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    Vasishtha was an ancient Indian sage and scholar mentioned in Hindu texts like the Rigveda. He lived on the banks of the Ganga river and established a school. Vasishtha composed the seventh book of hymns in the Rigveda, some of which emphasized transcending differences and finding harmony between opposing ideas. Buddhist texts also refer to Vasishtha as one of the early Vedic sages. He authored Vasishtha Dharmasutra, which encourages virtues like truthfulness, devotion, and sharing prosperity.

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    sage vasistha

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    Vasishtha the Gr8 Sage

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    Vasishtha was an ancient Indian sage and scholar mentioned in Hindu texts like the Rigveda. He lived on the banks of the Ganga river and established a school. Vasishtha composed the seventh book of hymns in the Rigveda, some of which emphasized transcending differences and finding harmony between opposing ideas. Buddhist texts also refer to Vasishtha as one of the early Vedic sages. He authored Vasishtha Dharmasutra, which encourages virtues like truthfulness, devotion, and sharing prosperity.

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    98 views1 page

    Vasishtha The Gr8 Sage

    Uploaded by

    Anonymous Tdmg2jz4E
    Vasishtha was an ancient Indian sage and scholar mentioned in Hindu texts like the Rigveda. He lived on the banks of the Ganga river and established a school. Vasishtha composed the seventh book of hymns in the Rigveda, some of which emphasized transcending differences and finding harmony between opposing ideas. Buddhist texts also refer to Vasishtha as one of the early Vedic sages. He authored Vasishtha Dharmasutra, which encourages virtues like truthfulness, devotion, and sharing prosperity.

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    of 1

    Vasishtha is also spelled as Vasiṣṭha and is Sanskrit for "most excellent, best or richest.

    According
    to Monier-Williams, it is sometimes incorrectly spelt as Vashistha or Vashishtha (vaśiṣṭha, वशिष्ठ).[13]

    History[edit]
    In Rigvedic hymn 7.33.9, Vasishtha is described as a scholar who moved across the Indus river to
    establish his school.[14] He was married to Arundhati, and therefore he was also called Arundhati
    Nath, meaning the husband of Arundhati.[15] Vasishtha is believed to have lived on the banks
    of Ganga in modern-day Uttarakhand. Later, this region is believed in the Indian tradition to be the
    abode of sage Vyasa along with Pandavas, the five brothers of Mahabharata.[16] He is typically
    described in ancient and medieval Hindu texts as a sage with long flowing hairs that are neatly tied
    into a bun that is coiled with a tuft to the right, a beard, a handlebar moustache and a tilak on his
    forehead.[17]
    In Buddhist Pali canonical texts such as Digha Nikaya, Tevijja Sutta describes a discussion between
    the Buddha and Vedic scholars of his time. The Buddha names ten rishis, 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 (the Pali spelling of Vasishtha in Sanskrit[18]).[19][note 2]

    Ideas[edit]
    Vasishtha is the author of the seventh book of the Rigveda,[3] one of its "family books" and among
    the oldest layer of hymns in the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism.[20] The hymns composed by Vasishtha
    are dedicated to Agni, Indra and other gods, but according to RN Dandekar, in a book edited by
    Michael Witzel, these hymns are particularly significant for four Indravarunau hymns. These have an
    embedded message of transcending "all thoughts of bigotry", 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.[20] These hymns declare two
    gods, Indra and Varuna, as equally great. In another hymn, particularly the Rigvedic verse 8.83.9,
    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.[21] The seventh mandala of the Rigvedaby Vasishtha is a
    metaphorical treatise.[22] Vasishtha reappears as a character in Hindu texts, through its history, that
    explore conciliation between conflicting or opposing ideologies.[23]
    According to Ellison Findly – a professor of Religion, Vasishtha hymns in the Rigveda 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.[24]

    Texts[edit]
    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 Dharmasutra 30.1 [25]

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