Bharadvaja (Sanskrit:भरद्वाज,IAST:Bharadvāja; also spelledBharadwaja) was one of the reveredVedic sages(maharishi) inAncient India. He was a renowned scholar, economist, grammarian and a physician. He is one of theSaptarishis (seven great sages orMaharṣis).[1]
His contributions to ancient Indian literature, specifically theRigveda, provide significant insight into ancientVedic society.[2][3][4] He and his family of students were the authors ofMandala 6 in theRigveda.[5] In the epicMahabharata, Bharadvaja was the father ofDroṇācārya,[6] the guru and instructor to thePandava andKaurava princes in theMahabharata. Bharadvaja is also mentioned inCharaka Samhita, an authoritative ancient Indian medical text.
The wordBharadvaja is a compound Sanskrit from "bhara(d)" and "vaja(m)", which together mean "bringing about nourishment".[7] The name lends itself to more than oneyogaasana[clarification needed] calledBharadvajasana ("nourishing pose") named after the eponymous sage.[citation needed]
His full name in Vedic texts isBharadvaja Barhaspatya, the last name referring to his father and Vedic deity-sageBrihaspati. His mother was Mamata, wife of Utathya Rishi, who was the elder brother of Barhaspati.[8] In theBhagavata Purana, he is named as Vitatha.[9] He is one of seven rishis mentioned four times in theRigveda as well as in theShatapatha Brahmana, thereafter revered in theMahabharata and thePuranas.[10] In some later Puranic legends, he is described as the son of Vedic sageAtri.[2]
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 rishis is Bharadvaja.[1][11][note 1]
The ancient Hindu medical treatiseCharaka Samhita attributes Bharadvaja learning medical sciences toIndra, after pleading that "poor health was disrupting the ability of human beings from pursuing their spiritual journey", and then Indra provides both the method and specifics of medical knowledge.[12][13]
Bharadvaja is considered to be the initiator of theBharadvājagotra of theBrahmins,Khatris,Bharadvaja is the third in the row of thePravara Rishis (Aangirasa,Barhaspatya,Bharadvaja) and is the first in theBharadvaja Gotris, with the other two rishis being initiators of Gotras with their respective names.[14]
Bharadvaja and his family of students are 55.[15] Bharadvaja and his family of students were the traditional poets of king Marutta of the Vedic era, in the Hindu texts.[16]
Bharadvaja is a revered sage in the Hindu traditions, and like other revered sages, numerous treatises composed in the ancient and medieval eras are reverentially named after him. Some treatises named after him or attributed to him include:
Dhanur-veda, credited to Bharadvaja in chapter 12.203 of theMahabharata, is an Upaveda treatise on archery.[17]
Bharadvaja srautasutra and grhyasutra, a ritual and rites of passage text from first millennium BCE.[19][20][21] After theKalpasutra by Baudhayana, these Bharadvaja texts are among the oldestsrauta andgrhya sutras known.[22]
Sections inAyurveda. Bharadvaja theories on medicine and causal phenomenon is described inCharaka Samhita. Bharadvaja states, for example, that an embryo is not caused by wish, prayers, urging of mind or mystical causes, but it is produced from the union of a man's sperm and menstrual blood of a woman at the right time of her menstrual cycle, in her womb.[23][24] According toGerrit Jan Meulenbeld, Bharadvaja is credited with many theories and practical ideas in ancient Indian medicine.[24]
Niti sastra, a treatise on ethics and practical conduct.[25]
Bharadvaja-siksa, is one of many ancient Sanskrit treatises on phonetics.[26]
According to one legend, Bharadvaja married Sushila and had a son named Garga and a daughter named Devavarshini. According to some other legends, Bharadvaja had two daughters namedIlavida and Katyayani, who marriedVishrava andYajnavalkya respectively.[27] According toVishnu Purana, Bharadvaja had a brief liaison with anapsara named Ghritachi, and together they had a child who grew up into a warrior-Brahmin namedDrona. In the Mahabharata, Drona is instead born when Bharadvaja ejaculated his semen in a pot. Bharadvaja is therefore directly linked to two important characters of the epicMahabharata — Dronacharya andAśvatthāma, the son of Drona.[28] According to the Mahabharata, Bharadvaja trainedDrona in the use of weapons.[29] Bharadvaja had two disciples: Agnivesa andDrupada. Agnivesa taughtDrona the mastery of the weapon Agneya, while Drupada became the king of Panchala kingdom.
One legend in theMahabharata states that KingBharata adopted Bharadvaja as his son when he was delivered to the king by theMarutas. Bharadvaja married a kshatriya woman named Sushila. According to the Bhagavata Purana, Bharadvaja beget a son named Manyu also known asBhumanyu while in theMahabharata Bhumanyu is born to him by a yajna.
Bharadvaja orders a great feast prepared for Bharata and his men
In the epicRamayana, Rama, Sita and Lakshmana meet Bharadvaja at hisashrama (hermitage) at the start of their fourteen-year exile. The sage asks them to stay with him through the exile, but they insist on going deeper into the forest to Chitrakuta, which was threekrosha away from the ashram. Bharadvaja gives them directions. Bharata is received at the ashrama by Bharadvaja when attempted to locate Rama in order to bring Sita, Lakshmana, and him back to Ayodhya.[30] He reappears at various times in the epic. According to James Lochtefeld, the Bharadvaja in theRamayana is different from the Vedic sage mentioned in Panini'sAshtadhyayi.[31]
^The Buddha names the following as "early sages" of Vedic verses, "Atthaka (eitherAshtavakra or Atri), Vamaka, Vamadeva, Vessamitta (Visvamitra), Yamataggi, Angirasa, Bharadvaja, Vasettha (Vashistha), Kassapa (Kashyapa) and Bhagu (Bhrigu)".[11]
^Brereton, Joel P. (1993). "The Bharadvajas in Ancient India".The Journal of the American Oriental Society.113 (4):599–600.doi:10.2307/605794.JSTOR605794.
^Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.).India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 76.
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