Shukra

Shukra, whose name means bright or clear, is the Hindu deity of the planet Venus and one of the Navagraha, and in mythology he is a great sage-god, the guru or preceptor of the asuras, the demons or anti-gods, in their perpetual struggle with the devas. This role gives him a distinctive place in the pantheon: he is a Brahmin seer of immense learning who has thrown his wisdom behind the enemies of the gods, so that his knowledge repeatedly frustrates the divine side. His most celebrated possession is the mrita-sanjivani vidya, the secret science of reviving the dead, a lore that allowed him to restore the demons slain in battle to life, tilting the cosmic war in their favour and causing the gods no end of trouble. The myths tell of the gods' attempts to obtain this knowledge for themselves, including the tale of how the god Brihaspati (Jupiter, preceptor of the gods) sent his own son to become Shukra's pupil in order to learn the secret.

As a descendant of the sage Bhrigu, Shukra is also called Bhargava. In astrology, Venus under his lordship governs love, beauty, refinement, the arts, pleasure and the enjoyments of married and worldly life, and his influence is generally regarded as benefic, bringing charm, comfort and attraction. Shukra thus unites two ideas that might seem at odds: profound ascetic learning, and the planet of love and earthly delight.

Shukra is depicted in some tellings as a one-eyed sage, a consequence of a myth in which he loses an eye defending the asuras, riding a chariot drawn by eight horses, and carrying a staff and a rosary as marks of his priestly, ascetic character even as his planet governs love and comfort. His day is Friday (Shukravar), kept by many worshippers as an auspicious day for marriage negotiations and for purchasing luxury goods, since a well placed Venus is held to bring charm, romance and material ease.

As with the other navagraha, dedicated temples to Shukra alone are uncommon; he is usually honored within the navagraha shrine attached to a larger temple, where white flowers, white sandalwood, and silver colored offerings are considered fitting, white being his favored color in ritual practice. The figure of Shukra as guru of the asuras has made him a durable symbol in later Indian thought for hard won or dangerous knowledge, wisdom that is real and effective, such as the secret of reviving the dead, but placed in service of the cosmic order's losing side, and popular retellings and regional performance traditions continue to draw on the tension between his brilliance and his allegiance to the losing side of the old war between gods and demons.