Bhrigu is one of the most mentioned sages in Vedic literature. He is also one of the Saptarishi. Just like Marichi, he is a Saptarishi and one of the Prajapati, the mind-son of Lord Brahma. He is the author of one of the most famous books of astrology which is the “Bhrigu Samhita”. He did the task of collecting birth charts on which he noted life predictions. He successfully assembled all of these together into Bhrigu Samhita. Considering the day and age of Sage Bhrigu, it is safe to say that his book is one of the first books to give a deep insight into the field of Astrology. It can definitely be called one of its kind. His book is a compilation of predictive astrology which is a crucial part of the book.
The sage has been mentioned in Shiva Purana as well as the Vayu Purana. He is said to be attending the yajna (spiritual offering) arranged by Daksha Prajapati who is his father in law. He supported the prolongation of the Daksha Yajna even when everyone was warned about the disastrous and calamitous effects on attendees. This was because the yajna offered nothing to Lord Shiva. This yajna as predicted did not end well for the world. Shri Krishna says that Bhrigu is indicative of the magnificence and grandeur of deities.
He is associated with various fascinating stories. One of them is how Bhrigu tested the patience of the Trimurti – Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva. This story is more of his ego and pride in his power being destroyed by the Trimurti. Bhrigu was entrusted with the task of finding the greatest deity out of the Trimurti. On the contrary, it became a test of their patience against Bhrigu due to his egoistic behaviour. Various great sages had gathered on the banks of river Saraswati to conduct offerings. The sages could not narrow down on who to offer the position of being the supreme master of the offering. Hence, Bhrigu was given the task of finding out the prominent deity.
He started his search by visiting Lord Brahma primarily. Brahma was spending some quality time with his wife, Saraswati and reciting Vedas. He ignored the sage’s arrival which made the sage furious and insulted. He started insulting Brahma who was then infuriated. Bhrigu thought it was best to run off to Kailash and visit Lord Shiva. To his dismay, Lord Shiva was spending time with Parvati. Shiva was irritated by the sage’s visit but was calmed by his spouse, Parvati. Bhrigu decided to now leave Kailash and visit Vaikuntha. He had to only visit Lord Vishnu now.
Vishnu could not see Bhrigu as he was in deep sleep. Bhrigu made the grave mistake of kicking Vishnu in his chest in an attempt to wake him up. After waking up, Lord Vishnu started massaging the feet of the sage. In this process, he smartly destroyed his third eye which was placed on his feet. This is a classic story of how pride and ego can lead to the destruction of one in a way or the other. Bhrigu realised his mistake, his egotistical behaviour and was in great pain. He started begging Lord Vishnu who ultimately forgave him. Bhrigu announced for Lord Vishnu to be the supreme among the three gods.
The descendants and disciples of Bhrigu started to be called Bhargava as per various ancient Vedic texts.
Click here to read about Sage Marichi – The Founder Of Vedanta.
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