Budha
Encyclopedia
In Hindu mythology
, Budha ' onMouseout='HidePop("72296")' href="/topics/Tamil_language">Tamil
: புதன் ) is the name for the planet Mercury
, a son of Chandra
(the moon
) with Tara or Rohini. He is also the god of merchandise and protector of Merchants.
He is represented as being mild, eloquent, and having a greenish complexion. He is represented holding a scimitar, a club and a shield, riding a winged lion in Ramghur temple. In other illustrations, he holds a sceptre and lotus and rides a carpet or an eagle or a chariot drawn by lions.
Budha presides over 'Budhavara' or Wednesday
. In modern Hindi
, Urdu
, Telugu
, Bengali
, Marathi
, Kannada
and Gujarati
, Wednesday is called Budhavara; Tamil
: Budhan kizhamai; Malayalam: Budhanazhcha; Thai: Wan Phut (.)
Budha married Ila
, the daughter of Vaivasvata Manu and fathered a son Pururava.
was a student with Brihaspati
, the Teacher of devas
. Tara
was the wife of Brihaspati. Tara fell in love with the beauty of Chandra and started living with him deserting Brihaspati. When Brihaspati asked her to come back, she refused. Brihaspati got angry and a war eventually started between Chandra and Brihaspati. Sukracharya, the teacher of the Asura
s joined Chandra in the battle. The devas
joined Brihaspati in the battle. A huge battle started. As the battle was due to Tara Kama
, the battle was known as Tarakaamayam. Lord Brahma
, the creator of the universe feared the war might abolish the world. Hence he came down and stopped the war. He convinced Tara, took her away from Chandra and gave her back to Brihaspati. Budha, a beautiful kid was born to Tara. Both Brihaspati and Chandra claimed to be the father of Budha. But Tara kept silence. Budha himself got angry over this tussle and asked her mother to tell the truth. Tara said that Chandra was the father of Budha.
to do Tapas
. Vishnu
, pleased with the tapas, shows up to Budha and in his blessings Budha learns all the Vedas
and arts.
in Tamil Nadu
which houses the Navagraha temple has a shrine for Budha in the northern end of the Brahmavidyambhika Temple.
Budha is considered a benefic, unless he is joined with a malefic planet, in which case he becomes malefic also. Mercury rules over Mithuna (Gemini) and Kanya (Virgo), is exalted in Kanya and in his fall in Meena (Pisces). Budha is friendly with the Sun and Venus, hostile to the Moon and neutral towards the other planets.Budha represents intelligence, intellect, communication, analysis, the senses (especially the skin), science, mathematics, business, education and research. The written word and journeys of all types fall within his domain. Budha is lord of three nakshatra
s or lunar mansions: Ashlesha, Jyeshtha, and Revati (nakshatra)
. Budha has the following associations: the color green, the metal brass and gemstone emerald. The direction associated with Budha is north, the season is autumn and the element is earth.
Hindu mythology
Hindu religious literature is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas. As such, it is a subset of Nepali and Indian culture...
, Budha ' onMouseout='HidePop("72296")' href="/topics/Tamil_language">Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
: புதன் ) is the name for the planet Mercury
Mercury (planet)
Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt. It completes three rotations about its axis for every two orbits...
, a son of Chandra
Chandra
In Hinduism, Chandra is a lunar deity and a Graha. Chandra is also identified with the Vedic Lunar deity Soma . The Soma name refers particularly to the juice of sap in the plants and thus makes the Moon the lord of plants and vegetation. He is described as young, beautiful, fair; two-armed and...
(the moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
) with Tara or Rohini. He is also the god of merchandise and protector of Merchants.
He is represented as being mild, eloquent, and having a greenish complexion. He is represented holding a scimitar, a club and a shield, riding a winged lion in Ramghur temple. In other illustrations, he holds a sceptre and lotus and rides a carpet or an eagle or a chariot drawn by lions.
Budha presides over 'Budhavara' or Wednesday
Wednesday
Wednesday is a day of the week in the Gregorian calendar. According to international standard ISO 8601, it is the third day of the week. This day is between Tuesday and Thursday...
. In modern Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
, Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
, Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
, Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
, Kannada
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
and Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
, Wednesday is called Budhavara; Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
: Budhan kizhamai; Malayalam: Budhanazhcha; Thai: Wan Phut (.)
Budha married Ila
Ila (Hinduism)
Ila is an androgyne in Hindu mythology, known for his/her sex changes. As a man, he is known as Ila or Sudyumna and as a woman, is called Ilā...
, the daughter of Vaivasvata Manu and fathered a son Pururava.
Birth of Budha
ChandraChandra
In Hinduism, Chandra is a lunar deity and a Graha. Chandra is also identified with the Vedic Lunar deity Soma . The Soma name refers particularly to the juice of sap in the plants and thus makes the Moon the lord of plants and vegetation. He is described as young, beautiful, fair; two-armed and...
was a student with Brihaspati
Brihaspati
Bṛhaspati also known as Brahmanaspati and Deva-guru , is the name of a Vedic deity...
, the Teacher of devas
Deva (Hinduism)
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
. Tara
Taraka
' was the second wife of Hindu God Brihaspati, God of planet Jupiter. According to the Puranas, Tara sired or mothered child named Budha through Chandra ....
was the wife of Brihaspati. Tara fell in love with the beauty of Chandra and started living with him deserting Brihaspati. When Brihaspati asked her to come back, she refused. Brihaspati got angry and a war eventually started between Chandra and Brihaspati. Sukracharya, the teacher of the Asura
Asura
-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asuras constitute a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes considered sinful and materialistic. The Daityas and Danavas were combinedly known as Asuras. The Asura were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa...
s joined Chandra in the battle. The devas
Deva (Hinduism)
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
joined Brihaspati in the battle. A huge battle started. As the battle was due to Tara Kama
Kama
Kāma is often translated from Sanskrit as sexual desire, sexual pleasure, sensual gratification, sexual fulfillment, or eros54654564+more broadly mean desire, wish, passion, longing, pleasure of the senses, the aesthetic enjoyment of life, affection, or love, without sexual connotations.-Kama in...
, the battle was known as Tarakaamayam. Lord Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, the creator of the universe feared the war might abolish the world. Hence he came down and stopped the war. He convinced Tara, took her away from Chandra and gave her back to Brihaspati. Budha, a beautiful kid was born to Tara. Both Brihaspati and Chandra claimed to be the father of Budha. But Tara kept silence. Budha himself got angry over this tussle and asked her mother to tell the truth. Tara said that Chandra was the father of Budha.
Growth of Budha
Chandra gives child Budha to Rohini and Kruthika, two of his wives to raise him. Budha grows under supervision of Rohini and Kruthika. He grows in to a young man but he also has the anger on his father as he grows due to the shame of his birth. He wants to rectify the sin of his birth and hence goes to Saravanavana in the HimalayasHimalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
to do Tapas
Tapas (Sanskrit)
Tapasya in Sanskrit means "heat". In Vedic religion and Hinduism, it is used figuratively, denoting spiritual suffering, mortification or austerity, and also the spiritual ecstasy of a yogin or tāpasá . In the Rigveda, the word is connected with the Soma cult...
. Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
, pleased with the tapas, shows up to Budha and in his blessings Budha learns all the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
and arts.
Temples of Budha
ThiruvenkaduThiruvenkadu
Swetharanyeswarar Temple is a Hindu temple located in the town of Thiruvenkadu near Sirkazhi. The main deity is Shiva - Swetharanyeswarar and the goddess is Brahma Vidya ambal. There is a separate Sannidhi for Bhudhan...
in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
which houses the Navagraha temple has a shrine for Budha in the northern end of the Brahmavidyambhika Temple.
In astrology
In Vedic astrologyJyotisha
Hindu astrology , also Jyotish or Jyotisha, from Sanskrit , from "light, heavenly body") is the ancient Indian system of astronomy and astrology...
Budha is considered a benefic, unless he is joined with a malefic planet, in which case he becomes malefic also. Mercury rules over Mithuna (Gemini) and Kanya (Virgo), is exalted in Kanya and in his fall in Meena (Pisces). Budha is friendly with the Sun and Venus, hostile to the Moon and neutral towards the other planets.Budha represents intelligence, intellect, communication, analysis, the senses (especially the skin), science, mathematics, business, education and research. The written word and journeys of all types fall within his domain. Budha is lord of three nakshatra
Nakshatra
Nakshatra is the term for lunar mansion in Hindu astrology. A nakshatra is one of 27 sectors along the ecliptic...
s or lunar mansions: Ashlesha, Jyeshtha, and Revati (nakshatra)
Revati (nakshatra)
Revati is the twenty-seventh nakshatra in Hindu astrology, corresponding to ζ Piscium.It is ruled by Puṣan,one of the 12 Ādityas...
. Budha has the following associations: the color green, the metal brass and gemstone emerald. The direction associated with Budha is north, the season is autumn and the element is earth.