The Bharadvajas in Ancient India.

• Author: Brereton, Joel P.

The Bharadvaja family are the traditional poets of the hymlmost homophonous King Marutta, whom Brhaspati served as a priest and whom Bharata might have consulted.

Sarmah's full reconstruction is more complex, but the method is clear. Elaboration, selection, emendation, and a willingness to invent well beyond the boundaries of the evidence create an intriguing but unconvincing history. The priestly role of Bharadvaja in the Bharata's sacrifice, the recommendations of Dirghatamas, and the introduction of Marutta are all creations of the reconstruction. A better approach would be to allow the texts greater creativity and their interpreter less.

The basis for Bharadvaja's genealogy is probably RV 6.73.1abc yo adribhit prathamaja rtava, brhaspatir angirasah ... pita nah "Breaker of the rock, the first-born truthful one, Brhaspati the Angirasa, our father." ... As Schmidt (Brhaspati und Indra [Wiesbaden: Harassowitz, 1968]) has shown...