Story of Shukracharya | The Guru of All Demons

Shukracharya is known to be among the biggest sages of all eras in Hindu mythology. He was considered quite a learned adult, and yet, he did not get any suitable place in Devaloka. So, he became the Acharya or the Guru of the natives considered of the nether world, i.e., the Daityas, the Danavs, and Asuras. Shukracharya made them his learners and offered them with his help by waging war against Devas. Through doing this act, he avenged them for the sake of alienating him. 

Kuber and Shukracharya

Shukracharya came with the attributes that were needed to spearhead the Devas. However, he let his emotions run a course over his rationale. Therefore, he chose to be heading the demons, whose only narrative was to create destruction and havoc. As he duped Kuber, he also stole all the wealth he had. The gods took this complaint to lord shiva, hearing which the lord shiva gulped him. He then resided in the god’s stomach for as many as thousands of years to the point he realized the mistake he was making. Now, he started doing the penance to the lord from the inside. Having been pleased by such a thing, the lord shiva then exerted Shukarcharya in the form of a sperm called Virya. It is termed Shukrany. Due to this, he is also considered to be the son of Shiva or Rudra Putra Shankaracharya. 

Tapasya Tale 

This is not the only time Shukracharaya has amazed the Hindu mythology readers of today – his Tapasya tale for getting the Mantra of Sanjeevani from the lord shiva is considered equally enchanting, if not more. In a more interesting way, before the wage of the war against the Devas, Shukracharya needed to get blessed with Sanjeevani Mantra from the lord. This was because that would save his students from any death through the infusion of life into the bodies, even succeeding to their killing on the battlefield. In that case, he went under a severe kind of penance for pleasing the lord shiva. He is also reported to have himself hanging upside down from a tree. He also did full abstinence from food and water. Rather, he would survive on only the smoke coming from leaves that were burnt. 

When the king of the Devas named Indra got to know about his penance and all the ambition he needed towards it, he made a lot of attempts to disrupt his Tapasya. 

Shukracharya had his rival, and  Dev Guru Brihaspati delivered their son Kacha to become a part of the learners under Shukracharya. This was done in order for the Kacha to learn about the MritSanjivani Vidya. Even while becoming quite aware of the Kacha, he admitted the personality as his learner. The demon, in return, got upset over the fact that he had those learning power from them against his acceptance. This is the reason why there were many attempts from them towards Kacha’s killing, and almost every time, Devyani came to the rescue. She was the daughter of Shukracharya. Though, when the asuras were able to kill the kacha, then they first burned him and then made a powder of his bones. Then, they diluted it with wine that they then served to Shukracharya. The man was not aware of this incident, as that is the reason why he tried resurrecting Kacha and then called for him afterward. 

However, this time, Kacha’s voice now came from his intuition, and following this, Kacha came open. This ripped Shukracharya’s stomach open. However, he had observed MritSanjivani Vidya at that stage. He then resurrected Shukracharya prior to leaving to join Devtas. This would balance both sides and helped him finally win the war. 

Marriage of Shukracharya

Shukracharya married Indra’s daughter named Jayanti. She tried interrupting his Tapasya through the addition of some chilies towards the burned leaves. She also hoped that Shukracharya would leave the penance for saving his life. Rather, it turned out that she was rather surprised seeing all the sage that hung totally inverted even now that the blood was oozing from his mouth openings, including eyes, nose, and mouth. 

After checking that Shukracharya was in severe pain, lord shiva came to the scene, and he released Shukracharya from the pledge that he would have undertaken. Lord Shiva was more than satisfied seeing the overall devotion and commitment of Shukracharya. Also, despite having known the ground reality that the sage was the actual god of the demons, he gave him the power of Sanjeevni’s mantra to go through it. However, he warned the individual interested in it not to misuse it. 

As a matter of fact, after having tried to imbalance the penance of Shukracharya, the daughter made apologies to him and urged him to give them a better shot at life. After this, there was a proposal from her advancing towards marriage. Therefore, the daughter of Shukracharya’s enemy, Jayanti, became the Guru Patni actually. The Guru Patni is referred to as what we call the Patni of the Danvas. 

Later, the subject of the plot went to a full-fledged war happening against Devas and fortunately won.

ASAR Guru

When Ushna hit his stage of puberty, he was pretty strictly sent to sage the Angiras for getting more teachings. Sage angirasa was considered to be among the best sons of Brahma. Also, he had a son who was named Brihaspati. He was the fellow of the subject in terms of studying. When compared, Shukarcharya was more sharp-minded of the two and had more mental agility. However, as Brihaspati was among the sons of the Angiras, this sage was most of the time biased about him that itched Shukracharya as well. Shukracharya referred himself to some of the demons and became the ultimate Guru to the Gods or devtas. This was because of the preferential treatment he thought he was having. 

More Facts about Shukracharya 

Jayanti was not the only wife of Shukracharya. Gow was his second wife. He is sketched to be white-skinned and has a chariot having eight horses in number. He is also portrayed to be the one having Aayudh Dunda as his ultimate weapon. Moreover, he is sketched as someone who would wear a crown with a necklace. He would also be seen as someone who would sit on the white lotus by using his four hands he has. 

He is seen to be carrying the Rudraxmala, Dunda, and Patr in his hands. Varada Mudra is also present in one of the four steps – and according to the Mahabharat, he is regarded as a master of Mantra, Medicines, and Rasa. Shukracharya dedicated his whole life doing the penance that made him go in the good books of the lord shiva. Moreover, he gave up all the money and power he had once for the welfare of his demon learners. He is also considered to be the founder of Shukra Niti, which is a book based on political sciences. 

Final Words

Shukranu and Shukra Planet are some of the terms and ideologies that have ascended from Shukracharya’s story. He helps in the prospering of the whole universe. Also, in the court of the Brahma, he takes participation as one of the planets and pacifies the other ones that would prevent rain.