Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c8.s3.8

c8.s3.8

In Purāṇic mythology Bṛhaspati is known to be the *guru* of the gods. The identity of Bṛhaspati — the author of *Bārhaspatyasūtra* — and the mythological Bṛhaspati has been mingled in later texts. *Maitrāyaṇī Upaniṣad* says that Bṛhaspati, the *devaguru*, became Śukrācārya and faked a philosophy of materialism to trap the *asuras* (demons) and ensure their defeat.¹⁵ Even Haribhadra, a Jaina philosopher, confirms the story of Bṛhaspati’s disguise as Cārvāka.