Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c21.25

c21.25

The third Bṛhaspati was an Āṅgirasa, the first of course was not, and it is not clear whether the second was such or not. But they are constantly confused, especially in the later stories, as regards both their functions and the epithet ‘Āṅgiras’.³ So the first, the planet,⁴ is called in the story of Tārā and in some Puranas the guru of the gods⁵ and an Āṅgiras.⁶ The first and second are further confused and identified in astronomical accounts, and so the planet is styled the ācārya of the gods and also Āṅgiras,⁷ where Āṅgiras seems to be borrowed, if not from the second, yet certainly from the third Bṛhaspati; for it seems probable that the second was not an Āṅgiras in the sense of Āṅgiras as a gotra, but may have got that appellation through confusion with the third, since no Āṅgirasas appear definitely until far later in Karandhama’s reign (chapter XIII). Further, attributes of the second are erroneously applied to the third, as where the latter is called the priest of the gods.¹