotra, Śaṅkara told him to ask a vara, and Śukra asked: “Grant that I may come out of your belly.” Hara closed his eyes and commanded: “O best of brāhmaṇas, go out from my belly.”

Seeking the way out, Śukra saw within Bhagavān Śiva the bhuvanas beginning with Pātāla, the oceans, all beings moving and unmoving, the Ādityas, Rudras, Vasus and Viśvedevas, the hosts of yakshas, kinnaras, gandharvas and apsarases, the munis and the humans. He saw animals, insects and ants, trees, shrubs and creepers, fruits, roots and healing herbs, the creatures of the water, the blinking and the unblinking, the four-footed and the two-footed, beings manifest and unmanifest, with qualities and without. Full of wonder, he wandered there for one divine year and could not find the way out.

At last, exhausted and not knowing what to do, he took refuge in Paramaśiva with bhakti and prayed: “O Mahārūpa (of great form)! Viśvamūrti, wearing the akshasūtras! Sahasrāksha (thousand-eyed)! Prabhu Mahādeva, I have taken refuge in you. O Śaṅkara, Śarva, Śambhu, bearer of a thousand eyes and feet, Bhujagabhūshaṇa (adorned with serpents)! Having seen all the bhuvanas in your vast heart, I am exhausted, and I surrender myself at your feet. Have compassion on me.” (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 43)

The name Śukra

Hearing his plea, the great-souled Śambhu laughed and said: “Bhārgava, you have become my son. Come out through my śiśna (generative organ). Give up all other worries. From today, by the name Śukra, you will be worthy of praise by all beings, moving and unmoving.” So Śaṅkara released Bhārgava by the path of the śiśna, and having come out by that path, Bhārgava became famed as Śukra, the great one. He bowed to Śarva and went quickly back to the dānava army, and the dānavas, rejoicing that their guru had returned, made ready to fight again. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 43)

The counsel to withdraw

When the daitya army was broken, Śukrācārya said to Andhaka: “O hero, come, go home today. We will come back and fight Hara again on this Mandara mountain.” Andhaka refused: “Brahmarshi, what you say is not right. I cannot leave the battlefield and burn to ashes the honour of my family.” (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 44)

Arajā and King Daṇḍa

Prahlāda told this account to Andhaka as a warning, when Andhaka set his heart on Devī Pārvatī. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 37, 39–40)

There was a king named Daṇḍa, of the Ikshvāku line, a ruler of great strength. He appointed the radiant Śukrācārya as his purohita and performed many kinds of yāgas under him. Śukra’s daughter was Arajā, whom Daṇḍa calls Śukranandinī, daughter of Śukra. Once Śukra went to Vṛshaparvan, king of the rākshasas, and stayed there a long time receiving his service; the attendants of the āśrama said he had gone to Vṛshaparvan’s yajña. Arajā remained in the āśrama and tended the agnihotras.

Daṇḍa came to the āśrama, learned that the guru’s daughter was there alone, and seeing her beauty, driven by death, fell into the fire of kāma. He sent away his retinue and the disciples of the āśrama. Arajā welcomed him as a sister welcomes a brother and gave him a guest’s welcome. When he spoke his desire, she warned him: “Do not rush into destroying yourself. My father is very wrathful; he can burn up even the devas. Since you are my father’s disciple, you are my brother.” Daṇḍa, struck by fate, answered: “Śukra may burn me with a śāpa some day, but the fire of kāma burns me now.” Arajā told him to wait and ask her father, who would surely give her to him; she said that she could not give herself on her own, and begged him not to be burned, with his servants and kin, in the fire of Śukra’s śāpa. She would not yield, to guard her own śīla and to save the king from her father’s śāpa. But he, blinded by desire, forced her and went back to his city. Arajā sat outside the āśrama with her head bowed, thinking of her father and weeping. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 37, 39–40)

After a long time Śukrācārya came back from completing a yajña in Pātāla. He found his dear daughter lying outside the āśrama with stains of blood, like the evening twilight with a fragment of dark cloud. Starting up in anger, he roared: “Child! Who is the wicked one who violated you? Who is the wretch who plays with a hissing mountain cobra, eager to go to the city of Yama?” Trembling with shame, she said: “Father, your disciple Daṇḍa, though I wept and forbade him again and again, destroyed me by force.”

Then Bhārgava, his eyes red with anger, did ācamana (sipping water) and became pure, and pronounced a terrible śāpa: “That ill-disciplined one, who received abhaya (freedom from fear) from me, gave up gratitude, had no respect even for his guru, and caused the fall from dharma of my pure daughter Araja: within seven nights, with his army, his retinue, his vehicles and his whole kingdom, he will be struck by a rain of stones and become a heap of ash.” Looking at his daughter, he said: “Kalyāṇī, from now on remain here performing tapas for release from the pāpa.” Then he went with his disciples to Pātāla, the dwelling of the dānavas.

The rain of stones fell for seven nights without a break, and Daṇḍa was destroyed with his kingdom, army and vehicles. From that time the devatās have shunned the Daṇḍakāraṇya, and Bhagavān Śiva made it a dwelling for the rākshasas. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 40)

Purohita of Bali

When the daityas made Bali their king, Prahlāda became his mantrī (minister) and Śukrācārya his purohita. In the war that followed, when Bhagavān Vishṇu withdrew from the field, Śukrācārya joyfully told Bali: “O Bali, Govinda has left the devas and gone. This is a good chance. Rise up and conquer them.” Bali took up his gadā and fell upon the devas, and they abandoned svarga and went to Brahmaloka. When the daityas took the offices of the devas, Bali became Indra, and Śukra was anointed in the place of Bṛhaspati. When Prahlāda seated Bali again on Indra’s throne and Bali asked him how to rule, Śukrācārya joined the request: “O Mahābhuja, teach him the fitting duty.” (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 47–48)

When Lakshmī left Indra and came to Bali, she told him of the four women whom Janārdana created. The third, yellow in lustre, in yellow garments, on a golden chariot, Śrī Hari gave to the prajāpatis, to Śukrācārya and to the vaiśyas, and they worship her by the name Lakshmī. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 49)

On his tīrtha-yātrā, Prahlāda bathed in the Kanyā sarovara, worshipped Sahasraliṅgeśvara and bowed to his guru Śukra before going on to the Soma tīrtha. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 57)

Bali’s yajña at Kurukshetra

When Bali came to Kurukshetra to perform a yajña, Śukrācārya, best of brāhmaṇas, invited the brāhmaṇas of his own Bhṛgu lineage. Hearing that the Bhārgavas had been called, the brāhmaṇas of the Ātreya, Gautama, Kauśika and Āṅgirasa lines left Kurujāṅgala and went north. Śukrācārya had all the vipras of his Bhṛgu lineage brought to the yajña, and on the great yajña-vedi, amid Bhṛgu and the other best of brāhmaṇas, he duly made Bali a yajña-dīkshita, consecrated for the yajña, with Vindhyāvalī, Bali’s dharmapatnī, beside him. In the month of Caitra Śukra released the yajña horse, white in body and bearing every auspicious mark, to go round the earth, with the daitya hero Tārakāksha to guard it, and the yajña went on for three months with homas and the other rites. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 62)

Dhundhu’s hundred aśvamedhas

The daitya Dhundhu, grown mighty by Brahmā‘s varas, resolved to go to Brahmaloka and conquer the devas there. His people did not know how this could be done and said that Śukrācārya could tell the secret. Dhundhu called the purohita of the rākshasas: “Gurudeva, by what karma is going to Brahmaloka achieved?” Śukra answered: “Daityendra, long ago Śakra, the enemy of Vṛtrāsura, performed a hundred holy aśvamedha yajñas, and by the power of that puṇya he was able to go to Brahmaloka.”

Dhundhu resolved to perform a hundred aśvamedhas with dakshiṇās. The asura purohita was pleased, said “tathāstu” (so be it), and gave orders for the wealth to be gathered. At an auspicious muhūrta, on the eastern bank of the Devikā river, Dhundhu took the aśvamedha dīkshā from Śukrācārya, Bhārgavendra. Only brāhmaṇas of the Bhṛgu lineage, Śukra’s own learned disciples, took part as ṛtvijas and sadasyas, with Śukra’s permission, and with Śukra’s permission Dhundhu released the yajña horse, with the mahādaitya Asiloma to guard it. The devas went in fear to Bhagavān Vishṇu and told him that Dhundhu, like a neglected disease, had grown stronger, and on the counsel of Śukrācārya had taken the dīkshā for a hundred aśvamedhas to conquer even the dwellers of Brahmaloka. Bhagavān Vishṇu came to that yajña as a Vāmana, and the Bhārgava ṛtvijas counselled Dhundhu to give him a gift. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 52)

Counsel to Bali when Vāmana came

As Pulastya tells it

As Bhagavān Vishṇu set out for Bali‘s yajña, the earth shook, the mountains moved, the oceans were stirred, and the yajña fires would not accept the havis though the brāhmaṇas offered it well with Ṛk and Sāma mantras. Bali joined his hands and asked Śukrācārya: “Ācārya-varya, the earth trembles like a banana tree struck by the wind. The fires do not accept the havis our asuras offer. The mountains sway, the oceans are agitated, the stars do not move as they always did, and the directions have lost their senses. Tell me by whose fault this is happening.”

Śukra grasped the causes and spoke for the good of his disciple: “Daityeśvara, if the fires do not accept the havis though it is offered well, then Vāsudeva must surely be coming here. Unable to bear the weight of his steps, the earth with its mountains trembles, and as he walks the oceans cross their shores.”

Bali, full of enthusiasm, asked what he should do, what wealth he should give, land, elephants, horses, gems or gold, what he should say to Bhagavān Vishṇu, and whether he should seek his own gain or Vishṇu’s. Then that Bhārgava, knower of the three times, thought well and said: “Asurendra, listen with care. The Vedas forbid the asuras to enjoy the yajña-bhāga. In this yajña of yours the devatās, who are worthy of the yajña portions, have been set aside, and the havis is given to the daityas; seeing this, Śrī Hari is coming. In this yajña you must not give that Vishṇu even the tip of a blade of grass, let alone land and gold. Speak to him sweetly, with words that bind you to nothing, in the way of sāma (conciliation). Tell him that in his belly the rulers of the Bhūr, Bhuvar and Svar lokas and the lords of Rasātala always dwell, so who can give anything to such as him?”

Bali, the generous, answered that he had never once said “I have nothing” to anyone who stretched out his hand, and asked how he could say no when Janārdana himself, lord of the worlds, came to ask. He asked his guru whether he had heard the account of Kośakāra‘s son. Śukra said: “O mighty-armed one, I have not heard that account. Tell it; I am eager to hear it.” So Bali told him the true account of Kośakāra, the son of Mudgala Muni, on the power of former practice, and then, having spoken to Śukrācārya, he became absorbed in dhyāna of Nārāyaṇa. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 64)

As Romaharshaṇa tells it

In the Saro Māhātmya, Romaharshaṇa tells the same counsel to the munis. Seeing the earth with its mountains and forests shake, Bali bowed to his guru Śukrācārya and asked why the earth moved and the fires refused the asuras’ havis. Śukrācārya, the great intellect, thought for a long time and said: “Best of dānavas, Śrīhari, the cause of the world, has taken avatāra in the house of Kaśyapa. That Sanātana Paramātmā, in the form of Vāmana, is about to come to your yajña enclosure. By the weight of his steps the earth is shaking; it cannot bear the weight of that Bhūteśvara, who holds the whole universe of the five elements. By the power of his presence the rākshasas have lost their fitness for yajña, and that is why the fires do not accept their havis.”

When Bali rejoiced and asked what to do in that happy hour, Śukra said: “Daityarāja, by the Vedas the share of the yajña belonged to those endowed with sattva-guṇa, but you by your power won it for the rākshasas also. Bhagavān Vishṇu, whose nature is sattva, protects creation, and on the other side he himself devours the beings he created. This Vishṇu, the sustainer, will surely make you a captive. Know this, and do as seems right to you. In no case give your word that you will give him even a small thing; speak to him sweetly, with words empty of purpose, and send him away. If Kṛshṇa begs of you to set right the work of the devas, say only that you will give him as much wealth as is enough.” Bali answered that it was better to give up life than to say no to Viśveśvara, and Vāmana arrived even as he spoke. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 10)

Śukra the graha

Śukra is also the graha (planet) Śukra. When Bhagavān Śiva took his place in the sky as Kālarūpī, his face is Vṛshabha rāśi, the kshetra (house) of Śukra, with the last three pādas of Kṛttikā, Rohiṇī and two pādas of Mṛgaśira; and his navel, the path of the sky, is Tulā rāśi, Śukra’s second house, with the third and fourth pādas of Citrā, Svātī and three pādas of Viśākhā. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 5)

With Guru, Śanaiścara and the other grahas, Śukra is called on in the suprabhāta stotra given by Bhagavān Śaṅkara to grant a good morning, and in the svastivācana that Bhagavān Vishṇu spoke over Skanda to give well-being. In Brahmā‘s sabhā Śukra, with Bṛhaspati, Budha, Śanaiścara, Rāhu and all the grahas, serves Brahmā. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 14, 32; Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 3)

At the Auśanasa tīrtha, also called Kapālamocana, Uśanas (Śukra) attained siddhi and gained the status of a graha. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 18)

Sources

• Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 25–27 and 47
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 4, Chapters 10–13
• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Sambhava Parva, Chapters 71–79
• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapters 94 and 98
• Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapter 28
• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapter 289
• Liṅga Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 35–36
• Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapters 72–73
• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 38
• Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 5, 9, 14, 32, 36–37, 39–40, 42–44, 47–49, 52, 57, 62, 64
• Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 3, 10, 18