Vedic Mythology c6.s5.4

c6.s5.4

D. The seven Ṛṣis⁴. The ancient seers are represented by a definite numerical group as 'the seven Ṛṣis', who are, however, only mentioned four times in the RV. One poet speaks of them as 'our fathers, the seven seers' (4, 42⁸). They are called divine (10, 130⁷), and in another passage (10, 109⁴) the 'seven ancient seers' are associated with the gods. The number may have been suggested by that of the seven technical priests (enumerated in 2, 1²), of whom they would, in that case, have been regarded as the prototypes. In the ŚB. they become individualized by each receiving a name (ŚB. 14, 5, 2⁶; Bṛhadār. Up. 2, 2⁶). In the same Brāhmaṇa (2, 1, 2⁴ cp. 8, 1, 10) they are also regarded as the seven stars in the constellation of the Great Bear and are stated to have been originally bears⁵. This identification is doubtless due partly to the sameness of the number in the two cases and partly to the similarity of sound between *ṛṣi*, 'seer', and *ṛkṣa*, which in the RV. means both 'star' (1, 24¹⁰) and 'bear' (5, 56³).