During the war for the goddess Tara, the wife of Brihaspati, abducted by Soma, Ushanas, the leader of the army of asuras, fought in a duel with the great Shiva, the leader of the army of the gods. The brave son of Bhrigu inflicted many blows on Shiva with his weapon, and although he was not able to sensitively wound the mighty god, he could not hit Ushanas with his formidable trident, for the nimble sage dodged his deadly hand each time. Ushanas jumped onto Shiva's shoulder, from there onto his head, from his head back to his shoulders and, jumping over his shoulders, arms and head, tirelessly dealt him stinging blows with his sword. Finally, the angry Shiva contrived and, catching Ushanas in his mouth, swallowed him. In the womb of Shiva, the ruler of the planet Shukra prayed for mercy, and Shiva, softened by his prayer, vomited him back, and reconciliation took place between them. From then on, Shiva began to favor Ushanas, thinking of him as a son.
Time passed, and again a war broke out between the gods and asuras. At that time, the asuras had already left the path of virtue, rejected sacrifices, and the gods, led by Indra, began to overcome and oppress the asuras. Then the sons of Diti said to Ushanas Kavya, their mentor: “We cannot resist the gods, they have taken away all our possessions from us. We’ll have to give them power over the worlds and retire to the underground hell.” But Ushanas encouraged them: “Don’t be afraid, I will help you. All the wisdom of spells and knowledge of healing herbs belongs to me; the gods have access to only a small portion of that knowledge. I, O asuras, will use my knowledge for your benefit!” The gods, having learned about this, said: “Before the wise son Bhrigu takes the universe from us, we will attack the asuras and destroy them, and drive the survivors into the underworld.” And they again attacked the asuras with all their strength and fury and put them to flight. Seeing this, Ushanas took the asuras under protection; he led them to a safe place and himself blocked the path of the victorious gods. Frightened by his power, the gods stopped their pursuit and turned back. Ushanas said to the asuras: “The gods have already defeated you in twelve battles, and few of you survived for a new battle. Therefore, you do not need to engage in battle with the gods just yet. Wait a while; I will go to the great Shiva and find out from him the path to victory.”
Then Prahdada, the son of Hiranyakasipu, went as an envoy to the gods and told them: “We are ending the war with you. We laid down our arms, left our war chariots, we put on the rough bast dresses of hermits. From now on, in the distant desert, all asuras will indulge in the harsh feats of mortification.” After listening to the speech of the prince of the asuras, the gods, overjoyed, returned to their kingdom. And Ushanas Kavya appeared before Shiva and humbly asked him: “O great god, for the sake of the victory of the asuras over the sons of Aditi, grant me spells that Brihaspati, the mentor of my enemies, does not know.” To this Shiva replied:
“O son of Bhrigu, in order to acquire such spells, you will have to perform great asceticism. For a thousand years you must hang upside down, inhaling the thick smoke of a fire, then you will receive the desired knowledge.” Ushanas bowed before Shiva and respectfully touched his feet. “So be it,” he said. “I will take upon myself this vow and fulfill it, O Lord.” And he left to fulfill his vow.
But the gods still realized that the world offered to them by the asuras was just a cunning trick. They armed themselves again and, led by Brihaspati, their mentor, moved towards the asuras to punish them. And those, seeing that the gods were advancing on them, fell into great confusion. “Our mentor left us to fulfill his vow, and we laid down our arms. Oh gods, you promised us peace, and now you have come here with weapons in your hands to kill us, defenseless, pious ascetics,” said the asuras. And among themselves they decided: “We cannot resist the gods in battle. Until our mentor returns, we will resort to the protection of his mother, the wise wife of Bhrigu.”
And they, frightened, resorted to the protection of Ushanas’ mother. She gave them shelter and said: “Do not be afraid, asuras, you have nothing to fear as long as you are under my protection.” But the furious gods invaded her domain and began to defeat the asuras with their weapons. Seeing that the gods were killing unarmed asuras, Ushanas's mother became angry and said: “I will enchant the gods and they will fall asleep.” And the goddess began to cast spells, and Indra was the first to become numb and lose strength, but the gods, seeing that their king was at the mercy of her spells, were horrified and fled.
Only Vishnu remained with the numb Indra. “Come into me,” he said, “and I will take you away from here.” And the king of the gods entered into his younger brother. When the goddess saw that Vishnu was protecting Indra, she became even more angry: “You cannot escape from me, lord of heaven, I will incinerate you with the power of my spells along with Vishnu!” Fear seized both gods at these words of hers. “How can we escape from her?” - Vishnu asked his brother. He answered him: “Kill her before she burns us both. I am already deprived of power by her spells; kill her without delay!” And Vishnu then planned a sinful act - the murder of a woman. Seized with great fear, he called to himself his weapon - the battle disk - and, hastily throwing it, cut off the head of Ushanas's mother.
When Bhrigu learned that Vishnu had taken his wife’s life, he cursed his youngest son Aditi: “Because you, who know the law of dharma, have violated the prohibition of killing a woman, may you be born seven times on earth among people.” But then, heeding Brahma’s request, he softened his curse and determined that Vishnu would be born many times on earth in human and other forms, and each time for the sake of restoring trampled justice.
Bhrigu's prediction came true; many years later, Vishnu incarnated on earth in the form of the righteous king Rama in order to punish the wicked king of the rakshasa demons Ravana, and Vishnu was born in many more images when the law of dharma was violated in the world.
And Bhrigu then took the severed head of his wife in his hands and placed it against the body: “In the name of the dharma, which I followed unswervingly, may I give you back your life.” He sprinkled her with cold water and said: “Resurrect!”
And the goddess returned to life, as if she had risen from sleep. And the gods, and the asuras, and all the creatures in the universe marveled at the great miracle.
Having learned that Bhrigu had brought his wife back to life, Indra again lost his peace. The power of the hostile clan of Bhrigu frightened him, and he did not sleep at night, inventing a means to gain the upper hand over his enemy. Finally he summoned his daughter, the beautiful Jayanti, and said to her:
Ushanas, the mentor of the asuras, devoted himself to great asceticism in order to deprive me of power. The plan of this sage threatens my destruction. Go to him, my daughter, try to serve him. Please him and charm him for my good.”
Jayanti obeyed her father. She went to where Ushapas Kavya performed his asceticism. She saw him, exhausted, hanging upside down over the sacrificial fire, inhaling thick clouds of smoke. Following her father’s word, Jayanti praised the great ascetic and remained to serve him for many years. She tirelessly rubbed his hands and feet, anointed them with ointments that refreshed the skin, and the obedient daughter of the lord of heaven provided Ushanas with all kinds of services.
When the thousand-year period of the vow had passed, Shiva, pleased with the asceticism of Ushanas, granted him knowledge inaccessible to the gods and no one else in the universe. Thus, the mentor of the asuras became invincible.
Then he turned to Jayanti and said: “Who are you, O beautiful maiden, who shared with me the hardships of great asceticism? How can I reward you for your devotion? Name your wish, and I will immediately fulfill it, no matter how difficult it may be for me!” “O brahmana,” she answered, “your asceticism has given you the ability to penetrate the thoughts of another. You yourself know what I want.” “You want to unite with me, beauty,” Ushanas said then. “And I know that you want to spend a hundred years with a lot and for all this time both of us to remain invisible to any living creature. So be it, may your wish come true.” Together with Jayanti, he retired to his home, and there they remained for a hundred years, invisible to prying eyes - such power was bestowed upon Ushapas by his asceticism.
The sons of Diti, having learned that Ushanas had fulfilled his vow and earned the mercy of Shiva, rejoiced and came to his abode. But they did not find their mentor - they did not see a trace of him anywhere. “He hasn’t returned yet,” they thought and went home. Meanwhile, the gods turned to their mentor Brihaspati: “Go quickly to the asuras, while the son of Bhrigu is not with them, and lead them astray from the true path, so that they may fall under your power.” And Brihaspati took the form of Ushanas and came to the asuras; They believed that it was their mentor who returned to them after a thousand years of asceticism. And for a hundred years Brihaspati was the high priest of the asuras in the guise of Ushanas Kavya.
But a hundred years passed, and the real Ushanas returned to the asuras. When he appeared in the assembly of asuras and they saw him, they were filled with surprise and said: “Here is one Ushanas sitting in the place of our mentor, and here is another who has come to the assembly - truly, this amazes us. What could this mean?
And Ushanas, seeing Brihaspati sitting in his guise in his place, became angry and said: “O mentor of the gods, why have you come here? You seduce my disciples, but they, fools, deceived by you, do not recognize me now. It is unworthy for a brahmana to seduce other people's disciples. Go to the gods and stay there, following your duty, otherwise you are in danger of destruction here.” But the son of Angiras, having heard these words, answered with a smile: “I have never heard of a thief who steals not someone else’s property, but someone else’s image. I recognized you, you are Brihaspati, the son of Angiras, the mentor of the gods. Look, asuras, here is a deceiver who has come here in my guise at the instigation of Vishnu. Tie him up and throw him into the sea!”
Ushanas said, addressing the asuras: “Asuras, I am your mentor, who returned with the gift of Shiva after fulfilling a thousand-year vow, I have earned this precious gift for your benefit. And this is Brihaspati, the son of Angiras, he is deceiving you in order to bring victory to the celestials.
I tell you the truth - he took my place while I was away from you."
But the asuras did not believe him. “Let the one who came here earlier remain our mentor, and let this one leave,” said the leaders of the asuras. The angry Ushanas cursed them: “O miserable fools, you have renounced me, but soon you will pay for your folly, soon you will lose both your possessions and your life itself!” And he retired into the forests.
And Brihaspati remained with the asuras. And gradually he began to confuse their minds with false teaching. He turned them away from the veneration of the Vedas and from sacrifices. “The Holy Scripture brings nothing but misfortune to its worshipers,” he said. “For the sake of selfish goals, despicable people make sacrifices to the gods, allowing their wives to participate in their rituals and taking the lives of living beings.” And he blasphemed the great gods, Vishnu and Shiva, and exposed the sinfulness of Indra and Brihaspati.
Of all the asuras, only the righteous Prahlada, the son of Hiranyakasipu, resisted temptation; all the rest believed the false teaching of Brihaspati, whom they took to be Ushanas. Seduced by his preaching, the asuras renounced family life and rejected worldly goods. Naked, with shaved heads, they retired to the banks of the Narmada River, giving the gods power over the three worlds. And only later, when Ushanas returned to the asuras and brought them to reason, they forgot their vows and again began to fight with the gods for power over the universe.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru