BR^ihaspati and the Caarvaakas.

[S Krishna]

Dr Howard REsnick writes:

>S.Krishna writes:
>>Anshuman Pandey:
>>Also, could anyone tell me when and why BR^ihaspati became linked with 
>>the Caarvaakas and how strong the connection between these two was? 
And  lastly, what is the reasoning behind crediting BR^ihaspati as the 
founder of politics?

	In this regard, could someone comment on any possible relationship 
between the Brhaspati linked to Carvaka, politics, hedonism etc., and 
the Brhaspati of the Mahabharata, Bhagavat-purana, etc., i.e. the father 
of Kaca, the guruof Indra, etc? This Brhaspati, in order to advise the 
gods, was presumably learned in political science, but is not linked to 
hedonism. Is this supposed to be the same person?
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Howard J. Resnick 


Speaking for myself, I find arguements that support and disprove the 
arguement that the two Brhaspatis are one and the same. To support the 
the fact that the two are one and the same:
1. Both are mentioned as the preceptor of the Devas.
2. Both misguide the Asuras into doing things that led to their    
downfall. 
3. Both are depicted as being involved in the writing,transmission of    
various manuscripts.

To disprove the arguement , we have:

1. The Brhaspati who gave "birth" to KaCa was not a hedonist.
2. This Brhaspatis wife( the wife of the father of kaCa) was a chaste
   woman. The wife of the hedonistic Brhaspati on the other hand was     
seduced by Chandra .
3. There is nothing that explicitly states that Brhaspati the       
preceptor of the Devas had emphasized the importance of wordly
   luxuries nor did he have a disciple called carvAka.( to the best of    
my knowledge).
4. carvAka was a historical character. If Brhaspati the hedonist were    
his guru, it can be assumed that Brhaspati the Guru was also a       
historical character. I am not aware of anything historical about
   Brhaspati the Guru of the Devas. This Brhaspati identifies with
   Brhaspati who is found in Astrology i.e. the planet Jupiter and
   to the best of my knowledge, the planet Jupiter is not historical
   but more a consequence of astrology and mythology.


My own GUESS is that at some stage, somebody added some attributes
of Sukra( the traditional rival of Brhaspati) to the character of
the original Brhaspati in order to come up with the available 
characterization of Brhaspati, the guru of Carvaaka.(Pls note that there 
is a remarkable resemblence bwtween them if one were to ignore
the hedonism factor. If we donot take into consideration their family 
backgrounds i.e. one being the father of kaCa, devayAni and husband of
tArA(?) and the others wife having been seduced by Chandra, then the two 
individuals seem to be the same.) Sukra on the other, is depicted as a 
pleasure loving Brahmin and is identified with wealth,pleasure and 
hedonism in astrology. It may have do with the fact that in the story of 
kaCa Brhaspati drinks a goblet of wine. This incident if taken all by 
itself, can prove to be the nucleus of his being painted as a hedonist. 
If one were to add layers of stories to this base, it is possible to 
derive the character of Brhaspati the guru of Carvaaka
from the character of Brhaspati the guru of the Devas.
  D.P.Chattopadhyaya also says that there were a number of people called 
Brhaspati who seemed to collapse into fewer and fewer characters as time 
passed by.. I wouldn't be surprised if this were one more case of such 
projection/collapse of two characters into one.
  My answer therefore is a VERY cautious NO as far as the question:
"Were the two Brhaspatis the same ? "is concerned.

Regards,
Krishna

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