Devalok
Legend · 2 tellings · Pan-India, South India

Indra slights Brihaspati

Who is in it

  • Brihaspati the teacher who leaves in silence
  • Indra the king who did not rise
  • Brahma rebukes the gods and names a new priest
  • Shukra urges the Asuras to attack

Texts: Bhagavata Purana

The story, beat by beat

  1. Indra sits enthroned with Shachi while all heaven praises him.
  2. Brihaspati enters; Indra sees him and neither rises nor offers a seat.
  3. Brihaspati, able to curse, leaves in silence.
  4. Indra repents before the assembly and resolves to bow at his feet.
  5. Brihaspati makes himself unseen; the gods cannot find him.
  6. The Asuras, on Shukra's advice, attack and wound the gods.
  7. Brahma blames the slight and sends them to Vishvarupa as priest.
  8. At Thittai, Indra searches from temple to temple and is forgiven.

pride teacher respect absence repentance

How it is told, place by place

Base telling · Primary text (translation)

Bhagavata Purana 6.7

Pan-India Vaishnava

Proud of ruling the three worlds, Indra sits with Shachi under a white umbrella, surrounded by gods, singers and dancers. When Brihaspati enters, Indra sees him and does not rise, offer a seat or greet him. Brihaspati, who could curse him, goes home silently. Indra at once condemns himself aloud, comparing a leader who will not honour his betters to a stone boat that sinks with its passengers, and decides to bow at his teacher's feet; but Brihaspati, knowing his mind, becomes invisible and cannot be found. The Asuras, advised by Shukra, attack; the wounded gods go to Brahma, who tells them the defeat comes from the slight and that the Asuras are strong because they honour their teacher. He sends them to Vishvarupa, son of Tvashtri.

Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhaktivedanta Vedabase) § 6.7.1-26

Popular retelling

Thenkudi Thittai temple tradition

South India · Thenkudi Thittai, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu Shaiva

The temple account calls Brihaspati the seventh son of Angiras and guru of the gods. He visits Indra while Indra is absorbed in Urvashi's dancing; Indra fails to notice or receive him, an unintended slight. The Guru withdraws into seclusion, the gods weaken and the Asuras press them. Indra goes looking for him, praying at many Shiva temples, and comes to Thittai, where he worships Vasishteswarar. Brihaspati reveals himself and forgives him, and a shrine for the Guru is set up between the shrines of the Lord and the Goddess, where he is worshipped as Raja Guru.

What is different here:

The slight is unintended (a dance, Urvashi named); no Brahma and no Vishvarupa; Indra repents by pilgrimage and is forgiven at a named place; a shrine results.

Vasishteswarar Temple, Thenkudi Thittai (shivatemples.com); Vasishteswaraswamy Temple (Hindupedia)

Sources: Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhaktivedanta Vedabase); Vasishteswarar Temple, Thenkudi Thittai (shivatemples.com); Vasishteswaraswamy Temple (Hindupedia)

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