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Vashistha
Vasishtha ( sa, वसिष्ठ, IAST: ') is one of the oldest and most revered Vedic rishis or sages, and one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis). Vashistha is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the ''Rigveda''. Vashishtha and his family are mentioned in Rigvedic verse 10.167.4, other Rigvedic mandalas and in many Vedic texts. His ideas have been influential and he was called the first sage of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy by Adi Shankara. The '' Yoga Vasishtha'', ''Vasishtha Samhita'', as well as some versions of the ''Agni Purana'' and ''Vishnu Purana'' are attributed to him. He is the subject of many stories, such as him being in possession of the divine cow Kamadhenu and Nandini her child, who could grant anything to their owners. He is famous in Hindu stories for his legendary conflicts with sage Vishvamitra. In the Ramayana, he was the family priest of the Raghu dynasty and teacher of Rama and his brothers. Etymology Vasishtha is also spelled a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saptarishi
The Saptarishi () are the seven rishis of ancient India who are extolled in the Vedas, and other Hindu literature. The Vedic Samhitas never enumerate these rishis by name, although later Vedic texts such as the Brahmanas and Upanisads do so. Hinduism An early prototype of the "Saptarishi" concept may stem from the six families associated with the six "Family Books" in the Rigveda Samhita (Mandalas 2–7 in ascending order: Gṛtsamāda, Viśvāmitra, Vāmadeva, Atri, Bhardwaja, Vasiṣṭha). While not a "Family Book", Mandala 8 is mostly attributed to Kaṇva, who could be considered the 7th prototypical Saptarishi. The earliest formal list of the seven rishis is given by Jaiminiya Brahmana 2.218–221: Agastya, Atri, Bhardwaja, Gautama, Jamadagni, Vashistha, and Vishvamitra followed by Brihadaranyaka Upanisad 2.2.6 with a slightly different list: Atri, Bharadwaja, Gautama, Jamadagni, Kashyapa, Vashistha, and Vishvamitra. The late Gopatha Brahmana 1.2.8 has Vashisth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saptarshi
The Saptarishi () are the seven rishis of ancient India who are extolled in the Vedas, and other Hindu literature. The Vedic Samhitas never enumerate these rishis by name, although later Vedic texts such as the Brahmanas and Upanisads do so. Hinduism An early prototype of the "Saptarishi" concept may stem from the six families associated with the six "Family Books" in the Rigveda Samhita (Mandalas 2–7 in ascending order: Gṛtsamāda, Viśvāmitra, Vāmadeva, Atri, Bhardwaja, Vasiṣṭha). While not a "Family Book", Mandala 8 is mostly attributed to Kaṇva, who could be considered the 7th prototypical Saptarishi. The earliest formal list of the seven rishis is given by Jaiminiya Brahmana 2.218–221: Agastya, Atri, Bhardwaja, Gautama, Jamadagni, Vashistha, and Vishvamitra followed by Brihadaranyaka Upanisad 2.2.6 with a slightly different list: Atri, Bharadwaja, Gautama, Jamadagni, Kashyapa, Vashistha, and Vishvamitra. The late Gopatha Brahmana 1.2.8 has Vashisth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sudas
Sudās Paijavana ( sa, सुदास्) was an Indo-Aryan tribal king of the Bharatas, during the main or middle Rigvedic period (c. 14th century BCE). He led his tribe to victory in the Battle of the Ten Kings near the Paruṣṇī (modern Ravi River) in Punjab, defeating an alliance of the powerful Puru tribe with other tribes, for which he was eulogised by his purohita Vashistha in a hymn of the Rigveda. His victory established the ascendency of the Bhārata clan, allowing them to move eastwards and settle in Kurukshetra, paving the way for the emergence of the Kuru "super-tribe" or tribal union, which dominated northern India in the subsequent period. Family Sudās' ancestors include Pijavana, Divodāsa Atithigva, and Devavant, although scholars disagree regarding the order of these ancestors chronologically. According to Witzel, Divodāsa was the father of Sudās, but he includes Pijavana on the grid of Bharata descent as a possible ancestor between Divodāsa an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalmashapada
In Hindu scriptures, Kalmashapada (Kalmasapada, कल्माषपाद), also known as Saudasa (), Mitrasaha (मित्रसह), Amitrasaha and Kalmashanghri (Kalmasanghri), was a king of the Ikshvaku dynasty (the Solar dynasty), who was cursed to be a ''rakshasa'' (demon) by the sage Vashishtha. He is described as an ancestor of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu and the hero of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Many texts narrate how Kalmashapada was cursed to die if he had intercourse with his queen, so he obtained a son from Vashishtha by ''niyoga'', an ancient tradition whereby a husband can nominate another man to impregnate his wife. Kalmashapada's story is narrated in various works including the classic epic poems ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'', and the ''Purana''s.Mani, p. 377 Background The ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Purana''s agree that Kalmashapada was the son of the king Sudasa (Sudhasana); however, the ''Ramayana'' names his father was Raghu, a king whom the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agastya
Agastya ( kn, ಅಗಸ್ತ್ಯ, ta, அகத்தியர், sa, अगस्त्य, te, అగస్త్యుడు, ml, അഗസ്ത്യൻ, hi, अगस्त्य) was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the Indian tradition, he is a noted recluse and an influential scholar in diverse languages of the Indian subcontinent. He and his wife Lopamudra are the celebrated authors of hymns 1.165 to 1.191 in the Sanskrit text ''Rigveda'' and other Vedic literature. Agastya is considered to be the father of Siddha medicine. Agastya appears in numerous itihasas and Puranas including the major ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata''. He is one of the seven most revered rishis (the Saptarishi) in the Vedic texts, and is revered as one of the Tamil Siddhar in the Shaivism tradition, who invented an early grammar of the Old Tamil language, Agattiyam, playing a pioneering role in the development of Tampraparniyan medicine and spirituality at Saiva centres in pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages extending up to the 3rd century CE. ''Ramayana'' is one of the two important epics of Hinduism, the other being the ''Mahabharata, Mahābhārata''. The epic, traditionally ascribed to the Maharishi Valmiki, narrates the life of Sita, the Princess of Janakpur, and Rama, a legendary prince of Ayodhya city in the kingdom of Kosala. The epic follows his fourteen-year exile to the forest urged by his father King Dasharatha, on the request of Rama's stepmother Kaikeyi; his travels across forests in the South Asia, Indian subcontinent with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana – the king of Lanka, that resulted in war; and Rama's eventual return to Ayodhya to be crowned kin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Śakti Maharṣi
Shakti Maharishi was son of Vaśiṣṭha and Arundhati. He was the father of Parāśara, mentioned in the ''Mahabharata''. There is a legend found in ''Mahabharata'' about Shakti Muni. Once King Kalmashapada, going hunting, killed many animals. Tired and being hungry and thirsty, he was proceeding through the woods. On the way, Rishi Shakti Maharishi came on the same path, from the opposite direction. The King ordered him to get out of his way. The Rishi addressed the King sweetly and said "O king, this is my way". In accordance with duty and tradition, a king should always make way for Brahmins. The king persisted in acting like a Rakshasa (demon). The Rishi cursed the king thus: "O worst of the worst kings, since thou persecutest an ascetic, like a Rakshasa, thou shalt from this day, became a Rakshasa subsisting on human flesh! Henceforth, O worst of kings! thou shalt wander over the earth, affecting human form!". He was the grandfather of Vyasa, author of the Indian epic ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purohita
Purohita ( sa, पुरोहित), in the Hindu context, means ''chaplain'' or ''family priest'' within the Vedic priesthood. In Thailand and Cambodia, it refers to the royal chaplains. Etymology The word ''purohita'' derives from the Sanskrit, ''puras'' meaning "front", and ''hita'', "placed". The word is also used synonymously with the word ''pandit'', which also means "priest". '' Tirtha purohita'' means the ''purohita'' who sit at the fords of the holy rivers or holy tanks and who have maintained the records of the forefathers of the Hindu family for thousands of years. ''Purohita'' can refer to a house priest. Education In India, literate men from the Brahmin varna who desire to become ''purohitas'' receive special training both in theory and practice in Vedic schools linked to agraharams, inherited from royal grants to train and sustain chaplains historically maintained by dynasties such as the Cholas and Pallavas. In fact, special training is required to perfor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raghu Dynasty
The Solar dynasty (IAST: Suryavaṃśa or Ravivaṃśa in Sanskrit) or the Ikshvaku dynasty was founded by the legendary king Ikshvaku.Geography of Rigvedic India, M.L. Bhargava, Lucknow 1964, pp. 15-18, 46-49, 92-98, 100-/1, 136 The dynasty is also known as ("Solar dynasty" or "Descendants of the Sun") which means that this dynasty prays to the Sun as their God and their originator (the Gayatri Mantra is a prayer offered to the Sun God as the Sun is the main deity of the Solar Dynasty), and along with Lunar dynasty comprises one of the main lineages of the Kshatriya Varna. The first ''Tirthankara'' of Jainism, Rishabhdeva himself was King Ikshvaku. Further, 21 Tirthankaras of Jainism were born in this dynasty. According to Buddhist texts and tradition, Gautama Buddha descended from this dynasty. Many later kings of the Indian subcontinent claimed to be of Suryavamsha descent. The important personalities belonging to this royal house are Mandhatri, Muchukunda, Ambarisha, B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bharatas (tribe)
The Bharatas were an early Vedic tribe that existed in the latter half of the second millennium B.C.E. The earliest mentioned location of the Bharatas was on the first Sarasvati River in southern Afghanistan. Under the tribal king Divodāsa, the Bharatas moved through the Hindu Kush mountains and defeated Śambara. Divodāsa's descendant, Sudās, won the Battle of the Ten Kings against a Puru-led coalition, which set the scene for the initial compilation of hymns of the Rigveda. After the battle, the Bharatas and other Puru clans would eventually form the Kuru Kingdom, which was the first attested state in Indian history. Etymology The name ''Bharata'' is of Indo-Aryan and Indo-Iranian origin, meaning "the ones who carry". History Two Bharatas, Devaśravas Bhārata and Devavāta Bhārata, are mentioned as living near the Āpayā, Sarasvatī and Dṛṣadvatī rivers. Devavāta's son, Sṛñjaya Daivavāta, defeated the Turvaśas, and is mentioned alongside Abhyāvar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vishvamitra
Vishvamitra ( sa, विश्वामित्र, ) is one of the most venerated rishis or sages of ancient India. According to Hindu tradition, he is stated to have written most of the Mandala 3 of the Rigveda, including the Gayatri Mantra. The Puranas mention that only 24 rishis since antiquity have understood the whole meaning of —and thus wielded the whole power of — the Gayatri Mantra. Vishvamitra is supposed to have been the first, and Yajnavalkya the last. Before renouncing his kingdom and royal status, Brahmarishi Vishvamitra was a king, and thus he retained the title of Rajarshi, or 'royal sage'. Textual background Historically, Viśvāmitra Gāthina was a Rigvedic rishi who was the chief author of Mandala 3 of the Rigveda. Viśvāmitra was taught by Jamadagni Bhārgava. He was the purohita of the Bharata tribal king Sudās, until he was replaced by Vasiṣṭha. He aided the Bharatas in crossing the Vipāś and Śutudrī rivers (modern Beas and Sutlej ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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