Bṛhaspati

Brihaspati
God of planet Jupiter and teacher of the gods
Devanagari	बृहस्पति
Affiliation	Graha and Guru of the Devas
Planet	Jupiter
Mantra	Om Rim Guru e Namah, Namo Gurube
Consort	Tara
Mount	Elephant / chariot drawn by eight horses

Bṛhaspati (Sanskrit: बृहस्पति, often written as Brihaspati or Bruhaspati) is a Hindu god described as being of yellow or golden color and holding the following divine attributes: a stick, a lotus and beads. He presides over Thursday.^[1]

Sage Brihaspati

According to the Mahabharata, sage Brihaspati was the son of Indra. Some Puranas note him to be the son of Indra and Angiras, the leader of the Devas and the lord of Svargaloka and agni , the fire god . He was noted to be the guru of the gods. He was married to Tara, who was later abducted by Chandra. Tara bore a son, Budha, from her abductor Chandra. After the war between Brihaspati and Chandra, Tara returned to her husband.^[2]

Brihaspati's other son Kacha was assigned to learn the Sanjivani mantra from Shukracharya, the guru of the asuras. The mantra could bring the dead back to life, and hence the gods sent Kacha to learn it. While there as a student, Shukracharya's daughter Devayani fell in love with him. But Kacha refused her love, having come to think of her as his sister. As a result of his rejection, he was cursed by Devayani.

Brihaspati is also noted to have taught the asuras for ten years by impersonating Shukracharya.^[3]

See also

• Dyaus Pita
• Jupiter
• Zeus

References

1. Coleman, Charles. Mythology of the Hindus, p. 133
2. George Mason Williams (2003). Handbook of Hindu Mythology. ABC-CLIO. p. 91. ISBN 1576071065. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
3. Dalal, Roshan (2014). The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths. Penguin UK. ISBN 8184753969. Retrieved 17 July 2015.

Further reading

• Bali, Saraswati (1978). Bṛhaspati in the Vedas and the Purāṇas. Delhi: Nag Publishers.
• Parpola, Asko (3 July 2015). The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization. Oxford University Press. pp. 111–114. ISBN 978-0-19-022693-0.
• Klostermaier, Klaus (1 October 2014). A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Oneworld Publications. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-78074-672-2.