Sage in Hinduism
Avatsara (Sanskrit : अवत्सार, romanized: Avatsāra) is a rishi (sage) featured in the Rigveda. His name first appears in Sukta 44 of the Fifth Mandala. [1] [2]
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Avatsara (Sanskrit : अवत्सार, romanized: Avatsāra) is a rishi (sage) featured in the Rigveda. His name first appears in Sukta 44 of the Fifth Mandala. [1] [2]
Avatsara is the main poet of Sukta 44 of the Fifth Mandala of the Rigveda, whose hymn addressed to the class of Rigvedic deities called the Visvedevas. He is known for the set of eight hymns of four mantras each appearing in the Rigveda viz. Suktas IX.53 to IX.60, and also in the Samaveda (SV.757, SV.1717). [3] He is stated to be the chief priest of the gods. He is described to offer Agni the six-syllable oblation – O Agni, enjoy the oblation, and was set-free. [4] According to Satyasadha (21.3.13), the Kashyapa pravara (lineage) consists of three rishi–ancestors: – Kashyapa, Avatsara, and Naidhruva. [5] The lineage also belongs to the two of the Sandilya variations. [6] There are eight notable sages belonging to the Kashyapa family – Kashyapa, Avatsara, Nidhruva, Rebha, Devala, Asita, Bhutamsa, and Vivrha; two unnamed sons of Rebha were also authors of Rigvedic hymns. [7]
He is more known for the Suktas 53 to 60 of the Ninth Mandala; these Suktas contain four mantras each, all composed in the Gayatri Metre. In the Rigveda, he addresses Ishvara as, "the fully armed and endowed with many subtle and fine divine powers and destroyer of all evil forces" (RV.IX.53.1). He then addresses Ishvara as, "the purifier or the pure, brilliant as the Sun". [8]
His name appears in the Yajurveda, (Y.V.III.i & III.xviii) where he prays to Agni, [9] and in the Aitareya Brahmana and the Kausitaki Brahmana. From the verses of the Aitareya Brahmana (A.B. ii.24) and Kausitaki Brahmana (K.B.viii.6), both pertaining to the Sacrifice of the Five Oblations, it is stated that Avatsara had reached the home of Agni and had conquered the highest world. [10]
In Rigveda Sukta IX.53, he reminds us that the learned people extract the wisdom of the ancients from the Vedas which are enlightening, and in Rigveda mantra IX.60.3 he states that the Lord, in the form of knowledge and consciousness, resides in the cleansed mind and heart of the learned people and in the mind and heart of all those who know the Lord fully without being aware of knowing Him. [11]
Avatsara is described to be the son of Kashyapa, who whose lifetime was later than Vamadeva (son of Maharishi Gautama), but earlier than Atri. [12] The word, Avata, denotes an artificially dug up water-source or an artificial well. [13] [14]
Apart from Kashyapa, the son of Marichi, there appears to have been a second Kashyapa who was the father of Avatsara, Narada and Arundhati, the wife of Vasishtha and it was this second Kashyapa who was one of the Saptarishi. [15] [16] [17] According to the list of sages provided by the Matsya Purana, Kashyapa had two sons – Avatsara and Asita; Nidhruva and Rebha were Avatsara’s son. But this list is doubted; the genealogy otherwise gives three groups among the Kashyaps, the Sandilyas, Naidhruvas and Raibhyas. [18]
From Book IV Chapter VIII of the Srimad Bhagvatam it is learnt though Maitreya that Dhruva, the son of Uttanapada through Suruti, and the grandson of Svyambhuva Manu, had by his first wife Brahmi, two sons, Vatsara and Kalmavatsara or Kalpa. [19] [20]
Aditi is an important Vedic goddess in Hinduism.
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Prajapati is a Vedic deity of Hinduism and he is a form of Brahma, the creator god.
Vamana also known as Trivikrama, Urukrama, Upendra, Dadhivamana, and Balibandhana, is an avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. He is the fifth avatar of Vishnu and the first Dashavatara in the Treta Yuga, after Narasimha.
Angiras was a Vedic rishi (sage) of Hinduism. He is described in the Rigveda as a teacher of divine knowledge, a mediator between men and gods, as well as stated in other hymns to be the first of Agni-devas. In some texts, he is considered to be one of the seven great sages or Saptarishis, but in others he is mentioned but not counted in the list of seven great sages. In some manuscripts of Atharvaveda, the text is attributed to "Atharvangirasah", which is a compound of sage Atharvan and Angira. The student family of Angira are called "Angira", and they are credited to be the authors of some hymns in the first, second, fifth, eighth, ninth, and tenth books of the Rigveda. By the time of the composition of the Rigveda, the Angirases were an old Rishi clan, and were stated to have participated in several events.
The Brahmanas are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within each Veda, which explain and instruct on the performance of Vedic rituals. In addition to explaining the symbolism and meaning of the Samhitas, Brahmana literature also expounds scientific knowledge of the Vedic Period, including observational astronomy and, particularly in relation to altar construction, geometry. Divergent in nature, some Brahmanas also contain mystical and philosophical material that constitutes Aranyakas and Upanishads.
The Aranyakas are a part of the ancient Indian Vedas concerned with the meaning of ritual sacrifice, composed in about 700 BC. They typically represent the later sections of the Vedas, and are one of many layers of Vedic texts. The other parts of the Vedas are the Samhitas, Brahmanas (commentary), and the Upanishads.
Samhita literally means "put together, joined, union", a "collection", and "a methodically, rule-based combination of text or verses". Saṃhitā also refers to the most ancient layer of text in the Vedas, consisting of mantras, hymns, prayers, litanies and benedictions.
Dasa is a Sanskrit word found in ancient Indian texts such as the Rigveda, Pali canon, and theArthashastra. The term may mean "slave", "enemy" or "servant," but Dasa or Das can also have the following connotations: "slave of god", "devotee," "votary" or "one who has surrendered to God." Dasa may be a suffix of a given name to indicate a "slave" of a revered person or a particular deity.
Sayana was a 14th-century Sanskrit Mimamsa scholar from the Vijayanagara Empire of peninsular India, near modern day Bellary, Karnataka. An influential commentator on the Vedas, he flourished under King Bukka Raya I and his successor Harihara II. More than a hundred works are attributed to him, among which are commentaries on nearly all parts of the Vedas. He also wrote on a number of subjects like medicine, morality, music and grammar.
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Mayabheda, (Sanskrit:मायाभेद:), means the breaching or removal of Avidya ("ignorance"). It means the destruction of the illusion caused by Maya which occurs coinciding with the gain/dawn of Right Knowledge, the knowledge of Brahman. The Rig Veda Sukta R.V.X.177 addressed to Mayabheda in its three Mantras in its own cryptic way serves this purpose. The central theme of this hymn is the discernment of Maya or illusion, the cause of material creation. Mayabheda is also one of the Rigvedic deities.
In Hindu culture, a Pravara refers to a system of identity, particularly a family line. The Pravar system is based on the descendants of a rishi (sage) after whom a "gotra" (clan) is named, and these descendants are considered eponyms by the members of the "gotra." It represents a secondary level of segmentation within the gotra system. The Pravara is a significant aspect of the exogamous system in ancient Brahmanical families.
The Rigveda or Rig Veda is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (sūktas). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (śruti) known as the Vedas. Only one Shakha of the many survive today, namely the Śakalya Shakha. Much of the contents contained in the remaining Shakhas are now lost or are not available in the public forum.
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The Devi Upanishad, is one of the minor Upanishads of Hinduism and a text composed in Sanskrit. It is one of the 19 Upanishads attached to the Atharvaveda, and is classified as one of the eight Shakta Upanishads. It is, as an Upanishad, a part of the corpus of Vedanta literature collection that present the philosophical concepts of Hinduism.
Rishi Asita simply called as Asita was a Vedic sage and a pravara in the Shandilya Gotra.