Bharadvaja is one among the saptarishis mentioned in the Shatapata Brahmana. Though a descendant of Angiras, Bharadvaja is also considered one among the gotra rishis. The Bharadvajas were descendants of a seer Bharadvaja, son of Brhaspati and a descendant of Angiras. The original habitant of the Bharadvajas was on the banks of river Saraswati.
Followers of the Pushan cult
Besides attending to the services of the high gods of the Vedic pantheon, namely, Indra, Agni and Soma, the Bharadvajas cherished and adhered to a distinct cult of Pushan and to the cow worship. Pushan is one among the various gods mentioned in the Vedic literature. He was the Lord of the paths and helped the nomadic tribes on their ways. Whenever cattle went astray and were lost, the pastoral worshippers used to appeal to Pushan, who as their patron god of cow herds and shepherds, readily recovered their lost property. Out of the eight complete hymns in the Rigveda, glorifying god Pushan, the patron god of cow herds and shepherds, five occur in the 6th mandala of the Rigveda whose composers were the Bharadvajas. The Bharadvajas were the followers of the Pushan cult and were priests of the pastoral tribes.
The foremost enemy of the pastoral tribes were the Panis who were notorious cattle lifters. Thus there was in the early Vedic times, a continuous conflict going on between the Bharadvajas and the Panis and the former invoked their patron god Pushan, to punish these cattle lifters.
According to R.N.Dandekar there are indications in the Veda that the pastoral god, Pushan evoked mockery at the hands of certain other people- perhaps priests and warriors, who worshipped gods of a different order. The usual method adopted by the Vedic poets to combine the different gods of the Vedic tribes in one great pantheon was to bring all such gods in contact with Indra who represented, so to say, the ‘official’ religion of the Rigvedic samhita. The Bharadvajas were responsible for assimilating the Pushan cult with the Indra cult and Pushan came to be regarded as Indra’s comrade and given a share of the Soma offering, which he was earlier denied. The earlier sacrificial offering to Pushan was Karambha, i.e., gruel.
Patronized by kings
In recognition of their capacity as poets and singers, the Bharadvajas were patronized by kings and from the position of the priests of a pastoral tribe they became the priests of a warrior tribe. Bharadvaja was the priest of rulers like Divodasa II and his son Pratardana of Kashi and Divodasa Atithigva, the ruler of northern Panchala dynasty and his contemporaries like Srnjaya and his son Prastoka and Abhyavartin Cayamana. In the Ramayana, Valmiki depicts Bharadvaja and his hermitage and mentions that Rama and Bharata paid him respects on more than one occasion. The famous teacher of the Pandavas, Dronacharya and his son Ashwattama belonged to the Bharadvaja family.
As teachers and authors
About sixteen seers belonging to the Bharadvaja family have composed hymns of the Rigveda of which the whole of the 6th mandala and a number of hymns in the fourth, ninth and tenth mandala are ascribed to them. In the Upanishads the Bharadvajas are referred as seekers of esoteric knowledge and teachers transmitting the knowledge of Upanishad. Bharadvaja is also the author of a Srauta Sutra and a Grhya Sutra which bears his name. Shantiparva of Mahabharata refers to one Bharadvaja as a writer on Rajashastra (Political Science) and Kautilya cites the views of Bharadvaja in his works which shows that he (Bharadvaja) was also a writer on Arthashastra. Panini refers to one Bharadvaja as a grammarian and we have a treatise on Shiksa (phonetics) known as Bharadvaja Shiksa. In Charaka Samhita we have information about Indra revealing the knowledge of Internal medicine (kayachikitsa) to Bharadvaja.
Bharadvaja refers to different individuals
It should be remembered that the name Bharadvaja refers not to a single person but to different individuals belonging to the Bharadvaja family and who lived in different times and in different places. For instance Bharadvaja who was the priest of Divodasa Atithigva, the ruler of North Panchala dynasty was 23 in descent of Bharadvaja who helped Pratardana, son of Divodasa II to regain his kingdom from the Vitahavya Haihayas. Similarly the Bharadvaja (known as Payu Bharadvaja) who composed the hymns in the 6th mandala of Rigveda was the son of Bharadvaja who was the priest of Divodasa Atithigva. The name Bharadvaja referred to by Valmiki, and as an author of different treatises were different individuals belonging to the Bharadvaja clan.
Bharadvajas, as worshipper of sun god
Pushan is one among the solar divinities and his paths have been described as sun-god’s rays. Nirukta declares him a sun. According to V.C.Srivastava, the Upanishads mention the Bharadvajas as one among the several sages associated with sun worship. The Govindpur Stone Inscription of the poet Gangadhara dated 1137-38 A.D. mentions Bharadvaja as the first Maga Brahmin brought to India by Samba to appoint them as the priests of sun temples. Gangadhara says that the Angiras Bharadvajas were held in great respect in Magadha in the 12th century A.D. Several inscriptions like the Kaira Plate and Sankheda Plates of Dadda II, inform about the gifts to sun god by persons belonging to Bharadvaja gotra.
The Bharadvajas played a significant role in enriching Hindu religion and culture.
Reference
Thaneswar Sarmah – The Bharadvajas in Ancient India, PhD Thesis submitted to the University of Poona, 1980
V.G.Rahurkar –The Seers of the RGVeda, University of Poona, 1964
R.N.Dandekar- Vedic Mythological Tracts, Ajanta Publications, Delhi, 1979
V.C.Srivastava – Sun Worship in Ancient India, Indological Publications, Allahabad, 1972
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