MystReal

Mahabharat Episode 1: Brihaspati, Tara, and the Birth of Budha

Prasan

Mahabharat Begins: Brihaspati’s Curse and the Mysterious Birth of Tara’s Son

  1. Embrace the Characters to Understand the Story
  2. When Earth Spoke to the Stars.
  3. Brihaspati, Chief Priest of Indra.
  4. Brihaspati and His Wife Tara.
  5. The Sacred Status of Women in Brihaspati’s Time.
  6. Tara Falls in Love with the Moon God.
  7. Brihaspati’s Fury and Tara’s Return.
  8. Tara’s and Chandra’s Child.
  9. The child was born and named Budha, after the planet Mercury.
brihaspatis curse taras

Embrace the Characters to Understand the Story

This isn’t someone else’s tale from a forgotten time. This is your history — one that lives in your blood, your breath, your being. To truly understand the Mahabharat, you must immerse yourself completely. Don’t observe it from the outside; walk within it. Feel the emotions, the dilemmas, the cosmic weight of every decision.

We are traveling back over 5000 years — to an era when Earth was not isolated, but deeply intertwined with celestial forces. Rishis, devas, and other beings moved across dimensions. The laws that governed life were not man-made — they were woven into the very fabric of the cosmos.

Do not judge these characters by today’s morals or logic. Their world was ruled by a different order — one that demanded absolute awareness, sacrifice, and duty beyond comprehension.

To understand their story, you must let go of the present — and enter their world, as they lived it.

When Earth Spoke to the Stars.

When Earth Spoke to the Stars.

These were times when the boundaries between Earth and other realms were porous — when interactions with beings beyond human understanding were not rare, but woven into everyday life. Encounters with yakshas, kinnaras, ganas, devas, and celestial forces were not seen as miraculous — they were part of the natural order.

As you journey through the Mahabharat, you will come across events and characters that may seem impossible by today’s reasoning. But do not rush to disbelieve. In the 21st century, we are conditioned to dissect, to analyze, to demand proof before presence. But in doing so, we often lose the essence.

Right now, I urge you not to dissect — but to embrace.

Embrace the story. Embrace the people. Embrace the animals, the spirits, the divine beings — all of them. Only through this openness can you begin to grasp why things unfolded the way they did… and more importantly, why they still matter today.

Because if you approach this great history with modern skepticism, you’ll miss its soul. But if you surrender to it, it will transform your very understanding of life itself.

Brihaspati, Chief Priest of Indra.

Brihaspati, Chief Priest of Indra.

Thousands of years ago, in the sacred era of Dwapara Yuga, lived one of the most revered sages and scholars — Brihaspati. His wisdom was unmatched, his mastery over mantras and cosmic sciences profound. It was only natural that Indra, the King of the Devas, chose him to be his rajapurohit — the royal priest and spiritual guide of the celestial court.

In those times, rituals were not mere customs — they were living sciences. The Yuga itself was shaped by yajnas, mantras, and precise cosmic alignments. Through these sacred acts, people influenced their inner states, transformed the external world, and even shaped destiny.

The power of a priest was not in blind faith, but in his ability to bridge the earthly and the divine. Brihaspati was that bridge — a being who understood the subtle fabric of reality and wielded it with purpose.

While the world has changed, echoes of that deeply ritualistic culture still remain — especially in the southern lands of Bharat. Among them, Kerala has preserved the ritualistic traditions with remarkable purity, carrying forward the remnants of that ancient wisdom even today.

Brihaspati and His Wife Tara.

Brihaspati and His Wife Tara.

Brihaspati, the celestial priest and embodiment of the planet Jupiter, was married to a radiant and intelligent woman named Tara, whose name itself means “star.” Their union was not just symbolic, but cosmic — the Guru of the Devas and a luminous star, bound in a sacred bond that reflected the harmony of the heavens.

In ancient Bharat, especially during the Dwapara Yuga, the role of a woman in spiritual life was not secondary — it was essential. Every sacred ritual, every yajna, required the presence and participation of the wife. Without her, the ritual was incomplete. Without her, a man could not receive blessings, could not ascend to the higher realms, could not even attain mukti — liberation itself.

This was not merely tradition. It was a conscious design of a highly evolved civilization — one that ensured the woman’s presence was not only honored, but woven into the very fabric of spiritual life. Even in times when the physical world was harsh and survival was demanding, this sacred arrangement upheld the woman's place as an equal partner on the path to the divine.

The Sacred Status of Women in Brihaspati’s Time.

The Sacred Status of Women in Brihaspati’s Time.

In the age of Brihaspati, society was not governed by written laws, but by a deeper understanding of dharma — the natural order and sacred duty that upheld life. Within this framework, a woman was not merely protected — she was revered. She could not be used, abused, or neglected, because her presence was indispensable to a man’s spiritual journey.

Every ritual, every sacred act, demanded her participation. This wasn’t out of social courtesy — it was built into the cosmic fabric. Without his wife, a man could not perform a yajna, receive blessings, attain the higher realms, or even aspire for liberation (mukti). The man may have had physical strength, but without the woman, he was spiritually incomplete.

This ancient system was designed to ensure that a woman was never sidelined, even in a physically demanding world. Her role wasn’t about equality by law — it was about essentiality by nature.

Today, women have acquired a measure of freedom — they can make choices, voice opinions, and walk their own paths. But in this newfound independence, many of the deeper privileges once embedded in sacred life are slowly fading. Though modern law offers equal rights, in practice, equality is still only partial — enforced, not truly embraced.

And let’s be honest — this shift didn’t happen because of a profound evolution in human consciousness. It happened because modern technology has leveled the playing field. Machines now do what muscles once did. But in Brihaspati’s time, the respect given to women came not from fear or law, but from a recognition of her spiritual power — that a man could not reach the divine without the presence of his woman beside him.

Tara Falls in Love with the Moon God.

Tara Falls in Love with the Moon God.

Though Brihaspati was the high priest of Indra — the spiritual guide to the King of the Devas — his own household was not a sanctuary of love or harmony. He depended on Tara, not out of affection, but because her presence was essential for his rituals, his stature, and his position in the celestial court. Without her, his role would collapse. Yet, despite this sacred bond, Brihaspati himself strayed, indulging in affairs and failing to honor the sanctity of their union.

Tara, a luminous and intelligent woman, felt the hollowness of her place in his life — needed, but not cherished.

One night, as she looked up at the sky, her eyes met the radiant glow of the full moon. That moon was not just light — it was Chandra, the Moon God, whose presence stirred something deep within her. Unlike the cold calculations of her husband, Chandra radiated beauty, softness, charm, and allure. And Tara, a star herself, was drawn toward that magnetic brilliance.

Chandra descended from the heavens, and a passionate romance unfolded between the two — one of desire, rebellion, and celestial intoxication. The pull was too strong to resist. Eventually, Tara made a choice that would shake both the divine and earthly realms:

She eloped with the Moon God.

Brihaspati’s Fury and Tara’s Return.

Brihaspati’s Fury and Tara’s Return.

When Tara eloped with Chandra, Brihaspati was consumed by fury — but not solely out of heartbreak. It was a blow far deeper than personal loss. He had not just lost his wife; he had lost his anchor, his authority, and his standing in the celestial hierarchy. Without Tara, he could no longer perform sacred rituals. Without rituals, he had no place in the divine order. His position as Indra’s priest, his prestige, and even his right to enter Devaloka — the realm of the gods — were all at risk.

In desperation, Brihaspati approached Indra, the King of the Devas, and issued an ultimatum:

“Bring my wife back. If you do not, I will cease all rituals — and without those, your power, your protection, and your place in the cosmic order will crumble.”

Faced with the threat of ritual collapse, Indra intervened. For the first time in known history, the divine authority enforced the idea of a structured family, overriding the will of the individuals involved. Indra approached Tara and demanded her return.

But Tara, resolute and unafraid, said,

“No. My heart belongs to Chandra. My love is with him.”

Indra, unmoved, replied,

“Your emotions are irrelevant. Your dharma binds you to Brihaspati. Without you by his side, my rituals will be tainted. Cosmic order will be disturbed. You must return.”

Despite her protest, Tara was forcibly brought back — not as a wife, but as a symbol of how cosmic necessity could override personal freedom. In that moment, love was crushed beneath the weight of ritual, order, and power.

Tara’s and Chandra’s Child.

Tara’s and Chandra’s Child.

Time passed, and Tara was now with child. But the question lingered like a stormcloud over the heavens: Whose child was she carrying?

Brihaspati, tormented by doubt and humiliation, demanded an answer. “Is it mine, or Chandra’s?” he asked.

But Tara remained silent — unmoved, unyielding.

The devas assembled. The rishis gathered. The air was thick with tension. Still, Tara refused to speak.

And then, something extraordinary happened.

From within her womb, a voice arose — clear, intelligent, and filled with a calm authority far beyond its age.

“Whose child am I really?” asked the unborn soul.

The gathering was struck silent. A murmur spread among gods and sages alike. This was no ordinary child — a being of such awareness that even in the womb, he questioned his own origin.

Out of reverence for this extraordinary consciousness, the people said,

“You may withhold the truth from your husband… you may even defy the gods… but you cannot withhold it from your own child.”

Tara, her voice trembling, finally spoke:

“This is not Brihaspati’s son. This is Chandra’s child.

That unborn child would later be known as Budha — the radiant intellect, born of a star and the moon, destined to become one of the most brilliant minds in the celestial lineage.

The child was born and named Budha, after the planet Mercury.

The child was born and named Budha, after the planet Mercury.

In time, the child was born — radiant, thoughtful, unlike any other — and was named Budha, after the planet Mercury, the swift messenger of the skies.

But Brihaspati, still seething with betrayal, could not bear the sight of his wife carrying another man’s child. In a moment of wrath, he uttered a cruel curse:

“May you be neither man nor woman — let your identity be blurred, your nature uncertain. May you walk the world as a neuter.”

The curse fell upon the innocent child like a shadow.

As Budha grew, his brilliance was undeniable — but so was his inner turmoil. Torn between the masculine and the feminine, between expectation and essence, he approached his mother in anguish:

Mother… what am I supposed to be?

Should I live as a man? Or as a woman?

What is my dharma? Should I renounce the world and become an ascetic?

Should I marry? And if I do… whom should I marry — a man or a woman?

Tara, calm and wise, held her son close and said:

My child, look at the sky — existence holds space for billions of stars, for galaxies and beings of every kind.

There are creatures who are neither men nor women, neither gods nor demons — and yet they exist, they shine, they live.

So do not torment yourself.

There is space for you too.

There is a path for you, waiting to be walked.

You don’t need to force life. Just be.

And life, in time, will find you.

And thus was born Budha — a being of brilliance, ambiguity, and deep spiritual resonance, whose story would one day ripple across dynasties and shape the fate of kings.

To Be Continued...

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