Saptarishi – Seven Sages Who Guided Humanity During Four Great Ages

Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - The Saptarishi were the seven great sages in ancient India. Sent by Brahma, the Hindu creator god, these divine and immortal beings brought precious knowledge to humans.

Matsya, the fish rescues the Saptarishi and Manu from the great Deluge. Credit: Ramanarayanadatta Shastri, Public Domain

Like many other ancient gods, and semi-gods, the seven Rishis had extremely long lifespans, and they were present on  Earth present through the four great ages, a period that is equal to equal to seventy-one mahāyugas or 306,720,000 years. During all those years, the Saptarishi guided humanity.

Who Were The Saptarishi?

According to Mataji Devi Vanamali, who has written many books about the gods of the Hindu pantheon, there is very little information about the Saptarishi. In his book, The Science of the Rishis: The Spiritual and Material Discoveries of the Ancient Sages of India, the author writes that “in Hindu astronomy, the stars of the Big Dipper are named after the saptarishis. Metaphorically, they stand for the seven senses or the seven vital airs of the body. Their association with the stars gives more support to the theory that they might have been extraterrestrial beings. That is perhaps why we know very little of their lives, parents, or lineage. We know them only through their colossal revelations called the Vedas.

The Rishis passed on their knowledge.

Many different lists of the names of the seven sages are given. Probably this differs from age to age. The rishis of the first manvantara are supposed to be Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulaha, Kratu, Pulastya, and Vasishta. There are other lists in the other manvantaras or eons. But most lists include Vasishta, Atri, Gautama, Bharadwaja, Vishvamitra, Jamadagni, Kashyapa, and Agastya.”

Interestingly, it’s also worth mentioning that the four sons of Horus are also connected to the Big Dipper in the Ursa Major constellation.

The Saptarishi Had Supernatural Abilities

As mentioned earlier on Ancient Pages, the Rishis possessed extraordinary abilities and they were keepers of divine wisdom. They were scientists, but their high level of spirituality allowed them to co-exist perfectly with nature. The first Rishis resided thousands of years ago in a remote region of the Himalayas.

See also:

Mysterious Rishis – Remarkable Ancient Sages And Scientists With Divine Knowledge In India

Ancient Indian Sages Had Highly Advanced Scientific Knowledge Thousands Of Years Ago

10 Remarkable Ancient Indian Sages Familiar With Advanced Technology & Science Long Before Modern Era

More Myths And Legends

According to Vedic literature, the Rishis could enter the realms of the gods and demons. In addition to this, the Rishis also possessed the supernatural ability to perceive events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact. According to our present knowledge of quantum physics, and the string theory, often called the “theory of everything,” there are more space dimensions, but the ones beyond three are effectively inaccessible. As Message To Eagle explained that in higher  dimensions we could see past, present and future events simultaneously.

Were the Rishis familiar with quantum physics and did they have the ability to access these higher dimensions where they could see what was going to happen?

According to Vanamali, these intriguing beings did not exist as separate personalities. Vanamali explained that “only That One existed. That Supreme Truth, which manifests itself all the time in everything, is an eternal, infinite, and absolute self-existence, self-awareness, and self-delight—sat-chitananda. It supports and pervades all things. It is present in the human being as the atman. It is not only the Absolute but also the omnipresent reality in which all that is relative exists as Its forms and movements.

Stars of Saptarishi (Ursa Major) with their Indian astronomical names. Credit: Notthebestusername, CC BY-SA 4.0

Having submerged themselves in the ocean of existence, consciousness, and bliss, they had no trace of ego, even though they existed in a human body. They can be known only through their words in the Vedas. They have left nothing else. They left no chronicle of their achievements or images that might have survived the course of time. “

The Seven Sages Appear In Different Corners Of The World

The ancient history of the Saptarishi goes so far back in time that it is very difficult to gain more knowledge about these extraordinary divine individuals. One could easily dismiss their existence as pure myth, but they appear in different parts of the world under different names.

The Seven Sages in India. Image source

The seven sages can be found world-wide and are mentioned in myths and legends of Egypt, Babylon, Sumer, China, ancient Greece, and India. The Saptarishi had the same mission as the seven Apkallu, who were Antediluvian demi-gods and sages created by God Enki.

Our ancestors’ ancient stories about the seven sages who guided humanity in the distant past seem to have an important message to convey. We will never be able to find physical traces of these divine and wise beings, but does this imply they could not have existed?

The similarities between ancient myths told by civilizations who had nothing in common and were separated by thousands of miles, seem to indicate the seven sages were more important to the human race than we realize.

Written by Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com

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