brhaspati, his loves and woes

Brhaspati, his loves and woes.

Brhaspati & wife Tara

Brahma, the God of Creation, became incontinent at a Yaga conducted by Siva when he saw an apsaras. His ejaculate fell into the fire, and out it arose a number of sons, among whom Angiras, and Bhrgu are famous in mythology. Angiras was so great that his brilliance outshone that of Agni, the god of fire himself. A compromise was struck whereby he was considered a “Second Fire”, equally entitled to sacrificial offerings. A number of hymns in the Rg Veda are attributed to him. Angiras married Vasudha, (some texts give her name as Shraddha, in which case she also features as one of the deities of the Vedic ritual). From her, he begat many sons of whom Brhaspati features in a lot of myths as the famous preceptor of the Gods of heaven, the lord of two zodiacal “houses”, after whom a day of the week (Thursday) is named (He is equated with Jupiter in astrology). He came to prominence when he officiated as priest in a Yaga conducted by the gods to counter the demons, whose preceptor Sukra is his arch rival.

Udatthya, Brhaspati’s elder brother, was far less famous. When his wife Mamata was pregnant, Brhaspati raped her when his brother was away. When Mamata resented it, he cursed her and the baby that would be born to her. She deserted the baby in the forest, but a disembodied voice cried out: “Foolish woman, it is Bharadvaja, it is Bharadvaja”. Brhaspati hastened up, and took it up. He was to become the famous sage Bharadvaja, from whom was born Drona, the great archer who became preceptor of the Pandavas.

Chandra - Moon god

One of Brhaspati’s wives was the voluptuously beautiful Tara. She was disgusted with him because of his misadventure with Mamata, and eloped with Chandra, the God of the Moon. Brhaspati angrily went to Chandra and demanded his wife back. The latter replied that Tara was free to go back to her husband if she so wished. Tara refused citing Mamata’s case. Brhaspati went to Indra, there was a deep schism among the gods, and a fight was imminent, when Brahma intervened and ordered the return of the reluctant wife, who was then pregnant. He also cursed Chandra to cyclically go to the outer darkness every 28 days – thus the moon waxes and wanes, and is invisible totally on New Moon nights.

When the baby was born, both Brhaspati and Chandra claimed it. Again a dispute arose, and the council of the gods decided that Tara would know best. She declared it was Chandra’s. This baby became a demi-god himself, and the lord of two zodiacal houses after whom the day of the week (Wednesday) is also named, viz., Budha (astrologically equated to Mercury). Budha resented his illegitimate birth, and is eternally the enemy of Chandra.