[Advaita-l] Brahmarishi

[Sanjay Srivastava]

On Thursday, June 23, 2005, at 06:20  AM, Ramesh Murthy wrote:

>>
>> Brahmarshi (vocalic r in a compound becomes ar in Sanskrit) just 
>> means a
>> Rishi who was a Brahmana.
>> Similiarly, Rajarshi is a Rishi of Kshatriya stock.
>
> ** I doubt if this is true. To my knowledge, a Brahmarshi is simply a
> rishi who has realized Brahman.

Explanation given by Sri Jaldhar Vyas is the usually accepted meaning 
of Brahmarshi. If Brahma-jnanam were the criterion for calling someone 
a Brahmarshi, the whole Vishwamitra-Vasishtha episode would not carry 
any meaning. Apparently both were Brahma-jnanis but Vishwamitra 
excelled in other disciplines also. Vishwamitra's resentment centers 
around the fact that despite his superior qualifications than 
Vasishtha, he is not considered a Brahmarshi.