Saptarishi by TRSI

1. Saptharshies Saptharshies were the mind born sons of Brahma. They were advised to perform procreation. Blood relation was not a criterion for the creation. Similarly age difference too was not seen. In the first Manvanthara the saptharshies were a) Mareechi b) Atri c) Angeerasa d) Pulasthia e) Pulaha f) Kratu and g) Vasistha. Other than saptharshies Brahma had other mind born sons like Manu, Brighu and Narada. His Mind born daughter was Satrupa. Manu mind born son of Brahma married Satrupa mind born daughter. They Gave birth to a lot of children and grand children. Many persons mentioned in the sage stories are as such from the progeny of Manu-Satrupa couple. 1.1 Progeny fromsage Mareechi Sage Mareechi and his six brothers(Saptharshies) married the seven daughters of Sage Kardam and Devahuti. It was Kala, Sage Kardam’s daughter who was married to sage Marichi. They begot two children, a son Kashyapa and a daughter Purnima. Kashyapa was responsible for the procreation of several races including those of the Devas and Asuras. Purnima had two sons Viraja and Vishvaga and a daughter Devakulya. Today we know Devakulya as the River Ganga. Two VIPs from the creations of sage Mareechi were 1) sage Kashyapa and 2) Ganga. Regarding the ancestry of sage couple Kardam and Devhuti understand they have come from Manu – Satrupa couple. By marrying the seven daughters of sage couple Kardam- Devahuti, these saptharshies have become co- brother also among themselves. 1.2 Kashyapa sage son of Mareechi. We have said sage Kashyapa was the son of sage Mareechi. Daksha Prajapati married his thirteen daughters with sage Kashyapa. The world is mainly the progeny of Kashyapa. Daksha married his 27 daughters to Moon and one daughter Sati to Lord Siva.So Kashyapa has become co- brother to Lord Siva and Moon God. Mareechi has also become Sambandhi of Daksha. Ganga is the semi God who appears in Mahabharata story and sage Bhageeratha story. King Santhanu married Ganga. Bhishma pithamaha was their son. Bhageeratha was an ancestor to Panadvas and Kouravas. 1.3 Vibhandaka another sage son of Mareechi Sage Kashyapa created sage Vibhandaka using his mental prowess while he was meditating. As soon as Vibondaka came out of Kashyapa’s mind, he went to the deepest forests to perform very severe austerities. He was only performing the austerities for self-realization, but Indra was worried that he may in time usurp Indra’s throne. So Indra as usual asked Brahma for his best apsara or divine maiden to send with him. Brahma sent Harsha, the ever-smiling one with Indra. Because she was herself divine, Harsha could realize that Vibondaka wanted no material gains and that it would be impossible to seduce him. Apsara Harsha came to Vibondaka’s hermitage and began chanting mantras. Vibondaka heard this clear pronunciation of Vedic mantras, and looked at her. She fell at his feet and said, “Only for begetting a son from you have I chanted these mantras. If you don’t accept this request, then I will end me.” Vibondaka said that he would not have sex with her as it would reduce the effect of his penance, but he would not let her die. He dropped some semen and told Harsha to impregnate herself. Harsha then understood that Indra had nothing to fear, so her mission was fulfilled. But she did not want to become pregnant and Vibondaka’s semen was burning the earth. 1.4 Rishiasringa- sage grandson of Mareechi So using her divine powers apsara Harsha put the semen in the ovaries of a deer. The deer soon delivered a baby who had a human form, but with deer horns. This child was Rishyashringa, meanings a human being with deer horns. King Dasaratha had a daughter by name Santha. Sage Rishiasringa married her. Rishisasringa later conducted Puthra Kameshti yagam of Dasaratha. So sage Rishiasringa was Athiambar of Sri Rama, Lekshmana etc. and of course was very elder to them. 1.5 Sage Kapila- Machinan of sage Mareechi Sage Kapilawas the 8th child after seven daughters for sage kardam and Devhuti . So sage Kapila was the machinan to all saptharshies including marichi. 1.6 Sage Kardam- Mamanar of Saptharshies SageKardam and his wife Devhuti had seven daughters and one son. Seven daughters were married to Saptharshies under the president ship of Brahma. So sage kardam is sambandhi to Lord Brahma himself and mamanar to all saptharshies. 1.7 Sage Sandilya -Descendent of sage Mareechi and Kahyapa Sage Sandilya was the descendant of sage Kashyapa and hence of sage Mareechi. His father’s name was ‘Devala’ He was the royal priest of king Dileep who belonged to Soorya vamsa. Sage Sandilya was the chief Hota to sage Viswamithra in creating the Trisanku swarga yagya. 2. Progeny fromsage Atri SageAtri had a very chaste wifeAnasuya and their son sage Durvasa. 2.1 sage Durvasa – son of sage Atri Durvasa remained bachelor. Sage Durvasa appear in Maha bharata -He grants the boon of children to Kunti. He alsocurse Sakuntala for not welcoming him immediately in to the ashram ,she being on thoughts of king Dushyanta. 2.2 Sage Kanva- a contampory of sage Durvasa Sage Kanva- He too was a bachelor sage who brought up Shakuntala. Durvasa curse Shakuntala for not welcoming him while coming to the hermitage of sage Kanva. So sage Kanva was a contampory of sage Durvasa. 3.Progeny fromsage Angeerasa DevaGuru Brihaspathi was born to Angeerasa and Suroopa. Hisbrothers were Utathya and Samvartana. Brihaspathi isone VIP among sons of Angirasa. Agni is another VIP son of sage Angirasa. We have stories of Agni deva in Ramayana and Mahabharata. 3.1 Brihaspathi- Deva Guruson of Angeerasa Brihaspathi had three wives -Subha, Mamta and Tara Seven daughters were born to Shubha ” Bhanumati, Raka, Archismati, Mahishrvati, Siniwali and Havishmati. Seven sons and a daughter were born to Tara from Brihaspathi. Tara had another son Budha from Moon God. The story of Moon god-Tara relation has been told in my earlierposting. Budha married Ila and King Pururuva was born to them. In the lineage of King Puruva the Pandavas and Kouravas hadborn. Mamta gave birth to Kacha. We have read about Kacha- Devayani story in detail. Devayani was daughter of Asura guru- Sukra. 3.2 Sage Bharadwaja- Grandson of Angeerasa. Deva Guru Brahaspathi’sanother son was sage Bharadwaja ,who was brought up by king Bharat. Sage Bharadwaja was responsible for the medical development of those dayas. Sage Bharadwaja was a disciple of sage Gauthama as well as of sage Valmiki. He was a first hand witness to the incident of the Krauncha birds. 3.3 Sage Garga- Grandson of Brihaspathi Sage Bharadwaja married Suseela and through her a son was born. He became sage Garga. We will be discussing about sage Garga later. 3.4 Sage Visravas- son in Law of sage Bharadwaja Sage Bharadwaja had a daughter too called Devavarnini. She was given in marriage to sage Visravas . Kubera- the wealth keeper was the son born to them . This means Bharadwaja was the grand father of Kubera from maternal side. 3.5 Dronacharya- son of sage Bharadwaja Sage Bharadwaja saw the Apsara Ghritachi rising from the river after ablations, His vitality emerged from his body. The Rishi stored this vitality in a pot. Drona was born from this pot. The meaning of Drona is Pot-born. Bharadwaja trained Drona in use of weapons. Drona also learnt the use of weapons from sage Parasurama himself. Dronacharya was the teacher on Arms to Pandavas. 3.6 Sage Gouthama- a descendent of sage Angeerasa We have read stories of sage Goutama and his wife Ahalya. We have read about Ahalya- Indra episode and curse of sage Gauthama on her. Later Ahalya joined with sage Gouthama and three sons were born to them. They were Vamadeva, Nodhas and Shatanada . Vamadeva and Shatanda were VIPs among them. The Chief priest of King Janaka of Mithila, was Shatananda. Some famous disciples of Gautama were Praachina-yogya, Shaandilya, Gaargya, and Bharadwaja. 3.7 Sage Vamadeva- in the lineage of Angeerasa ( We will be discussing about sage Vamadevalater.) 3.8 Sage Atharva- a contampory of sage Angeerasa Sage Angirasa along with sage Atharvan are said to have composed most of the Atharvana Veda. 4. Progeny from sage Pulasthia We have read in this mail itself -Satrupa was mind born daughter of Brahma. In the lineage from Satrupa -Prasuti -Preeti got married to sage Pulasthia. He also married Sradhha granddaughter of sage Pulaha. Preeti, wife of Sage Pulasthya had two sons named Dattarnavr and Dahvahu. She also had a daughter named Dwashdwati. 5. Progeny from sage Pulaha We have read in this mail itself -Satrupa was mind born daughter of Brahma. In the lineage from Satrupa -Prasuti -Kshama got married to sage Pulaha. She had three sons. 5.1 Sage Kardam- son of Pulaha Kshama and Pulaha had three sons, Kardama, Arva-rivat, and Sahishnu. Out of this sage Kardam became prominent. His wife was Devhuti. They had seven daughters and one son Kapila. They were married to Saptharshies. So sage Kardam was mamanar to Saptharshies. Sage kardama’s daughter was Sradhha. This mean Sradhha was the grand daughter of sage Pulaha. She married sage Pulasthia. 5.2 Sage Parasara was a disciple of sage Pulaha. Sage Parasara was the grandson of sage Vasistha. Parasara married Satyavati and son born was Vedavyasa. 5.3 Sage Visravas- son of sage Pulaha Sage Pulaha was also father of sage Visravas, the father of Kubera and Ravana through demon women, and all the Rakshasas are supposed to have sprung from him. In simple language sage Pulahawas thatha of Kubera and Ravana. 6. Progeny from sage Kratu. Sage Kratu did not produce normal beings. It was Kriya, sage Kardam’s daughter who was married to sage Kratu. Kratu had 60,000 sons called as Valikhilyas. They were no bigger than a joint of the thumb. 7. Progeny from sage Vasistha Arundhati married sage Vasishta and produced seven sons who became great sages themselves. We have read about them in connection with Viswamithra’s Trisanku swargam, they cursed Trisanku to become chandala. The names of these sons born to Vasistha and Arundhathi were Chitraketu, Surochi, Viraja, Mitra, Ulbana, Vasubhridyana and Dyuman. Vasishta also had children from his other wife. Most prominent was sage Sakthi. Other prominent sons were Chitraketu and Mitra. 7.2 Parasara- grand son of sage Vasistha. We have read stories of sge Parasara and Satyavati. Son born to them was Vedavyasa. 7.3 Sage Veda vyasa- Lineage of Vasistha- son of sage Parasara Vedavyasa was father of sage Suga, Pandu and Dhritharshtra and Vidura. He was the grandfather of Pandavas and Kouravas. 7.4 Sage Viswamithra- a contempory of sage Vasistha We have read the story of sage Viswamithra, Nandini divine cow story, Trisangu swarga story etc. and his rivalry with sage Vasistha. Viswamithra was father of Sakunthala, grand father of king Bharat. Since Viswamithra and Vasistha appear in Ramayana story they were contempory with Rajarshi Dasaratha. 7.5 Sage Bharadwaja- grand son of sage Viswamithra Bharatha was the son born to Sakunthala from king Dushyantha by Gandharva marriage. So Viswamithra was the grand father of Bharatha. Bharatha’s adopted son was sage Bharadwaja. So Bharadwaja was the great grandson of sage Viswamithra. The legend is that sage Bharadwaja was born, as the son of Brihaspati. His mother was the wife of Utathya. She became pregnant by her husband and by Brihaspati, it is told.Dirgha-tamas, the son by Uthathya kicked his half-brother (Bharadwaja) out of the womb before his birth in anger. At that time Brihaspati said to his mother, `Bhara-dwa-jam,’ `Cherish this child of two fathers.’ 7.6 Sage Suga- son of sage Vedavyasa Once, a desire arose in the mind of Vedavyasa.He met the sage Jabali and proposed to marry his daughter Vatika. Accepting the proposal, the sage Jabali happily married his daughter Vatika to VedaVyasa. Thus, living in his hermitage amidst the forests, Maharishi Vedavyasa began his married life. With time, his wife Vatika became pregnant and had a peculiar birth of a child. He was sage Suka. Sage Suka remained as bachelor Sage Sugapreached Shrimad Bhagwat to King Parikshith (grand son of Arjuna) for 7 days continuously. Sage Ugrava present there repeated it to sage Suta. Hence Srimad Bhagavatham has become famous. With the above I have covered the sages lineage from Saptharshies through stories to my possible extent. To a certain extent I could establish their relation. The list of sages told above has been summarised in Table from below. It will very simple to understand the relation among the sages by looking in the table after reading the above. Probably the table may be sufficient for those who have read the stories by lines. 1. Mareechi 2. Kashyapa 3. Vibhandaka 4. Rishiasringa 5. Kapila 6. Kardam 7. Sandilya 8. Atri 9. Durvasa 10. Kanva 11. Angeerasa 12. Brihaspathi 13. Bharadwaja 14. Garga 15. Visravas 16. Drona 17. Gauthama 18. Vamadeva 19. Atharva 20. Pulashtia 21. Pulaha 22. Kardam 23. Kratu 24. Vasistha 25. Sakthi 26. Parasara 27. Vedavyasa 28. Suga 29. Viswamithra