Vasishtha

Vasishtha

(superlative of Sanscrit vasumat, "wealthy") is the name of one of the most celebrated Vedic Rishis, the author of several hymns of the Rigveda, and a personage important in the early history of the Brahmanic or priestly caste of the Hindus. All that is certainly known of him is that he was a sage of high reputation, and a priest jealous of the privileges and the position of his caste, and ever ready to assert its superiority over the second, or military and royal, caste. See Muir, Original Sanscrit Texts (Lond. 1858); Muller, Chips from a German Workshop.