Bharadvaja

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Bharadvaja (Sanskrit: भरद्वाज, IAST: Bharadvāja; also spelled Bharadwaja) was an ancient rishi associated with a pastoralist group of the same name among the early Vedic people. The name further designates the gotra of his descendants, the Bharadvajas, many of whom appear as rishis and brahmanas in Vedic and later texts. Hymns ascribed to members of this family form a major portion of the Rigveda, above all the sixth mandala, together with others in the fourth, ninth and tenth. The family is represented by some sixteen seers. Bharadvaja, son of Brihaspati, is traditionally regarded as its founder, though many of the hymns later attributed to him or to Bharadvaja Barhaspatya were more probably composed by remote descendants. Early Bharadvajas worshipped the pastoral god Pushan; subsequent Rigvedic hymns incorporated him into the wider pantheon as Indra’s brother or helper and linked him with Soma. With this rise in Pushan’s status the Bharadvajas became sacrificial officiants for pastoralist...

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