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Vasishtha The Gr8 Sage
Vasishtha The Gr8 Sage
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]