Vashistha

Vashistha (, Thai: Vasit, Tamil: வசிஷ்டர்) is one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis) in the seventh, i.e. the present Manvantara, or age of Manu. Vashista is a manasputra of God Brahma. He had in his possession the divine cow Kamadhenu, and Nandini her child, who could grant anything to their owners. Arundhuti is the name of the wife of Vashista. RigVeda 7:33 mentions Vashistha rishi as son of MitraVaruṇa and Urvasi."according to Rig Veda 7.33:11 he is the son of Maitravarun and Urvashi" Prof. Shrikant Prasoon, Pustak Mahal, 2009, ISBN	8122310729, 9788122310726. "Born of their love for Urvasi, Vasiṣṭha thou, priest, art son of Varuṇa and Mitra;
And as a fallen drop, in heavenly fervour, all the Gods laid thee on a lotus-blossom." 
Vashistha, as one of 9 Prajapatis, is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the Rigveda. Vashistha and his family are glorified in RV 7.33, extolling their role in the Battle of the Ten Kings, making him the only mortal besides Bhava to have a Rigvedic hymn dedicated to him. Another treatise attributed to him is "Vashistha Samhita" – a book on the Vedic system of electional astrology.
==Arundhati and Vashistha pair of stars==
Mizar is known as Vashistha and Alcor is known as Arundhati in traditional Indian astronomy. The pair is considered to symbolise marriage (Vashishtha and Arundhati were a married couple) and, in some Hindu communities, priests conducting a wedding ceremony allude to or point out the constellation as a symbol of the closeness marriage brings to a couple.
==Vashistha==
In the Vinaya Pitaka of the Mahavagga (I.245)P. 494 The Pali-English dictionary By Thomas William Rhys Davids, William Stede section the Buddha pays respect to Vashistha by declaring that the Veda in its true form was declared to the Vedic rishis "Atthako, Vâmako, Vâmadevo, Vessâmitto, Yamataggi, Angiraso, Bhâradvâjo, Vâsettho, Kassapo, and Bhagu"P. 245 The Vinaya piṭakaṃ: one of the principle Buddhist holy scriptures ..., Volume 1 edited by Hermann Oldenberg and because that true Veda was altered by some priests he refused to pay homage to the altered version.The Vinaya Pitaka's section Anguttara Nikaya: Panchaka Nipata, P. 44 The legends and theories of the compared with history and science By Robert Spence Hardy
== The "Vashistha head" ==
A copper item representing a human head styled in the manner described for Vashistha has been dated to around 3700 BC in three western universities using among other tests carbon 14 tests, spectrographic analysis, X-ray dispersal analysis and metallography.Hicks and Anderson. Analysis of an Indo-European Vedic Aryan Head – 4500-2500 B.C., in Journal of IE studies 18:425–446. Fall 1990.
The head was not found in an archaeological context, as it was rescued from being melted down in Delhi, and has also been seen of questionable veracity as it bears a legible inscription and could simply have be created by recycling material from older copper.
==Gotra==
In the Nepali Gotra system Chalise, Bhattarai, Dawadi, Bhaskar Bhandari, Suyal, Raut, Suyel, Thansinge Bharadi and Dharti Kharel come under Vasishta Gotra.
==See also==
* Ramayana
* Yoga Vasistha
==References==
==Literature==
*
* Selected verses, sorted by subject, in both Sanskrit and English text.
* Sanskrit and English text.
* Very short condensation.
Category:Hindu sages
Category:Indian astrologers
Category:Indian astronomers
Category:Prajapatis
Category:Sanskrit words and phrases
Category:Gotras
Category:Brahmin gotras
Category:Indian family names