Abhinavagupta

Abhinavagupta (c. 950 – 1016 CE: 27 ) was a philosopher, mystic and aesthetician from Kashmir. He was also considered an influential musician, poet, dramatist, exegete, theologian, and logician – a polymathic personality who exercised strong influences on Indian culture. Abhinavagupta was born in a Kashmiri Brahmin family of scholars and mystics and studied all the schools of philosophy and art of his time under the guidance of as many as fifteen (or more) teachers and gurus....

December 26, 2021 · 1 min · TheAum

Adi Shankara

Adi Shankaracharya (Sanskrit: आदि शङ्कराचार्यः IAST: Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ [aːdɪ ɕɐŋkɐraːtɕaːrjɐh]) (8th cent. CE) was an Indian philosopher and theologian whose works had a strong impact on the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta. He founded four mathas (“monasteries”), which are believed to have helped in the historical development, revival and propagation of Advaita Vedanta.According to tradition, he travelled across the Indian subcontinent to propagate his philosophy through discourses and debates with other thinkers, from both orthodox Vedic (Āstika) traditions and heterodox non-Vedic (Nāstika) traditions, including Buddhism, defeating his opponents in theological debates....

December 26, 2021 · 2 min · TheAum

Agastya

Agastya (Tamil: அகத்தியர், Sanskrit: अगस्त्य) was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the Indian tradition, he is a noted recluse and an influential scholar in diverse languages of the Indian subcontinent. He and his wife Lopamudra are the celebrated authors of hymns 1.165 to 1.191 in the Sanskrit text Rigveda and other Vedic literature.Agastya appears in numerous itihasas and Puranas including the major Ramayana and Mahabharata. He is one of the seven most revered rishis (the Saptarishi) in the Vedic texts, and is revered as one of the Tamil Siddhar in the Shaivism tradition, who invented an early grammar of the Tamil language, Agattiyam, playing a pioneering role in the development of Tampraparniyan medicine and spirituality at Saiva centres in proto-era Sri Lanka and South India....

December 26, 2021 · 2 min · TheAum

Akka Mahadevi

Akka Mahadevi ಅಕ್ಕ ಮಹಾದೇವಿ (c.1130–1160) was one of the early female poets of the Kannada literature and a prominent person in the Lingayatism sect of Hinduism in the 12th century. Her 430 extant Vachana poems (a form of spontaneous mystical poems), and the two short writings called Mantrogopya and the Yogangatrividhi are considered her most notable contribution to Kannada literature. She composed fewer poems than other saints of the movement. The term Akka (“elder Sister”) is an honorific given to her by great Lingayat saints such as Basavanna, Siddharama and Allamaprabhu and an indication of her high place in the spiritual discussions held at the “Anubhava Mantapa”....

December 26, 2021 · 1 min · TheAum

Allama Prabhu

Allama Prabhu (Kannada: ಅಲ್ಲಮ ಪ್ರಭು) was a 12th-century mystic-saint and Vachana poet (called Vachanakara) of the Kannada language, propagating the unitary consciousness of Self and Shiva. Allama Prabhu is one of the celebrated poets and the patron saint of the Lingayata movement that reshaped medieval Karnataka society and popular Kannada literature. He is included among the “Trinity of Lingayathism”, along with Basavanna, the founder of the movement, and Akka Mahadevi, the most prominent woman poet....

December 26, 2021 · 2 min · TheAum

Alvars

The Alvars or Alwars or Azhwar (Tamil: ஆழ்வார், romanized: Āḻvār, lit. ’those immersed [in God]’) were Tamil poet-saints of South India who espoused bhakti (devotion) to the Hindu god Vishnu in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service. They are venerated especially in Vaishnavism, which regards Vishnu as the Supreme entity. Many modern academics place the Alvar date between 5th century to 10th century CE. Traditionally, the Alvars are considered to have lived between 4200 BCE and 2700 BCE....

December 26, 2021 · 2 min · TheAum

Angiras

Angiras or Angira (Sanskrit: अङ्गिरा / áṅgira, pronounced [ɐ́ŋɡiɽɐ]) was a Vedic rishi (sage) of Hinduism. He is described in the Rigveda as a teacher of divine knowledge, a mediator between men and gods, as well as stated in other hymns to be the first of Agni-devas (fire gods). He is known by both names angiras and angira. In some texts he is called angiras and in some he is called angira....

December 26, 2021 · 1 min · TheAum

Aruni

Aruni (fl. c. 8th century BCE), also referred to as Uddalaka or Uddalaka Aruni or Uddalaka Varuni, is a revered Vedic sage of Hinduism. He is mentioned in many Vedic era Sanskrit texts, and his philosophical teachings are among the center piece in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishad, two of the oldest Upanishadic scriptures. A famed Vedic teacher, Aruni lived a few centuries before the Buddha, and attracted students from far regions of the Indian subcontinent; some of his students such as Yajnavalkya are also highly revered in the Hindu traditions....

December 26, 2021 · 1 min · TheAum

Ashtavakra

Ashtavakra (Sanskrit: अष्टावक्रः, IAST: Aṣṭāvakraḥ) is a revered Vedic sage in Hinduism. His name literally means “eight bends”, reflecting the eight physical handicaps he was born with. His maternal grandfather was the Vedic sage Aruni, his parents were both Vedic students at Aruni’s school. Ashtavakra studied, became a sage and a celebrated character of the Hindu Itihasa epics and Puranas.Ashtavakra is the author of the text Aṣṭāvakra Gītā, also known as Aṣṭāvakra Saṃhitā, in Hindu traditions....

December 26, 2021 · 1 min · TheAum

Atmananda Krishna Menon

Śrĩ Atmananda (8 December 1883 – 14 May 1959), also referred as Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon, was an Indian sage, guru, and philosopher. He has been described by scholars as a “neo-Hindu”. His teachings have become a foundation for a spiritual method called the Direct Path.

December 26, 2021 · 1 min · TheAum

Atri

Atri (Sanskrit: अत्रि) or Attri is a Vedic sage, who is credited with composing numerous hymns to Agni, Indra and other Vedic deities of Hinduism. Atri is one of the Saptarishi (seven great Vedic sages) in the Hindu tradition, and the one most mentioned in its scripture Rigveda.The fifth Mandala (Book 5) of Rigveda is called the Atri Mandala in his honour, and the eighty seven hymns in it are attributed to him and his descendants....

December 26, 2021 · 1 min · TheAum

Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yoga guru, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as Bande Mataram. He joined the Indian movement for independence from British colonial rule, until 1910 was one of its influential leaders and then became a spiritual reformer, introducing his visions on human progress and spiritual evolution. Aurobindo studied for the Indian Civil Service at King’s College, Cambridge, England....

December 26, 2021 · 2 min · TheAum

Basava

Basaveshwara, colloquially known as Basavanna, was a 12th-century CE Indian statesman, philosopher, poet, social reformer and Lingayat saint in the Shiva-focussed bhakti movement, and a Hindu Shaivite social reformer during the reign of the Kalyani Chalukya/Kalachuri dynasty. Basava was active during the rule of both dynasties but reached the peak of his influence during the rule of King Bijjala II in Karnataka, India. Basava spread social awareness through his poetry, popularly known as Vachanaas....

December 26, 2021 · 2 min · TheAum

Bhaktivinoda Thakur

Bhaktivinoda Thakur (IAST: Bhakti-vinoda Ṭhākura, Bengali pronunciation: [bʱɔktibinodo tʰakur] (listen)) (2 September 1838 – 23 June 1914), born Kedarnath Datta (Kedāra-nātha Datta, Bengali: [kedɔrnɔtʰ dɔtto]), was a Hindu philosopher, guru and spiritual reformer of Gaudiya Vaishnavism who effected its resurgence in India in late 19th and early 20th century and was hailed by contemporary scholars as the most influential Gaudiya Vaishnava leader of his time. He is also credited, along with his son Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, with pioneering the propagation of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in the West and its eventual global spread....

December 26, 2021 · 4 min · TheAum

Bharadwaja

Bharadvaja (Sanskrit: भरद्वाज, IAST: Bharadvāja; also spelled Bharadwaja) was one of the revered Vedic sages (maharishi) in Ancient India. He was a renowned scholar, economist, grammarian and physician. He is one of the Saptarishis (seven great sages or Maharṣis).His contributions to ancient Indian literature, specifically the Rig Veda, provide significant insight into ancient Indian society. He and his family of students were the authors of the sixth book of the Rigveda....

December 26, 2021 · 1 min · TheAum