The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c22.s2.1

v1.c22.s2.1

Of other ancient seers the most famous are the Seven Seers, who are four times mentioned in the Rigveda.⁸ They are called divine fathers and secure Trasadasyu for Purukutsa’s wife in her dire need; possibly the number is merely the frequent mystic number seven, or again it may be derived from the seven priests of the ritual⁹—who again, however, may be due to the desire to make up the sacred number. Their names are not given before the Brāhmaṇas. In the Çatapatha¹⁰ they are regarded as the seven stars in the constellation of the Great Bear, and are declared to have been in origin bears, a theory explained by the similarity of the words Ṛṣi, seer, and Ṛkṣa, which means both star¹¹ and bear.¹² It is probably the same number who are the seven Hotṛs with whom Manu made his first offering.¹³ A couple of divine Hotṛs, who are mentioned about twelve times in the Rigveda,¹⁴ seem to be based on some pair of sacrificers in the ritual.