Brihaspati

Quick Facts

About Brihaspati

Eldest son of Angiras and priest of Indra and the celestials, the counterweight to Shukra of the Asuras. It was his son Kacha whom he sent into the Asura camp to steal the reviving lore, and it was his own jealousy of his younger brother Samvarta that drove that ascetic naked into the woods and later cost him King Marutta's sacrifice. He performed the marital rites when Skanda took Devasena to wife.

In Their Words

The gods have one priest, and a priest who serves the gods serves no mortal king.

Brihaspati

Traits

• Learned
• Proud
• Counselling
• Jealous

Story Appearances

• The Secret of Reviving the DeadSends his son for the Sanjivani❧ 11 min
• The Naked Priest of VaranasiRefuses the king and loses the rite❧ 31 min
• Manu Answers the Teacher of the GodsQuestioner of Manu on the soul

Stories Featuring Brihaspati

22 further tales on this site name Brihaspati, in canonical reading order.

• The Heir ApparentA crown promised, a second fee demanded, and the conquests that frightened a blind kingAdi Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Hundred Questions of NaradaA sage audits an emperor before he lets him boastSabha Parva ‧ 17 min
• What the Blind King Was ToldDuryodhana's inventory of the rajasuya, and the quarrel it startedSabha Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Queen Who Put God on TrialA bird on a string, and a child breaking its toysVana Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Fire That ResignedTwo gods each insisting the other keep the officeVana Parva ‧ 17 min
• Devasena and the Husband Not Yet BornA rescue on the Manasa hills and a promise the gods had to invent someone to keepVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Thunderbolt and the Seizers of ChildrenWhat came out of the wound, and the bargain that followedVana Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Armour of MantrasThe one day Duryodhana stood in front of Arjuna and did not fallDrona Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Kingdom Poured on the FireA sage is mocked with dead cattle and burns a realm with themShalya Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Anointing of the War GodEvery god brings a gift to a six-day-old commanderShalya Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Verdict at the Fallen KingBalarama's plough, Duryodhana's indictment, and the flowers that fell from the skyShalya Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Victory Nobody WantedFive brothers, a wife and a sage argue a king back onto his throneShanti Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Age Before KingsHow men who protected one another stopped, and what had to be writtenShanti Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Day the Rod VanishedWhat happened to the world when Chastisement disappearedShanti Parva ‧ 20 min
• The Son Struck From the Fire SticksA hundred years of penance, a parrot on a branch, and a child born of frictionShanti Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Guest Nobody Could SeeBrihaspati throws down the ladle at a sacrifice where no animal was killedShanti Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Eight Who Questioned BrahmaThe ladder from the Unmanifest down to a bodyAshvamedhika Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Rain Agastya Did Not NeedTwelve years of drought against one sage's seedsAshvamedhika Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Court Comes to the ForestAn Army Marches Out to Visit Two Old AsceticsAshramavasika Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Night the Dead ReturnedVyasa Calls the Fallen Out of the GangaAshramavasika Parva ‧ 20 min
• Balarama Returns to the SeaThe Serpent Leaves by the Mouth It Came FromMausala Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Return of the PortionsWho everybody turned out to have beenSvargarohana Parva ‧ 17 min

Character Arc

1. 1The ErrandSends Kacha to learn what raises the dead
2. 2The QuarrelHarries Samvarta out of the world of men
3. 3The RefusalWill not sacrifice for Marutta, to please Indra

Key Relationships

• Father➝Angiras
• Son➝Kacha
• Priest to➝Indra
• Rival Preceptor➝Shukracharya

Places in Brihaspati's Story

Drawn from the stories Brihaspati appears in.

• Hastinapurहस्तिनापुर
• Sauviraसौवीर
• Kurukshetraकुरुक्षेत्र
• Forest Hermitageवन आश्रम
• Yamunaयमुना
• Banks of the Gangaगङ्गा तट
• Gangaगङ्गा
• Varanasi (Kashi)वाराणसी (काशी)
• Munjavatमुञ्जवत्
• Mount Meruमेरु
• Amaravatiअमरावती
• Himavatहिमवत्

Related Characters

Others counted among the Divine Beings.

• ❉Krishna
• ◭Hanuman
• ❧Kacha
• ≈Goddess Ganga
• ★The Eight Vasus
• ॐSage Vyasa