About
Amarka — Son of Shukracharya and Urjasvati, Teacher of Prahlada, Priest of the Daitya Household
Amarka · Amārka · Shukra-putra · Urjasvati-suta · Prahlada-guru · Hiranyakashipu-purohita · Shanda-bhrata
Amarka is the second named son of Shukracharya and Urjasvati; the brother of Shanda, Tvastr, and Dharaatra; and the joint royal preceptor with Shanda appointed by Hiranyakashipu to educate Prahlada. His canonical record is entirely co-extensive with Shanda's — the two brothers are named together in every canonical reference as a pair, given the same assignment, and their teaching of Prahlada proceeds and fails as a joint enterprise. No primary text records any individual episode, personal history, marriage, children, or any narrative involving Amarka alone, separate from his brother Shanda. His profile is accordingly brief and co-referential with Shanda's — the two figure as a pair so consistently that any detail applicable to one applies to the other in equal measure.
✦ The Name
The Sanskrit name Amarka — written Amārka — is a compound of the negative prefix a (not, without) and marka (death, the mark of death, the god of death — from the root mrc, to die or decay). The compound means the deathless one, the one without death's mark, the immortal. As the name of the son of the sage who possessed the power of reviving the dead — Shukracharya's Mrita Sanjivani Vidya — it carries a fitting echo: the father could give life back to the dead, and his son bears the name of the deathless quality. Whether the name was given deliberately in honour of his father's most celebrated power, or whether it is a more general name of divine aspiration, the primary sources do not say.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Shukracharya — the Asura preceptor; son of Bhrigu and Kavyamata; possessor of the Mrita Sanjivani Vidya; the planet Venus
- Mother: Urjasvati — daughter of Priyavrata (elder son of Svayambhuva Manu) and his wife Surupa
- Paternal grandfather: Bhrigu — one of the seven Saptarishis
- Maternal grandfather: Priyavrata — elder son of Svayambhuva Manu; king who ruled seven continents
- Brothers: Shanda — the elder, with whom he jointly taught Prahlada; Tvastr; and Dharaatra
- Half-sister: Devayani — daughter of Shukracharya by Jayanti; who married King Yayati; whose son Yadu is the ancestor of Krishna
- Student: Prahlada — son of Hiranyakashipu and Kayadhu; the supreme devotee of Vishnu
✦ Teaching Prahlada
Amarka's role in teaching Prahlada is entirely joint with Shanda's — the two brothers functioned as a single teaching unit throughout the episode, and the Bhagavata Purana's account treats them as a paired figure rather than as individuals. They taught together, failed together, reported to Hiranyakashipu together, proved their innocence together, tried again together, and were eventually dismissed together. The full narrative of this episode is recorded in the Shanda profile above. Every detail of the teaching episode applies equally to Amarka. His individual distinction from Shanda within the episode is not recorded in any primary text.
✦ References
- Bhagavata Purana (Canto 7, Chapter 5) — Amarka named alongside Shanda (Ṣaṇḍa) as the joint teachers of Prahlada; all canonical details apply to both brothers as a pair
- Mahabharata (Adi Parva, Chapter 65) — Amarka named among Shukracharya's four sons as a priest of the Asuras
- Vaniquotes — Sanda and Amarka, the teachers of Prahlada Maharaja; Wikipedia — Prahlada; VedicFeed — Guru Shukracharya: modern summaries drawing from the above primary sources