Bṛhaspati
Bṛhaspati · bṛhas-pati, “the master of prayer”
Bṛhaspati is the son of Aṅgiras Maharshi and the guru of the devas, the teacher of all the beings of svarga (heaven). The Prakriti Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells of his unusual birth. He was born as a vara-putra of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, a son given by Kṛshṇa’s vara (boon), through the wife of Aṅgiras. His tejas (brilliance) is equal to that of Kṛshṇa.
The Brahma Vaivarta tradition holds that Kṛshṇa is the guru of Bhagavān Śiva. So Bṛhaspati is also a guru-putra of Śiva, a son of Śiva’s guru. He is the adhideva (presiding deva) of Guru-graha (the planet Jupiter) and of Guruvāra (Thursday).
The Vāmana Purāṇa shows him as the guru of the devas and as the graha Guru, whose houses are Dhanus and Mīna in the body of Bhagavān Śiva as Kālarūpī. At the devas’ prayer he entered the Mṛgaśira nakshatra to make the akshaya tithi holy, asking in return for the lordship of the year. He gave Skanda a staff; when the daitya king Bali took svarga, Śukra was anointed in his place; he serves Brahmā among the grahas; and when Bhagavān Vishṇu was born as Vāmana he gave the young brahmacārī a kamaṇḍalu. In the Saro Māhātmya he gives him the sacred thread and walks ahead of him, showing him the auspicious path to Bali’s yajña.
Birth as Kṛshṇa’s vara-putra
The wife of Aṅgiras Maharshi wanted a son of the highest spiritual brilliance. On the advice of Sanatkumāra, she kept the Puṃsavana vrata (vow) strictly for one full year. At the end of this tapas (austerity), Bhagavān Kṛshṇa appeared before her and gave her a vara:
“You shall have a son whose tejas is equal to mine, and he shall be the guru of the devas.”
From this vara Bṛhaspati was born, a vara-putra of Kṛshṇa in the line of Aṅgiras. The Brahma Vaivarta tradition holds Kṛshṇa to be the supreme guru of Śiva. So Bṛhaspati is by extension the guru-putra of Śiva, a place of great honour. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa gives this in Prakriti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 58.
Aṅgiras and the awakening of Śiva
The Prakriti Khaṇḍa also links Bṛhaspati’s father to Śiva. When Satī left the world, Bhagavān Śiva withdrew from his work for the worlds. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa then moved Aṅgiras to go to Śiva. By teaching and reminding, Aṅgiras woke Śiva’s memory and brought him back to his duties. The Purāṇa gives this in Prakriti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 58.
Guru of the devas
Bṛhaspati is the teacher and adviser of Indra and of all the devas. He holds the Vedic knowledge among the devas. They turn to his guidance whenever the asuras threaten them.
The Purāṇas set his wisdom beside that of Śukra, who is the teacher of the daityas and dānavas. The two teachers stand on opposite sides of the conflict between devas and asuras.
Bṛhaspati was among the ṛshis present at the great yajña (fire ritual) of Suyajña at Pushkara. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa gives these details in Prakriti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 49 and 58.
The Tārā episode
The most painful episode in Bṛhaspati’s story is the carrying away of his wife Tārā by Candra. Candra saw Tārā bathing at the Gaṅgā and was drawn by her great beauty. She refused firmly and reminded him that he was like a son to her. Candra still took her away by force in his chariot and travelled with her for a hundred years. Tārā stayed faithful in her heart all that time. The Purāṇa says her virtue left a rabbit-shaped mark on the moon.
Bṛhaspati grieved deeply and went to Indra for help. Indra searched for a hundred years. Then he sent Bṛhaspati to Kailāsa and went himself to the Narmadā.
In the end Brahmā came in person, with the ṛshis Sanaka, Sanātana, Sanandana and Sanatkumāra. They went to the fortress of Śukra, where Candra had taken shelter. Brahmā asked, and Śukra agreed to give Tārā back. It then became clear who the child was that Tārā was carrying, and Candra was named as its father. Bṛhaspati took Tārā back gladly and held nothing against her. This shows Bṛhaspati as a mahātmā (great soul) of deep compassion and generosity. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa gives this episode in Prakriti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 57–60.
Leaving Svargaloka, in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa
Chapter 7 of the sixth Skandha of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells how Bṛhaspati came to leave Svargaloka.
Indra was seated on his throne in the great deva-sabhā (assembly of the devas), with the Aśvinī Kumāras at his side. The Maruts, Vasus, Rudras, Ādityas, Ṛbhugaṇas, Viśvedevatās, Sādhyas, Siddhas, Cāraṇas, Gandharvas, Vidyādharas, Apsarasas, Kinnaras, pakshis (birds) and nāgas all served him and sang his praise. He sat beside Śacī Devī under a white royal parasol, in the full glory of his position.
Bṛhaspati entered this assembly. He was the guru of the devas, the son of Aṅgiras, and a brahmajñānī (knower of Brahman). Indra did not rise to receive him. He did not offer a seat or any welcome. Bṛhaspati was a jñānī (knower) and saw clearly how wealth had spoiled his student. He said nothing. He understood that Indra’s pride needed a lesson far deeper than any rebuke. He rose in silence and left the assembly. By yoga-bala (the power of yoga) he vanished from sight and withdrew from Svargaloka.
Indra saw his mistake at once. He blamed himself:
“Alas! My intelligence is small. I have disrespected my guru in the assembly out of the arrogance of wealth.”
It was too late. Bṛhaspati was gone, and Indra searched everywhere without finding him. Without their guru, the devas were weak. Śukrācārya had been told of this and advised the asuras to attack at once. The devas were routed and fled to Brahmā for shelter. Brahmā admitted that the fault was theirs and sent them to Viśvarūpa, son of Tvashṭā.
The Pradosha teaching, in the Kedāra Khaṇḍa
Bali had conquered svarga. Indra and the devas, humbled, came to Bṛhaspati in distress and asked how to regain their place. Bṛhaspati taught Indra the Pradosha-vrata, the sacred observance of the trayodaśī tithi (the thirteenth day of each fortnight).
He explained that on the thirteenth tithi of each fortnight, at dusk (pradosha), Bhagavān Śiva dances his joyful tāṇḍava on the back of Nandī, with all the devas around him. Whoever fasts (upavāsa) at this hour, bathes in sacred waters, worships the Śivaliṅga with bilva leaves, and stays awake chanting the Pañcāksharī mantra, receives the highest grace of Śiva. That person is freed from all the afflictions of karma. Given in a time of crisis, this teaching became the root of the Pradosha-vrata tradition. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa gives it in the Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 17.
The abhisheka of Śiva at Gandhamādana
This follows the well-known dice-game episode. Pārvatī had taken away Śiva‘s ornaments after a quarrel over who had won. Śiva, in his simple nature, had wandered into the forest. Pārvatī, in the form of a Śabarī, went to find him and made peace with him.
Pārvatī then brought Śiva to the court of her father Himavān. Nārada arrived with his advice for peace. At Gandhamādana, Bṛhaspati himself, the chief guru of the devas, performed the royal abhisheka (ritual bathing and installing) of Bhagavān Śiva. Dundubhi drums sounded in all directions. The devas showered flowers from above. All the mountain ranges bowed before Parameśvara.
As the preceptor of the devas, Bṛhaspati placed the crown of cosmic rule upon Śiva by this rite. He thereby recognised and openly declared Śiva’s lordship over all. Then Śiva left for Kailāsa with Pārvatī. This abhisheka is one of Bṛhaspati’s most important ritual acts. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa gives it in the Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 35.
His sons and daughter, in the Āṅgirasopākhyāna
The Āṅgirasopākhyāna, in the Vana Parva of the Mahābhārata (Chapters 217–222), gives the line of Bṛhaspati’s own children. It presents his line as a continuation of the knowledge of fire passed on from Aṅgiras.
His six sons as forms of Agni
Bṛhaspati had six sons. Each of them is a form of Agni, the fire, in one of its roles in the yajña:
- Śaṃyu, the first son
- Niścyavana
- Viśvajit (world-conquering)
- Viśvabhuk (all-consuming)
- Ūrdhvabhuk (consuming upward, the flame that rises)
- Svishṭakṛt (the maker of perfect offerings)
Svishṭakṛt is one of the usual names of Agni in the yajña ritual.
Śaṃyu, the eldest, took Satyā, the daughter of Dharma, as his wife.
His daughter Svāhā
Bṛhaspati’s daughter, born in his Āṅgirasa line, is Svāhā Devī, who became the wife of Agni. The Mahābhārata tells of her in the account of the birth of Skanda (Skanda Utpatti, Chapter 226).
Svāhā had long loved Agni and could never come near him. The devas were looking for a vessel to carry the divine seed of Śiva. Svāhā took, one after another, the form of six of the seven wives of the Kṛttikās. Six times she gathered the vīrya (seed) of Agni into a golden vessel on the Śveta mountain. From this the six-headed Skanda was born.
At the birth of Skanda, he gave Svāhā a vara (boon). From then on every havis (offering) in every yajña would be made with the words:
“Agnaye svāhā”
So her name is part of every act of yajña. Svāhā, daughter of Bṛhaspati and wife of Agni, is the devī without whom no yajña is complete.
The teaching on the wheel of saṃsāra, in the Anuśāsana Parva (Chapters 111–113)
In the Dāna Dharma Parva of the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīshma speaks to Yudhishṭhira from his bed of arrows. He says that Bṛhaspati himself will come down from svarga in sight of all and answer Yudhishṭhira’s question: what really follows the jīva (the living being) after death. No other being in creation can answer this secret as he can.
Bṛhaspati teaches the following.
- Neither father, mother, brother, son, guru nor kin goes with the departed ātmā (soul). Only Dharma goes with it.
- The subtle body passes from one gross body to the next, as a leech lets go of one blade of grass only after it has firmly grasped the next.
- The devas who dwell in the five elements watch every jīva‘s karma and mark it as śubha (good) or aśubha (bad).
He then gives a full list of which wrong acts lead to births as which animal, bird or insect, and for how long. After that he turns to the path of puṇya (merit): confession before brāhmaṇas who know dharma, and above all anna-dāna, the gift of food. By the greatness of this gift, King Rantideva reached svarga. The teaching ends with the rule that one should never do to another what one dislikes for oneself. Then Bṛhaspati goes back up to svarga before the eyes of the whole assembly.
Bṛhaspati’s teaching in the Pitṝ-Rahasya (Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 125)
In the Rahasya-Dharma cycle, Bṛhaspati speaks at the abode of Śiva himself. He teaches Indra a secret of tapas done by gazing at the sun. One stands on a mountain top on one leg, takes no food, raises the hands in añjali, and gazes steadily at Bhagavān Sūrya in any season. This removes every pāpa (sin) and gives a sun-like tejas that never runs out.
He also names certain doshas (faults) and their results:
- Passing urine facing the sun brings eighty-six years of a ruined life and a degraded line.
- Hating Vāyu causes a garbha (unborn child) to be lost.
- If one does not feed a blazing fire with samidhas (sticks of fuel), Agni will refuse the havya (offering) of one’s later fire rites.
- Drinking the milk of a suckling calf before the calf has had its own share prevents the birth of worthy sons who carry on the line.
The rivalry with Saṃvarta and the vow to Indra, in the Aśvamedhika Parva
The Saṃvarta-Maruttīya ākhyāna (narrative) in the Aśvamedhika Parva tells of Bṛhaspati’s relation with his brother Saṃvarta. Both are sons of Aṅgiras and equal in vrata and tapas. Each tried to outdo the other. Bṛhaspati kept troubling Saṃvarta until Saṃvarta gave up all his possessions and went naked into the forests.
Indra could not match the glory of King Marutta by his own power. He asked Bṛhaspati to swear never to perform any daiva or pitṛ rite for Marutta. Bṛhaspati agreed without reserve. He said his word was as sure as Agni never growing cold, the earth never turning over, and the sun never failing to make the month. Later Marutta himself came and begged Bṛhaspati to be his yājaka (ritual priest). Bṛhaspati refused flatly and gave his oath to Indra as the reason.
Marutta then won Saṃvarta as his priest. Saṃvarta’s stotra (hymn of praise) to Śiva at Muñjavanta uncovered a hoard of gold. With it Marutta’s yajña grew richer than the wealth of the devas themselves. Bṛhaspati was so pained by his rival’s wealth that he grew pale and thin. He said to Indra:
“My rival Saṃvarta has now become a man of dhana-sampatti.”
(Dhana-sampatti means wealth.) Indra came in person, with the devas around him, to comfort him. Then Indra acted for him and sent Agni as his messenger to Marutta. The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa preserves a different account of Bṛhaspati’s refusal of Marutta.
Bṛhaspati as Droṇa, in the Āśramavāsika Parva
At the Gaṅgā, Vyāsa made known that Droṇa, the great ācārya of the Kuru and Pāṇḍava princes, had been Bṛhaspati himself in part (aṃśa). In another place in the same Parva, Vyāsa declared that neither Bṛhaspati among the devas nor Śukra among the asuras had a mind equal to Vidura‘s.
In the Vāmana Purāṇa
In the Vāmana Purāṇa, which Pulastya Maharshi told to Nārada Maharshi, Bṛhaspati is both the guru of the devas and the graha Guru (the planet Jupiter). The devas call him Mahātmā and Gurudeva and say that all their work rests on him. Bharadvāja Maharshi, who performed the upanayana of Bhagavān Vāmana, is of his gotra.
His houses in the body of Kālarūpī
Bhagavān Śiva, wishing the welfare of the worlds, became Kālarūpī, the form of Time, and occupied the path of the sky. Each limb of that form is one rāśi with its nakshatras. Two of these are the houses of Bṛhaspati: the thighs of Īśvara are Dhanus, the kshetra (house) of Bṛhaspati, with Mūla, Pūrvāshāḍhā and the first caraṇa of Uttarāshāḍhā; and the two feet of Maheśvara, the path of the sky, are Mīna, the second house of Bṛhaspati, with the last pāda of Pūrvābhādrā, Uttarābhādrā and Revatī.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 5
Bṛhaspati enters Mṛgaśira
Mahāvishṇu sent the devas to the Pṛthūdaka tīrtha in Kurukshetra, on the bank of the ancient Sarasvatī, to perform śrāddha for the pitṛs. He told them: “The holy tithi on which Sūrya, Candra and Bṛhaspati are together in the Mṛgaśira nakshatra is called akshaya (imperishable).” The devas, with Indra at their head, went and bathed there, and prayed to Bṛhaspati: “Mahātman, enter the Mṛgaśira nakshatra and make this tithi holy. Sūrya and Candra have already entered it. Gurudeva, all the work of the devas now rests on you.” Bṛhaspati said: “Only if you give me the lordship of this year will I do as you say.” The devas agreed, and at once Bṛhaspati entered Mṛgaśira. On that amāvāsyā of Āshāḍha joined with Mṛgaśira, Devendra offered piṇḍa (rice balls for the departed) of sesame, honey and havishya rice to the pitṛs, and the pitṛdevatās, pleased, gave their daughter Menā Devī in marriage to Himavān.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 24
His gift to Skanda
When the bhūtas, the gaṇas and the mātṛkās had gathered to serve Skanda, gifts were brought to him. Garuḍa gave his own swift son, the peacock, and Aruṇa gave his son, the cock. Then Agnideva gave Viśākha the śakti (spear), Devī Pārvatī a garment, Bṛhaspati a daṇḍa (staff), Kuṭilā a kamaṇḍalu, Bhagavān Vishṇu a garland of flowers, Bhagavān Śiva the banner, and Indra the golden necklace from his own neck. Having taken the office of Devasenādhipati, the commander of the army of the devas, the son of Hara mounted the peacock and shone with the radiance of the sun.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 31
When Bali took svarga
When the daitya king Bali defeated the devas and they left svarga for Brahmaloka, Bali became master of svarga and gave the offices of the devas to the daityas. Bali himself took Indra’s seat, Bāṇa became Yama, Maya Varuṇa, Rāhu Candra, Hlāda Agni and Svarbhānu Sūrya, and Śukra was anointed in the place of Bṛhaspati.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 48
At the upanayana of Bhagavān Vāmana
When Bhagavān Vishṇu was born to Aditi as Vāmana, Bharadvāja Maharshi of the gotra of Bṛhaspati performed his upanayana. All who were gathered there gave gifts to the wondrous vaṭu (young brahmacārī): Pulaha the yajñopavīta, Pulastya a white lower garment, Agastya the kṛshṇājina (black antelope skin), Bharadvāja the mekhalā (girdle), Marīci the staff of palāśa wood, Vasishṭha the akshamālā (rosary), Aṅgiras a bunch of darbha grass, King Raghu an umbrella, King Nṛga wooden sandals, and Bṛhaspati a kamaṇḍalu (water pot), to that vaṭu of great tejas.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 62
In the sabhā of Brahmā
When the devas went with Kaśyapa Prajāpati to Brahmaloka, they saw Brahmā, Lokapitāmaha, guru of the suras and asuras, in his sabhā. The prajāpatis, the brahmarshis, the elements and the Vedas, taking bodily form, served him. With them served artha, dharma and kāma, krodha and harsha, Śukra, Bṛhaspati, Saṃvarta, Budha, Śanaiścara, Rāhu and all the grahas, the Maruts who know Brahman, Viśvakarmā, the Vasus, Sūrya and Candra, the days and nights, the fortnights, the months and the six seasons.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 3
Guide of Bhagavān Vāmana on the way to Bali’s yajña
In the Saro Māhātmya, Lomaharshaṇa tells the gifts to the vaṭu this way: Brahmā gave the kṛshṇājina, Bṛhaspati the yajñopavīta (sacred thread), Marīci the āshāḍha daṇḍa, Vasishṭha the kamaṇḍalu, the Aṅgirasas a silk garment, Pulaha an āsana (seat), and Pulastya the pītāmbara (yellow garment). The praṇava Oṃkāra, all the Vedas with their svaras, the śāstras and the vidyās of Sāṅkhya and Yoga took refuge in Bhagavān Vāmana.
Then Bhagavān Vāmana, who is made of all the devas, wearing matted locks and bearing the daṇḍa, the kamaṇḍalu and the umbrella, set out for Bali’s yajña. Wherever he set his little foot the earth gave way with a crevice, and as he walked slowly the whole earth with its oceans, mountains and dvīpas shook. Bṛhaspati went ahead of him, slowly showing him a good and auspicious path, and the brahmacārī in disguise travelled very slowly, as if at play. Then the great nāga Śesha came out of Pātāla and became the companion of the Devadeva, the bearer of the cakra.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 9
Sources
- Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakriti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 49, 57–60
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 6th Skandha, Chapter 7
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapters 17, 35
- Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 217–222 (Āṅgirasopākhyāna); Skanda Utpatti, Chapter 226
- Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapters 111–113, 125
- Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 5–6, 8 (Saṃvarta-Maruttīya ākhyāna)
- Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapters 28, 31
- Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa (account of Bṛhaspati’s refusal of Marutta; no chapter given)
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 5, 24, 31, 48, 62; Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 3, 9