Vasishtha

Vasishtha stands among the oldest named figures in Sanskrit literature, his hymns woven into multiple mandalas of the Rigveda alongside mentions of his family. Adi Shankara would centuries later call him the first sage of the Vedanta school, a retrospective honor that secured his philosophical lineage. Stories grew around him: possessor of Kamadhenu, the wish-granting cow, and her calf Nandini; locked in legendary rivalry with the sage Vishvamitra; family priest to the Raghu dynasty and teacher to Rama in the Ramayana. Texts bear his name—the Yoga Vāsishtha, the Vasishtha Samhita, some version…