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Bhrigu - W J Wilkins

"When Brahma wished to populate the world, he created mind-born sons, like himself; viz., Bhrigu, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Angiras, Marichi, Daksha, Atri, and Vasishtha: These are the nine Brahmas or Brahmarishis celebrated in the Puranas."1 Originally seven only were mentioned in the Mahabharata; but the lists found in different parts of that Epic do not agree with each other. These seven are supposed to be visible in the Great Bear, as their wives shine in the Pleiades. These Brahmarishis are also called Prajapatis (lords of offspring), Brahmaputras (sons of Brahma), and Brahmanas. The "Vishnu Purana" teaches that Bhrigu married his niece Khyati, a daughter of Daksha, who bore to him Sri or Lakshmi; but as it was the common belief that she was one of the products of the churning of the ocean, the reciter of the Purana is asked to explain this discrepancy. The substance of his answer was, that "of gods, animals, and man, Hari is all that is called male, Lakshmi is all that is termed female."

In his account of the creation, Manu mentions ten Maharishis as having been created by himself, one of whom is Bhrigu, who in his turn created seven other Manus, from whom all that is has sprung.2 The Mahabharata says: "Six great Rishis are known as the mind-born sons of Brahma;" but Bhrigu is not named amongst them. In another passage it describes him as a son of Varuna, but Brahma is there identified with Varuna. At a sacrifice at which Brahma officiated, a portion of Varuna was thrown into the sacrificial fire, whence there arose three men endowed with bodies. Bhrigu sprang first from bhrik (the blazing of the fire), Angiras from the cinders, and Kavi from a heap of ashes. The god called Mahadeva, Varuna, and Pavana, claimed these three as his own. Agni and Brahma also claimed them3. It was agreed that Bhrigu was Varuna’s son. Agni received Angiras, and Brahma took Kavi. In another part of that poem it is said, "We have heard that the great and venerable Rishi Bhrigu was produced by Brahma from fire at the sacrifice of Varuna4." The "Bhagavata Purana" says that "he sprang from the skin of the Creator;" and the Mahabharata, in another verse, declares that "the venerable Bhrigu, having split Brahma’s heart, issued forth."

At the great sacrifice of Daksha, to which Siva was not invited, Bhrigu officiated as priest; and because he reviled that god and his followers, and justified Daksha in slighting him, he suffered the loss of his beard.

The Mahabharata gives a legend of Bhrigu cursing Indra. The Indra of that age, named Nahusha, being filled with pride, lost the benefit of his previous good works, and in his presumption caused the Rishis to carry him about. When it came to Agastya’s turn to carry him, Bhrigu said to him, "Why do we submit to the insults of this wicked king of the gods?" Agastya replied that none of the Rishis had cursed Nahusha, because he had received as a boon the power to subject to his service any on whom he fixed his eye; but that at the same time he was quite ready to act upon any suggestion Bhrigu might make. Bhrigu then told him that he had been sent by Brahma to take vengeance on Nahusha, who would that very day attach Agastya to his car and kick him; but incensed at this insult, he (Bhrigu) would by a curse condemn the oppressor to become a serpent.

The mighty Nahusha summoned Agastya from the banks of the Sarasvati to carry him. The glorious Bhrigu then said to Maitravarum (Agastya), "Close thy eyes, whilst I enter into the knot of thy hair!" With the view of overthrowing the king, Bhrigu hid himself in the hair of Agastya, who then stood motionless as a stock. Nahusha came to Agastya, when the sage desired to be attached to the vehicle, and agreed to carry the king of the gods wherever he pleased. Nahusha attached him, but Bhrigu did not venture to look at him, knowing his power of subduing by a glance. Agastya kept his temper; even when urged by a goad, he remained unmoved. The king at last kicked him; then Bhrigu, invisible in the hair of Agastya, became enraged, and violently cursed him: "Since, fool, thou hast in thine anger smitten the great Muni on the head with thy foot, therefore become a serpent, and fall swiftly to the earth5." Thus cursed, Nahusha fell to the earth; had the sage been seen by Indra, he would have been unable to punish the oppressor.

Bhrigu on another occasion cursed Agni. The Mahabharata says: A woman named Puloma was betrothed to a demon; Bhrigu, seeing her beauty, married her according to Vedic rites, and carried her off secretly. The demon, by the aid of Agni, discovered the bride’s hiding-place, and took her away to his home. For rendering the demon this assistance, Bhrigu, cursing Agni, said, "From this day, you shall eat everything." Agni asked Bhrigu why he had cursed him, seeing that by speaking the truth he had simply done his duty; and reminded him that "When a person is asked a question, and intentionally speaks what is false, he, with seven preceding and seven succeeding generations, is cast into hell; and that he who withholds information is equally guilty." He goes on to say, "I, too, can curse, but respecting Brahmans restrain my anger. I am really the mouth of the gods and ancestors. When ghi is offered to them, they partake of it through me as their mouth; how then can I be said to eat everything?" Bhrigu hearing this consented to modify his curse, by saying that, "as the Sun by his light and heat purifies all nature, so Agni should purify all that passed through him."

Bhrigu is said to have performed a most wonderful deed; the transforming of a Kshattriya king into a Brahman. The Mahabharata6 gives the following account of this unique work: "Divodasa, King of Kasi (Benares), was attacked by the sons of Vitahavya, and all his family slain in battle. The afflicted monarch therefore resorted to the sage Bharadvaja, who performed for him a sacrifice, in consequence of which a son named Pratardana was born to him. Pratardana, becoming an accomplished warrior, was sent by his father to take vengeance on the Vitahavyas. Vitahavya had now to fly to another sage, Bhrigu, who promised his protection. The avenger Pratardana, however, followed, and demanded that the refugee should be given up. Bhrigu, the most eminent of religious men, filled with compassion, said, ‘There is no Kshattriya here; all these are Brahmans.’ Hearing this true assertion of Bhrigu, Pratardana was glad, and, gently touching the sage’s feet, rejoined, ‘Even thus, O glorious saint, I have gained my object, for I have compelled this king to relinquish his caste.’ This Vitahavya, by the mere word of Bhrigu, became a Brahman Rishi, and an utterer of the Vedas."

The names of nineteen Bhrigus are given in the "Matsya Purana," who are said to be composers of hymns; Bhrigu himself being one of the narrators of the Mahabharata. Professor Roth7 speaks of the Bhrigus as a class of mythological beings, who belonged to the aerial or middle class of gods. They were the discoverers of fire, and then brought it to men. He adds that the race has a connection with history, as one of the chief Brahmanical families bears the name, and allusions are made to the fact in the hymns of the Rig-Veda.

In the Ramayana, there are not many references to Bhrigu; he is there called a Maharishi; and Rama is induced to slay a female demon by the remembrance that Vishnu slew Brigu’s wife when she aspired to Indra’s throne. He is the saint whom the childless wives of Sagar worshipped in order to obtain a son; and he gave to one lady one, to the other sixty thousand. Parasurama was one of his most illustrious descendants.

Foote Notes

1. "Vishnu Purana," p.49.
2. Muir, O.S.T., i.36.
3. Ibid., i.445.
4. Ibid.
5. Muir, O.S.T., i.314.
6. Muir, O.S.T., i.229.
7. Muir, O.S.T., i.442.

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