Dirghatama

“Truth is one, the wise call it in different ways.” “Heaven is my father Earth is my mother.” “What is above is moving downward and what is down is moving upward; yes, they who are below are indeed up above and they who are up are here below.” These are not the fanciful imaginations of any ordinary thinker or poet. These are some of the most illuminating words of Rishi Dirghatama, the words of his deeper experiences. Rishi Dirghtama was a Vedic seer belonging to the old Angirasa Rishi family. He was famous for his deep, enigmatic and mystic style. Legend says that he, at his will, lived for a long time in his mother’s womb. His mother was Mamata, and Utathya was his father. When came out he was blind. But within himself he could see a light strangely glimmering with all the vibrations of obscurity. It was a Light beyond the confines of all the darkness, and yet carrying a mystic imprint of the mysteries of the darkness. He began his quest with this questioning: “I am an innocent babe, my ignorant mind knows nothing, who will tell me of the secret seats of the Godheads?” (Rigveda, 1.164.5).
Dirghatama was also the chief predecessor of the Gotama family of Rishis. In this family Gotama, Kakshivan, Nodhas and Vamadeva were famous. All of them along with Dirghatama account for almost 150 hymns of the Rigveda. The Mantras of Dirghatama occur frequently in many Vedic texts, a few even in the Upanishads. Dirghatama was the reputed Purohit or chief priest of King Bharata, earliest king of India. It is said in the Aitareya Brahmana that it was Dirghatama who consecrated Bharata, the son of dushyanta, as the emperor of the Bharatavarsha. Thus consecrated by him Bharata went round the earth completely, conquering on every side and offered the horse in sacrifice. Emperor Bharata unified the dominions of India under one rule for the first time in history, established his capital at Hastinapura (Delhi) and ancient India was known after him as Bharata-varsha. So Bharata is the earliest recorded emperor of India. It is said that emperor Bharata was disappointed with his sons (and killed them all) and adopted Dirghatama’s son Bharadwaja as his own. Bharadwaja’s son Vitatha succeeded Bharata as Emperor of India. From this time, the descendants of Angirasa took the name Bharadwaja. This is one of the important contributions of Dirghatama. Another most significant contribution of Rishi Dirghatama is his Asya Vamasya hymn which appears in the Rigveda. This hymn is highly philosophical. It is also the earliest record of India’s contribution to Zodiac. Most of the astronomical information occurs in this famous Hymn. Much of this hymn can be understood as a description of the zodiac. In this hymn Dirghatama shows the mathematical basis of harmonic divisions of a zodiac of 360 degrees. Dirghatama is respected as the first Astronomer.
Rishi Dirghatama was equal unto Vrihaspati in energy. He wooed Pradveshi as his wife. Dirghatama had several children, but the eldest amongst them was Gautama. The famous woman-seer Ghosha was the grand daughter of Dirghatama and daughter of Kakshivan.
No doubt, Dirgatama was a great seer of the Rigvedic age. His contribution in the field of Astronomy is noteworthy. The highly philosophical and enigmatic hymns of Rishi Dirghatama have yet to be understood in their true sense.