The False Shukra

The Asuras had lost a war, and their teacher Shukra called them together.

"My spells are not enough any more," he said. "I am going to Shiva to ask for stronger ones, mantras that Brihaspati does not have. Until I come back, put down your weapons. Live quietly, like hermits. Wait for me."

He went to Kailasa and made his request. Shiva set him a hard condition. For a thousand years he must hang head downward and breathe the smoke of burning husks. Shukra said, "It shall be done," and began.

Indra was afraid of what would happen when those thousand years ended. He called his daughter Jayanti.

"Go to Shukra," he said. "Serve him and win his goodwill."

Jayanti went. All through the long vow she looked after the sage. She fanned him with plantain leaves, brought him cool water, and held her own cloth over him when the sun stood overhead. She asked for nothing.

When the vow was done, Shiva granted Shukra everything he wanted. Then Shukra turned to the girl who had waited on him.

"Who are you? Ask me for anything."

"I am Indra's daughter," said Jayanti. "I wish to be your wife."

Shukra agreed. He married her and promised her ten years together, hidden from everyone. The Asuras heard that he had returned and hurried to his house, but they could not see him. They went away puzzled and uneasy.

Indra saw his chance and went to his own teacher.

"Shukra is out of sight for ten years," he said. "Go to the Asuras. Do something that will save us."

So Brihaspati put on the form of Shukra and walked into the Asuras' camp. They were overjoyed.

"I have been away for your sake," he told them. "I pleased Shiva and won the knowledge I went for. Now I will teach it to you."

Here the king who is listening to the story interrupts the teller. How, he asks, could Brihaspati of all people tell a lie? If the teacher of the gods deceives, who is left to trust? The Purana does not defend Brihaspati. It answers that anyone who has a body, god or man, is liable to greed and falsehood.

For ten years the false Shukra taught. Then the real one said goodbye to Jayanti and came home. He found a man with his own face sitting among his pupils. The man was telling them that the Vedic sacrifices were wrong, and that not killing was the highest duty, even toward an enemy.

Shukra smiled, though he was not amused.

"Asuras, you have been cheated. I am Shukra. That is Brihaspati, the gods' priest, wearing my shape."

The Asuras looked from one to the other. They could see no difference at all.

"Do not listen to him," said Brihaspati calmly. "He is Brihaspati, come here in my form to trick you. I am teaching you what Shiva gave me."

The Asuras made up their minds.

"This teacher has been with us for ten years," they told the newcomer. "You are the false one. Go away."

Shukra argued as long as he could. Then he lost his temper.

"You would not hear me. So lose your wits, and lose your war."

He walked out. Brihaspati waited until he was gone, took his own form again, and went straight back to Indra.

"It is done," he said. "They are cursed by their teacher, and I have left them. Now fight."

When the Asuras saw the gods marching and their teacher nowhere to be found, they understood. They put Prahlada at their head and went to beg Shukra's pardon. He was angry for a while, and then he forgave them. But he told them the truth. Their time had turned, and this war they would lose.

The Padma Purana tells the same trick and stretches it. Shukra does his thousand years of the smoke vow, Jayanti serves him, and afterwards he lives with her unseen for a hundred years. The gods go to Brihaspati, and he takes Shukra's shape and serves as the Asuras' priest for that whole century.

When Shukra comes back in this telling, the Asuras see him at the door and whisper to one another.

"We already have one Ushanas inside. Why has a second one come? There will be a quarrel now."

Shukra speaks to his rival directly.

"Why are you here? You are the teacher of the gods. Is it decent to confuse another man's pupils? These same Asuras once killed your son Kacha when he came as a student. You have no business in this house."

Brihaspati only smiles, and turns the charge around.

"I have heard of thieves who steal wealth. A thief who steals a man's face and body is something new. Asuras, I know this fellow. He is Brihaspati. Put him in chains and throw him into the salt sea."

The Asuras do not know which is which, and they do not try to find out.

"We will keep the priest we have had," they say, "whoever he may be. Let this one go back the way he came."

Shukra curses them to poverty and a wretched life, and leaves for a forest to do penance.

In the Devi Bhagavata Brihaspati slips away at once. Here he stays, and the worst is still to come. After a long time the Asuras ask their teacher for a knowledge that will free them from this sad world. He tells them the Vedas bring only grief, and he argues it cleverly.

"If killing an animal at a sacrifice takes a man to heaven, what is it that takes a man to hell?"

They give up the sacrifices and go to live as ascetics on the banks of the Narmada. Prahlada alone does not follow. Then Brihaspati goes home to heaven and reports what he has done.