TARAKAMAYA: THE WAR OVER TARA-Forward Dear friends,
There was a query inQuora whether there was any war in Sathya yuga like Rama and Ravana in Threthayuga, Mahabhabharatha war in Dwaparayuga. There was a short answer about warbetween Devas and Asuras in Sathya yuga on abduction of Tharamaya. Today my posting is aboutthe war in Sathya yuga told in detail in different websites. No compilation isdone. Hope an interesting andINFORMATIVE reading about the war in Sathya Yuga. Gopalakrishnan 8-8-2025. Google search answer in brief The war over Tara, wifeof Brihaspati, is known as the Tarakamaya War and is a significant event in Hindu mythology during theSatya Yuga. It erupted when the moon god, Soma, abducted Tara,Brihaspati's wife, and refused to return her despite pleas from the gods. Thisled to a fierce battle between the gods and demons, with Shiva and Vishnuplaying prominent roles on the side of the gods. Ultimately, Brahma intervened,forcing Soma to return Tara. Here's a more detailedbreakdown: The Abduction: Soma, the moon god,desired Tara and forcibly took her from her husband, Brihaspati, the guru ofthe gods. The War: Brihaspati, along withthe other gods, waged war against Soma and the demons who sided with him, ledby Shukracharya, the guru of the demons. Key Participants: Shiva, Vishnu, and Indraled the charge on the side of the gods, while Shukracharya and his demon hordessupported Soma. Brahma's Intervention: The war raged for a longtime, causing devastation and prompting the gods to seek Brahma's intervention. Resolution: Brahma, the creator god,intervened and ordered Soma to return Tara to Brihaspati, bringing an end tothe conflict. Consequences: The war resulted in the birth of Budha (Mercury), Tara andSoma's son, who became a skilled warrior. Significance: The Tarakamaya War isconsidered one of the most significant and devastating battles in Hindumythology, even though it is not described in great detail in the Mahabharata.The conflict highlights themes of love, jealousy, and rivalry, as well as thecomplex relationships between the gods and their consorts First site Today, I bring youanother family drama, this time about the Moon. If there’s any god in Hinduism that hasconstantly committed sins and took the immoral path, it is Soma, the Moon god.In this story, Soma kidnaps his own Guru’s wife, eventually leading to a wholewar between the Devas and Asuras. I like to think of this story as essentially the Indian equivalent of theTrojan War story in Greece. Soma’s Rajasuya Yagna This story is in theHarivamsha, Book 1, Chapter 25 and the Brahmanda Purana, Upodghata-parva,Chapter 65 The sage Atri, one of theManasputras (mind-born sons) of Brahma, wanted to have a child. He performed asilent penance for three-thousand celestial years. As he was deep inmeditation, his body rose up into the sky and streams of tears began floodingfrom his eyes. Ten goddesses from the ten directions (north, south, east, west,northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, zenith, nadir) together conceived aembryo with a child inside. Butdue to the divinity of this child, the ten women could not contain it and thechild fell down to the Earth. As the child fell, Lord Brahma caught the child in hischariot of thousand horses. He encircled the Earth twenty-onetimes and then came down onto the Earth. This child became Soma. The child performed penancefor a thousand years and attained immense power and glory. Due to his penance, Brahma appointedhim the god of the Moon (Chandra). He also became the lord of medicinal plants,grasses, and seeds. Daksha gave his 27 daughters(the 27 Nakshatra constellations) to Soma in marriage.Soma then decided to perform the Rajasuya Yagna. The ShatapathaBrahmana describes this as the ultimate ritual, meant for declaring a worldemperor. Butthis was a special Rajasuya yagna. Gods and sages like Atri, Bhrigu,Sanatkumara, Brahma, and even Vishnu himself were priests in this yagna. Thisyagna further increased Soma’s power and glory around the universe. The Kidnapping of Tara This story is in the Padma Purana, Srishti-khanda,Chapter 12 As Soma attained immense fame, his arrogance andimmorality increased. One day, he saw a beautiful womanwalking around in a garden. She was adorned with bright flowers and ornaments. This woman’s name was Tara, and herhusband was none other than Brihaspati, the Guru of the Devas. But when Soma saw her, his heartmissed a beat. He instantly fell in love and in lust, he seized her by the hairand kidnapped her, taking her to his house. Time went on, and Taradeveloped feelings for Soma. They would spend all day in Soma’s palaces,enjoying each other’s company. When Brihaspati found outabout his wife’s abduction, he was enraged. He sent Maruts( My note- Martuthir Devathas-werefer in Kandarshi tharpanam tomorrow on upakarma day), Sadhyas,Dikapalas, and other gods to convince Soma to return his wife, but Soma refused. EvenBrahma went to ask Soma to return Tara, but Soma didn’t care. Eventually, Lord Shiva became angry. Shiva had studied underAngiras, Brihaspati’s father, and he was good friends with Brihaspati. Indratoo sided with his Guru Brihaspati. Thus, Shiva and Indra led an army of gods against Soma. At the same time, the Asuras andtheir guru Shukracharya sided with Soma. Hence, an all-out war broke outbetween the Devas and the Asuras. Tarakamaya War This story is in the Padma Purana, Srishti-khanda, Chapter12 Just a quick background:the Puranas describe 12 major wars between the Devas and the Asuras, andseveral other minor ones. The word Tarakamaya (Sanskrit: तारकामय युद्ध)literally translates to ‘war over the love of Tara’. Tarakamaya issaid to be the 5th major war between the Devas and the Asuras. The Tarakamaya war isdescribed as a deadly and bloody conflict. On Brihaspati’s side were the gods,Ganas, Yakshas, Siddhas, all led by Shiva. On Soma’s side were what seemed likeoceans of Vetalas, Sarpas, Kinnaras, Nagas, Rakshasas, and Asuras like Jambhaand Kujambha. Both sides launched powerful weapons capable ofdestroying entire planets. Shiva launched the Brahmashiras, a weaponsuperior to even the Brahmastra. Both sides had heavy casualties. The world was on the verge of destruction as this war continued for a longtime. The Birth of Mercury This story is in theHarivamsha, Book 1, Chapter 25 and the Brahmanda Purana, Upodghata-parva,Chapter 65 As the war continued, theTushitas (a class of Devas) asked Brahma to intervene, or else the war would goon forever. Thus, Brahma came on the battlefield and prevented Shiva and Shukracharya from fighting. He ordered Soma to giveTara back to Brihaspati. Finally, Soma relented. He was tiringof fighting, so he returned Tara. But there was one problem: Tara was pregnant.In some versions of the story, Tara gave birth to the child after one year. Butin other versions, Brihaspati ordered Tara to give birth to the child rightthen and there. But anyways, when Tara gave birth to the child, bothSoma and Brihaspati claimed to be the father. They both argued over whothe father was. When they asked Tara, she gave no reply out of the shame thatshe had slept with two men. At this point, the divine childhimself was about to curse his own mother if she didn’t reveal his true father.Tara looked down and silently mumbled, “He is Soma’s.” Soma proudly wore a smile on hisface as he lifted up his child and named it ‘Budha’. Budha, alsoknown as ‘Dasyuhantama’, is the god of the planet Mercury. Budha would go on to marryIla and have a son named Pururavas, the first king of the famous lunar dynastyof kings (Chandravansha). WIKIPEDIA The greatest war happened in Satya yuga and arguably,most devastating war. It was the Tarakamaya war, Ramayana and Mahabharata pales in comparison tothis. The conflict occurred after Soma abducted Tara, wife of Brihaspati. Despite the devas requesting him to return her, Soma did not relent, The Tarakamaya War . 'war over the love of Tara' is describedto be an ancient conflict in Hindu mythology, instigated by the elopement ofTara, the consort of Brihaspati, by Soma, the god of the moon. It is mentioned in the Padma Purana,and described to be the fifth war in the series of Devasura Sangrama, thebattles between the devas and the asuras. Legend According to one legend, this abduction had occurred topunish Brihaspati for his extramarital affair with Mamata, the pregnant wife ofUtathya. Another legend states that the abduction occurred due toSoma's arrogance, due to the success of his rajasuya ceremony. Soma refused to return Tara to her husband, despite an intervention byIndra.Brihaspati, the preceptor, was aided by Indra and the devas, allied with theyakshas, while Soma was assisted by Shukra and the daityas, allied with thedanavas. Led by Rudra, the devas assaulted the asuras with divine missiles, andthe asuras returned this assault with a barrage of their own. The Brahmanda Purana states thatVishnu participated in the war as well, slaying the asura Kalanemi. Indra is stated to have slain Virochana, the son of Prahlada,who had sided with Soma. Eventually,Brahma intervened and restored Tara to her husband. In due course, she gavebirth to Budha, who both Brihaspati and Soma claimed as theirs until Taraaffirmed that the latter was the father. Quora Answer Q IfRamayana belongs to Treta Yuga and Mahabharata belongs to Dwapara Yuga, whathappened in Satya Yuga? A Eagle,HK7mo The greatest war happened in Satya yuga and arguably, mostdevastating war. It was the Tarakamaya war, Ramayana and Mahabharata pales incomparison to this. The conflict occurredafter Soma abducted Tara, wife of Brihaspati. Despite the devas requesting him to return her, Somadid not relent, Gods headed by Shiva, Vishnu and Indra launched an assault onSoma who was assisted by Shukracharya(due to enmity with Brihaspati) and hisdemon hordes. As per puranas, in this battle, Vishnu killed a demon namedKalanemi as well as several others, whilst Shiva hurled Brahmashira againstdemons. , Shukracharyawas the main adversary of Siva in this battle. The war went for a long time with either side undefeated,. Agroup of devas requested Brahma to put an end to it. Brahma's intervention concluded the war and Tara wasrestored to Brihaspati. He disregarded the sons of Aṅgiras and suddenly abducted therenowned wife of Bṛhaspati named Tārā. 30. Even after being requested by the Devas and divinesages, he never let-off Tārā to Bṛhaspati, the son of Aṅgiras. 31-33. Uśanas took up his (Soma’s) side and Bhava (Śiva) thatof Aṅgiras (i.e. Bṛhaspati), for that person of great brilliance was thedisciple of the father of Bṛhaspati formerly. It was out of this affection thatlord Rudra became the ally of Bṛhaspati and took the bow Ajagava. A great miraculous missile named Brahmaśiras was dischargedby that noble-souled one after aiming at the Devas, whereby their reputationwas destroyed. 34. There a well-known battle between the Devas and Dānavastook place. It was known as Tārakāmaya (concerning Tārā). It was destructive ofthe worlds. 35. The Devas whosurvived this battle are remembered as Tuṣitas. They sought refuge in God Brahmā, the primordiallord, the grandfather of the world. 36. Then the grandfather (i.e. Brahmā) himself came thereand prevented Uśanas and Rudra, from fighting. He restored Tārā to Aṅgiras (Bṛhaspati). ~Brahmanda Purana. O dear one, formerly Bṛhaspati’s glorious wife named Tārā wasforcibly kidnapped by the powerful Candra (i.e. the Moon). Kidnapping Bṛhaspati’swife the Moon took her to his house and dallied with her for a long time. Odear one, after some time she conceived. Then Bṛhaspati appealed (to Candra toreturn) his wife. Candra too, overcome by pride and puffed up by his power, didnot give her (back). Then, O dear one, Bṛhaspati, getting ready along with godslike Indra, started fighting with the powerful Candra. To help Candra Śukrathen came there to the battle that was commenced with the demons. Then a greatwar for Tārā took place. All people will look upon (that battle called)Tārakāmaya as important. In that very terrible war (both) gods and demons werekilled. O dear one, no one was victorious or defeated. Then Brahmā came there, and stoppingthat fierce battle, gave, after admonishing the Moon, Tārā to Bṛhaspati. Bṛhaspati,seeing Tārā to be pregnant, was angry, and in the presence of Brahmā (said to)Tārā in the gathering of the gods and demons. ~ Padma Purana Having disregarded Brihaspati, the son of Angiras, the moonby force carried away his illustrious wife Tara. 31. And albeit solicited by the gods and Rishis, he did notreturn her. Brihaspati, the preceptor of the gods, was accordingly enraged withhim. 32-33. Ushana (Suka) began to protect his sides. Theillustrious deity Rudra was formerly a disciple of Vrihaspati’s father. Out ofreverence for him he (Rudra) protected his rear, 34-35. A terrible battle, destructive of the gods and demonson account of Tara, was fought at the place where the high-souled Sivadischarged his mighty weapon Brahmasiras—for the destruction of the demons andwhere their glory was (accordingly) destroyed.l 36. O descendant of Bharata, in that battle the gods, wellread in the precepts of religion who had sided Vrishaspati, and the deitiesTushitas, who belonged to Soma’s party who had stolen away his preceptor’swife, sought refuge with the Prime Deity the Eternal Brahma. 37. Thereupon theGrand-father himself came there, prevented Sukra and Sankara (to fight) andgave back Tara to Vrihaspati. ~Harivamsa purana. It's not given in detail in Mahabharata, only parts ofit are mentioned. Indeed, it was upon that car that Indra and Vishnu had foughtof old in the battle (with the Asuras) in which Taraka (the wife of Vrihaspati)had become the immediate cause of much slaughter. I put this armour on thy body, joining its pieces with theaid of Brahma strings. In days of yore, Brahma himself had thus put it onVishnu in battle. Even as Brahma himself had put this celestial armour on Sakrain the battle caused by the abduction of Taraka. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/651322543.2136945.1754636529120%40mail.yahoo.com.
