Vasishtha | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Title | Saptarshi,Brahmarishi,Maharishi |
| Personal life | |
| Spouse | Arundhati |
| Children | |
| Parent(s) | Brahma or Mitra-Varuna andUrvashi |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Hinduism |
Vasishtha (Sanskrit:वसिष्ठ,lit. 'most excellent',IAST:Vasiṣṭha) is one of the oldest and revered Vedic rishis or sages,[3][4] and one of theSaptarishis (seven greatRishis). Vasishtha is credited as the chief author ofMandala 7 of theRigveda.[5] Vasishtha and his family are mentioned in Rigvedic verse 10.167.4,[note 1] other Rigvedic mandalas and in many Vedic texts.[8][9][10] His ideas have been influential and he was called the first sage of theVedanta school of Hindu philosophy byAdi Shankara.[11]
TheYoga Vasishtha,Vasishtha Samhita, as well as some versions of theAgni Purana[12] andVishnu Purana are attributed to him. He is the subject of many stories, such as him being in possession of the divine cowKamadhenu and Nandini her child, who could grant anything to their owners. He is famous in Hindu stories for his legendary conflicts with sageVishvamitra.[4][13][14] In theRamayana, he was the family priest of theRaghu dynasty and teacher ofRama and his brothers.[15]
Vasishtha is also spelled asVasiṣṭha and is Sanskrit for "most excellent", "best" or "richest". According to Monier-Williams, it is sometimes alternatively spelt as Vashishta or Vashisht (vaśiṣṭha,वशिष्ठ).[16]
Historically, Vasishtha was a Rigvedic poet and thepurohita ofSudās Paijavana, chief of theBharata tribe. In Rigvedic hymn 7.33.9, Vasishtha is described as a scholar who moved across theSarasvati river to establish his school.[17] At some point, he replacedViśvāmitra Gāthina as the purohita of Sudās. In later Hindu texts, Viśvāmitra and Vasishtha have a long-standing feud, and scholars have stated they historically had a feud regarding the position of the Bharata purohita. However, this view has been criticized due to lack of internal evidence and the projection of later views onto the Rigveda.[18][19] Under Sudās and Vasishtha, the Tṛtsu-Bharatas won theBattle of the Ten Kings.[20] Sudās decisively won against aPuru-led alliance by the strategic breaching of a (natural) dyke on the Ravi river thereby drowning most of their opponents; the victory is attributed to the benevolence and strategizing ofIndra, the patron-god of the Bharatas, whose blessings were secured by Vasishtha's poetics.[20][21]
He was married toArundhati, and therefore he was also calledArundhati Natha, meaning the husband of Arundhati.[22] Later, this region is believed in the Indian tradition to be the abode of sageVyasa along withPandavas ofMahabharata.[23] He is typically described in ancient and medieval Hindu texts as a sage with long flowing hair neatly tied into a bun that is coiled with a tuft to the right, a beard, a handlebar moustache and atilak on his forehead.[24]
In Buddhist Pali canonical texts such asDigha Nikaya, Tevijja Sutta describes a discussion between the Buddha and Vedic scholars of his time. TheBuddha names tenrishis, calls them "early sages" and makers of ancient verses that have been collected and chanted in his era, and among those ten rishi is Vasettha (thePali spelling of Vasishtha inSanskrit.[25][26][note 2]
Vasishtha is the author of the seventh book of theRigveda,[5] one of its "family books" and among the oldest layer of hymns in the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism.[27] The hymns composed by Vasishtha are dedicated toAgni,Indra and other gods, but according to RN Dandekar, in a book edited by Anay Kumar Gupta, these hymns are particularly significant for four Indravarunau hymns. These have an embedded message of transcending "all thoughts ofbigotry", suggesting a realistic approach of mutual "coordination and harmony" between two rival religious ideas by abandoning disputed ideas from each and finding the complementary spiritual core in both.[27] These hymns declare two gods,Indra andVaruna, as equally great. In another hymn, particularly the Rigvedic verse 7.83.9, Vasishtha teaches that the Vedic gods Indra and Varuna are complementary and equally important because one vanquishes the evil by the defeat of enemies in battles, while other sustains the good during peace through socio-ethical laws.[28] The seventh mandala of theRigveda by Vasishtha is a metaphorical treatise.[29] Vasishtha reappears as a character in Hindu texts, through its history, that explore conciliation between conflicting or opposing ideologies.[30]
According to Ellison Findly, a professor of Religion, Vasishtha hymns in theRigveda are among the most intriguing in many ways and influential. Vasishtha emphasizes means to be as important as ends during one's life encouraging truthfulness, devotion, optimism, family life, sharing one's prosperity with other members of society, among other cultural values.[31]
Excellence
Practise righteousness (dharma), not unrighteousness.
Speak the truth, not an untruth.
Look at what is distant, not what's near at hand.
Look at the highest, not at what's less than highest.
Vasishtha is a revered sage in the Hindu traditions, and like other revered sages, numerous treatises composed in ancient and medieval era are reverentially named after him.[33] Some treatises named after him or attributed to him include:
According to Mandala 7 of the Rigveda[citation needed], the godsMitra-Varuna and theapsaraUrvashi are mentioned as his parents. In the story, Mitra and Varuna are performing ayajna (fire-sacrifice), when they see Urvasi and become sexually aroused. They ejaculate their semen into apitcher, from which Vasishtha is born after a few days.
Vasishtha's birth story is retold in many later Hindu scriptures. ThePuranas state that he has three births. In the first, he is amanasaputra (mind-born son) created by the godBrahma. After the destruction of theDaksha Yajna, Vasishtha is killed, but is recreated by Brahma. Vasishtha became the royal guru ofNimi, a king. However, Nimi forgot to invite Vasishtha in a yajna and an enraged Vasishtha cursed Nimi to die soon. Nimi responded by offering him the same curse. Frightened, Vashishtha ran towards his father, Brahma. Brahma suggested him to merge intoVaruna andMitra. WhenUrvashi was seen by Varuna and Mitra, Vasishtha reemerged from them.[46][47]
According to Agarwal, one story states that Vasishtha wanted to commit suicide by falling into riverSarasvati. But the river prevented this sacrilege by splitting into hundreds of shallow channels. This story, states Agarwal, may have very ancient roots, where "the early man observed the braiding process of the Satluj" and because such a story could not have been invented without the residents observing an ancient river (in Rajasthan) drying up and its tributaries such as Sutlej reflowing to merge into Indus river.[48]
Vasishtha is known for his feud with Vishvamitra. The king Vishvamitra coveted Vasishtha's divine cow Nandini (Kamadhenu) that could fulfil material desires. Vasishtha destroyed Vishvamitra's army and sons. Vishvamitra acquired weapons from Shiva and incinerated Vasishtha's hermitage and sons, but Vasishtha baffled all of Vishvamitra's weapons. There is also an instance mentioned in the Mandala 7, of the Rigveda about theBattle of the Ten Kings. This battle was fought as King Sudas of Bharata tribe appointed Vashishtha instead of Vishvamitra as his main priest. However later, Vishvamitra betook severe penances for thousands of years and became a Brahmarshi. He eventually reconciled with Vasishtha.[49]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(October 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Vasishtha is known as the priest and preceptor, teacher of the Ikshvaku kings clan. He was also the preceptor of Manu, the progenitor of Kshatriyas and Ikshvaku's father. Other characters like Nahusha, Rantideva, lord Rama and Bhishma were his disciples. When the Bharata king Samvarta lost his kingdom to the Panchalas, he became the disciple of Vasishtha. Under Vasishtha's guidance, Samvarta regained his kingdom and became the ruler of the earth.[50]
A copper casting of a human head styled in the manner described for Vasishtha was discovered in 1958 in Delhi. This piece has been dated to around 3700 BCE, plus minus 800 years, in three western universities (ETH Zurich, Stanford and UC) using among other methods carbon-14 dating tests, spectrographic analysis,X-ray dispersal analysis andmetallography.[24][51] This piece is called "Vasishtha head", because the features, hairstyle,tilak and other features of the casting resembles the description for Vasishtha in Hindu texts.[24]
The significance of "Vasishtha head" is unclear because it was not found at an archaeological site, but in open Delhi market where it was scheduled to be remelted. Further, the head had an inscription of "Narayana" suggesting that the item was produced in a much later millennium. The item, states Edwin Bryant, likely was re-cast and produced from an ancient pre-2800 BCE copper item that left significant traces of matter with the observed C-14 dating.[24]
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(October 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
There is an Ashram dedicated to Vasishtha inGuwahati,India. This Ashram is situated close toAssam-Meghalaya border to the south ofGuwahati city and is a major tourist attraction of Guwahati. Vasishtha's Temple is situated inVashisht village, Himachal Pradesh. Vashishtha Cave, a cave on the banks ofGanges at Shivpuri, 18 km fromRishikesh is also locally believed to be his winter abode and houses a Shiva temple, also nearby is Arundhati Cave.[citation needed]
Guru Vashishtha is also the primary deity atArattupuzha Temple known as Arattupuzha Sree Dharmasastha inArattupuzha village inThrissur district ofKerala. The famousArattupuzha Pooram is a yearly celebration where Sri Rama comes from theThriprayar Temple to pay obeisance to his Guru at Arattupuzha temple.[citation needed]
A form of lustre springing from the lightning wast thou, when Varuṇa and Mitra saw thee;
Tliy one and only birth was then, Vashiṣṭha, when from thy stockAgastya brought thee hither.
Born of their love for Urvasi, Vashiṣṭha thou, priest, art son of Varuṇa and Mitra;
And as a fallen drop, in heavenly fervour, all the Gods laid thee on a lotus-blossom
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)| Ikshvaku dynasty | .jpg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Vanara | ||
| Rakshasa | ||
| Sages | ||
| Other figures and concepts | ||
| Places | ||
| Books/Kandas | ||
| Versions |
| |
| Related | ||