Śukra’s Dhūma Vrata

The Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa tells how Śukrācārya, the guru of the asuras, did a thousand-year vrata (vow) of smoke-inhaling tapas (austerity) to win a secret mantra from Bhagavān Śiva. While he was away, Bṛhaspati, the guru of the devas, took Śukra’s form and lived among the asuras for ten years. When the true Śukra came back, the asuras did not know him. Śukra then laid a śāpa (a curse) on them and sang a long stotra (hymn of praise) to Bhagavān Śiva.

Why the asuras needed a mantra

The devas had gained the upper hand in their long war with the asuras. The asuras needed a clear advantage. Śukrācārya knew everything the asuras needed, and he decided to ask Bhagavān Śiva for a secret mantra of the highest power. With it the asuras could not be defeated. To win it he took up a very hard form of tapas. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 72)

The dhūma vrata

Śukrācārya did the dhūma vrata. He stood inside a fire-pit and breathed in only smoke, with no food, for one thousand years. The Purāṇas count this among the hardest tapas, because it joins heat, smoke and a complete fast over a very long time.

His daughter Jayantī had received a vara (a boon) from Brahmā that she would serve Śukrācārya for a thousand years. She stayed with him through the whole trial. She served him, guarded his tapas and kept him company. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 72)

Bṛhaspati takes Śukra’s form

Bṛhaspati learned that Śukrācārya would be away for a thousand years. He made a plan. He took Śukrācārya’s exact form, voice and manner, and went to the asuras as their guru, who had come back early. The asuras saw their dear ācārya and accepted him without a question.

For ten years Bṛhaspati lived among the asuras in Śukra’s form. He taught them dharma that was slightly bent. He weakened their rituals and made their hold on truth unclear. He damaged the base of their understanding, and all the time he looked like their faithful guru. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 72)

Śukra returns and the asuras turn him away

After the thousand years, the true Śukrācārya came back from his tapas. Bhagavān Śiva had given him the secret mantra and great vara. He went to the asuras and said he was their guru.

The asuras would not accept him. Ten years of Bṛhaspati’s quiet teaching had clouded their power to tell right from wrong. They pointed to the “Śukra” who was already with them, who was Bṛhaspati in disguise, and said, “Our guru is already here. Who are you?” His own disciples turned the true Śukrācārya away. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 72)

Śukra’s śāpa on the asuras

Śukrācārya saw how deep the deception was and how far the asuras had lost their power of viveka (discernment). He laid a śāpa on them:

“Because you have failed to recognise your own guru — because you have rejected the true for the false — you will suffer repeated defeats. Your power will not avail you. When the time of your destruction comes, you will not be able to resist.”

(Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 72)

Bṛhaspati shows who he is

Bṛhaspati had done what he came to do, and the asuras were now under the śāpa. He showed his true identity. The asuras understood how they had been deceived and how their own guru had cursed them for it. They were crushed. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 73)

Śukra’s stotra to Bhagavān Śiva

Before he left the asuras to face what they had earned, Śukrācārya made and recited a long stotra to Bhagavān Śiva. He thanked Śiva for the vara he had received and praised the many forms of Mahādeva.

The stotra lists names of Śiva, among them:

  • Śitikaṇṭha (the blue-throated)
  • Mahāvarcas (of great splendour)
  • Kapardī (the one who wears matted hair)
  • Ūrdhvaroma (the upright-haired)
  • Raudra
  • Tīrtha
  • Sahasrāksha (the thousand-eyed, in his cosmic form)
  • Mīḍa (the generous)
  • Vasuretas (whose essence is cosmic wealth)

The Purāṇa gives many more. It is one of the longest lists of Śiva’s names in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 72)

The vara from Bhagavān Śiva

In Chapter 73, Śukrācārya receives his vara from Bhagavān Śiva. They are:

  • supreme knowledge of mantra-vidyā (the science of mantra)
  • protection for the asuras who still held to dharma
  • his own rise as the greatest of the planetary intelligences, as the planet Śukra (Venus)

(Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 73)

Sources

  • Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 72
  • Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 73