Sri Bharatamata

Ashtottaram 22

 

 

 

22) OṀ ṚUSHI BHŨMYAINAMAH:

           OṀ (AUM) - ṚU - SHI - BHOO- MYAI- NA--MA- HA

 

                 (Ṛushi: means 'a man of wisdom')

 

 

 

Derived from the verbal root ṛṣ (to know), the word ṛushi means any person who has attained expertise and proficiency in any field of knowledge. Hence, a ṛushi need not be a person of religious, philosophical or spiritual bent of mind. In this sense, an expert in any field of knowledge, like Charaka, Suśruta or Bhāskarāchārya, can be called a ṛushi.

 

However, in a more restricted sense, only a person of spiritual wisdom, who has transcended saṃsāra or transmigratory existence, can be termed a ṛushi. Being a man of perfect chastity, with tremendous self-control and deeply devoted to truth. ṛushis could have been born in all the castes, because they attained that state by dint of their self-effort. The general belief is that the number of ṛushis may be around 48,000. Sometimes, the ṛushis are classified into several groups. For instance, the seven famous sages of the present age are: Viśvāmitra, Jamadagni, Bharadvāja, Gautama, Atri, Vasiṣhṭha and Kaśyapa. Another mode of classification is: de'vaṛshi, brahmaṛshi, rājaṛshi, mahaṛshi, paramaṛshi, śrutaṛshi and kāndaṛshi.

 

Apart from the saptaṛshis mentioned earlier, the following are a few of the several great ṛushis mentioned in the Hindu scriptures: Nārada, Kaṇva, Garga, Vālmīki, Vyāsa, Śuka, Agastya, Vāmadeva, Ashtavakra, Bhṛugu, Lomaśa, Dūrvāsa, Dhaumya, Sanaka, Mārkandeya, Maudgalya.

 

Nowa days, even before inventing something people are getting copyrights and imagine how selfless, kind and generous our ancient ṛushis were who imparted their knowledge to humanity without expecting anything in return. That is the nature of our ṛushis and they always thought of humanity and human welfare before their own comforts. They worked very hard and followed strictest practices inorder to attain purity of the mind and clarity of the knowledge. We owe a lot to our ancient ṛushis for their sacrifices and efforts.

 

During these modern times also we have Ramaṇa mahaṛshi, Sri Rama Krishna paramahaṃsa, swami Vidyāraṇya saraswati and swami Vivekānanda and many more. Hence, our land is deserved to be called 'Ṛushi Bhūmi.'