Devaguru Brihaspati

At a glance

• Name & meaning: Brihaspati (बृहस्पति) — "lord of the great (prayer)", brihat + pati. The Rigveda also calls him Brahmanaspati, "lord of the sacred word".
• Other names: Devaguru, Guru, Vachaspati ("lord of speech"), Angirasa ("of the Angiras line"); Jupiter in Jyotish.
• Category: Maharshi of the Angirasa line; guru and purohita of the gods.
• Father: the sage Angiras; his mother is Shraddha in the Bhagavata Purana.
• Spouse: Tara.
• Children: Kacha; and the sage Bharadvaja, born of Mamata.
• Rigveda: a deity of many hymns, and the traditional seer of hymn 10.71 on the origin of speech and knowledge.
• Best known for: being the guru of the gods, the rival of Shukracharya, and the planet Guru, worshipped on Thursdays.

Birth and family background

Brihaspati belongs to the Angirasa family, one of the two great clans of Vedic fire-priests. The Bhagavata Purana (4.1) names his parents as the sage Angiras and Shraddha, a daughter of Kardama, and gives him a brother, Utathya, and four sisters named after phases of the moon — Sinivali, Kuhu, Raka and Anumati. Some accounts add a third brother, the ascetic Samvarta.

In the Rigveda, Brihaspati is first of all a god: the divine priest who sings the prayer that makes the sacrifice work, who breaks open the cave of Vala and releases the hidden cows of light. Later tradition draws this Vedic god and the Angirasa sage into one figure, the guru of the devas, whose counsel Indra seeks before every battle.

Life and key episodes

Tara, Chandra and the birth of Budha

The Vishnu Purana and the Bhagavata (9.14) tell how Chandra, the Moon, after performing the Rajasuya, grew proud and carried off Tara, Brihaspati's wife. The quarrel became a war between gods and asuras, with Shukracharya taking Chandra's side. Brahma made Chandra give Tara back, but she was pregnant. When the child was born, both claimed him; Tara at last said that Chandra was the father. Brahma named the boy Budha — the planet Mercury and the ancestor of the lunar dynasty. So Budha is Tara's son, but not Brihaspati's.

Mamata and the birth of Bharadvaja

The Bhagavata (9.20) tells a darker story. Brihaspati approached Mamata, the wife of his elder brother Utathya, while she was already pregnant. The child in her womb, the future seer Dirghatamas, resisted, and Brihaspati cursed him to be born blind. The son born of Brihaspati and Mamata was abandoned and later raised by the Maruts — the sage Bharadvaja, whose son was Dronacharya. The Puranas tell the story plainly, faults and all.

Kacha and the Sanjivani vidya

The Adi Parva of the Mahabharata tells of Brihaspati's son Kacha. Shukracharya, guru of the asuras, knew the Mrita-sanjivani vidya, the art of reviving the dead, and the gods were losing every war. They sent Kacha to become Shukra's disciple and learn it. Killed again and again by the asuras and revived by Shukra each time, Kacha finally learned the vidya from inside his teacher's own body and brought it back to the gods. The same story tells of Devayani, Shukra's daughter, who loved Kacha and whom he refused as his guru's daughter.

Guru of the gods

Throughout the Puranas, Brihaspati is the devas' counsellor. When Indra insulted him and he withdrew, the gods lost their strength and were defeated, and they had to take Vishvarupa as their priest until Brihaspati returned (Bhagavata 6.7). The story is often told to show what happens to those who disrespect their guru.

Brihaspati in the Bhagavad Gita

पुरोधसां च मुख्यं मां विद्धि पार्थ बृहस्पतिम् ।
सेनानीनामहं स्कन्दः सरसामस्मि सागरः ॥ (10.24)

"Among priests, Partha, know me to be the chief, Brihaspati; among generals I am Skanda; among bodies of water I am the ocean." Krishna names Brihaspati as the model of the priest and counsellor.

Achievements and contributions

• Vedic hymns: the Anukramani names Brihaspati Angirasa as seer of Rigveda 10.71, a hymn on how the first words were given and how speech becomes knowledge.
• Guru graha: in Jyotish he is Jupiter, the planet of wisdom, children, dharma and teachers. Thursday (Guruvar or Brihaspativar) is his day, and the Guru Gochar and Brihaspati vrat are widely observed.
• Policy and statecraft: Kautilya's Arthashastra quotes the school of Brihaspati (the Barhaspatyas) among earlier authorities on politics.
• A name for materialism: later Indian philosophy attributed the Lokayata (Charvaka) doctrine to a Brihaspati; whether this was meant as history or as a polemical device is debated.

Why he is revered today

Most people meet Brihaspati as Guru, the planet. Yellow clothes, chana dal, turmeric and bananas are offered on Thursdays, the Brihaspativar vrat katha is read in many homes, and Jupiter's transit (Guru Gochar) is one of the most watched events in Jyotish. In the Vedic tradition he remains the model priest and teacher, and the name Vachaspati, "lord of speech", is still given as a title to learned scholars.

Variant traditions and a historical note

The Vedic Brihaspati is a god, not a human sage; the Puranic Brihaspati is both. The Charvaka attribution is late. Scholars see the Rigvedic Brihaspati as a personification of the power of prayer (brahman), which the Puranas then gave a family and a biography.

Frequently asked questions

Who was Brihaspati's father?

The sage Angiras, one of the Saptarshi. The Bhagavata names his mother as Shraddha, daughter of Kardama.

Who was Brihaspati's wife?

Tara. Her abduction by Chandra, the Moon, led to a war between the gods and asuras.

Is Budha (Mercury) the son of Brihaspati?

No. Budha was born to Tara, Brihaspati's wife, but Tara declared Chandra to be his father. Brahma named the child Budha, and the lunar dynasty descends from him.

Who were Brihaspati's sons?

Kacha, who learned the Sanjivani vidya from Shukracharya, and the sage Bharadvaja, born of Mamata. Through Bharadvaja, Brihaspati is the grandfather of Dronacharya.

Why is Brihaspati called Devaguru?

Because he is the teacher, priest and counsellor of the devas, as Shukracharya is of the asuras.

Which day is for Brihaspati?

Thursday, called Guruvar or Brihaspativar. Devotees fast, wear yellow and offer yellow foods to Guru on this day.

Is Brihaspati a rishi or a god?

Both. In the Rigveda he is a god, the divine priest; in the epics and Puranas he is also a sage of the Angirasa line with parents, a wife and children.