Book Title: Rushibhashit Sutra
Author(s): Vinaysagar, Sagarmal Jain, Kalanath Shastri, Dineshchandra Sharma
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy
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Champanagar. In Jain tradition in Isimandal Vritti and Avashyak Churni it has been stated that he was a disciple of Kaushik Upadhyaya of Champanagar.
In complete pali literature one finds mention of seven persons named as Angiras. It is worth giving a thought that which one of these is the Angiras mentioned in Rishibhashit. Most probably the Angiras mentioned with ten Rishis in Suttanipata is the Angiras of Rishibhashit. In my opinion, of the persons mentioned as Angiras in Chhandogyopanishad, Suttanipata, and Rishibliushit, Avashyak Niryukti and Avashyak Churni are one and the same. All the three traditions have presented his story in their own typical styles. Pandit Kailash Chandra has tried to establish that Angiras, the preacher of Devakiputra, of Chhandogyopanishad was Arishtanemi. But in my opinion this is a farfetched imagination. This much, however, is true that Angiras was a contemporary of Krishna and Arishtanemi and a Rishi of the Upanishadic period of the Shraman tradition predating Buddha, Mahavir, and Parshwa.
In the Vedic tradition the first mention of Angiras is found in Rigvedads. After that he has been mentioned in Chhandogyopanishad4 as Ghor Angiras and he has been shown as teacher of Devakiputra Krishna. Besides Chhandogya, Mahabharat mentions a Rishi named Angira, one of whose sons was named Ghor. This indicates that the Ghor Angiras of Chhandogya must have been Ghor, the son of Angira Rishi of Mahabharar85. This is because the mention of father's name with son is an age old tradition in India. Also, Angiras too means son of Angira.
As such we may conclude that Angiras Bhardwaj of Rishibhashit, Ghor Angiras of Chhandogyopanishad and Angiras Bhardwaj of Suttanipata is one and the same person. He has been well known as Rishi and all the three traditions have accepted him in their own way.
5. PUSHPSHALPUTRA The fifth chapter of Rishibhashit is the collection of the preachings of Pushpshalputra. Besides Rishibhashit86, Pushpshalputra has been mentioned in Avashyak-niryukti87,
Rishibhashit : A Study
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