The title of this grand epic has two components: Mahā which means great in Sanskrit. One may compare the word to mega in Greek and magnum in Latin, both meaning great.
The second part bhārata refers to the prince Bharat who, incidentally, has given India her current name of Bhārat.
MEANING of MB
Rishis
Since remote times in India, sages in India have been speaking on life and existence, on death and after-life, on soul and god. Some of them acquired insights from years of reflection and meditation. They undertook austerities in their efforts to obtain answers to the mysteries that torment inquiring minds. These pioneers were the rishis of India.
Rishis were scholars, philosophers, sages and poets. And they were more. They were practitioners of techniques by which they seem to have gained glimpses of a loftier reality behind the phenomenal world. They spoke with exuberance about the nature of truth and supreme knowledge. The traditional view is that they broke through the veil of ignorance that keeps ordinary mortals in a state of confusion and misunderstanding about the surrounding mystery. In the next few essays I propose to reflect on some eminent rishis.
Rishis were extraordinary individuals who explored the human potential for spiritual experience. They were serene personages at peace with themselves and the world. They were inspired seers who uttered wisdom through aphorisms and poetry. They composed hymns to the powers of the universe, framed rules and laws for society, discoursed on philosophy, counseled kings, and initiated the young. Individually and collectively, the ancient rishis laid the foundations for the complex culture, sophisticated civilization, and colorful religious tradition that we call Hindu.
Indian sacred history is replete with the names of many rishis whose achievements rendered them superhuman in the estimate of the people. Fantastic stories and incredible time spans came to be associated with the deeds and dates of rishis: One was born of Brahma’s thumb, another had a hundred sons, one fathered a bird, another did penance for a thousand years; one pulverized an army by staring in anger, another made a mountain prostrate in submission, and such. They seem reasonable when one accepts that rishis were a species beyond the human. However, minds molded or corrupted by the perspectives of the scientific age may find it difficult to imagine all this to be true. But a good many Hindus, like their counterparts in other traditions, are not in this quandary: It is difficult to be untouched by the events and episodes we read about rishis. These stories are etched in Hindu collective memory, and have become indelible patches in the quilt of Indic lore. There are similar anecdotes in the Bible and the Qur’an too, and the devout of those traditions also believe that their own puranas are also literally true.
We know but little of historical validity about the remarkable rishis who once walked on the land and dipped in the sacred waters of India, who first recited magnificent mantras and performed magical sacrifices. But we do know that the Ramayana and the Mahābhārata) are major literary works authored by rishis. The Vedas, the Brahmanas and the Upanishads: all these and more are attributed to rishis. The Narada Purana is named after a rishi, as also the Markandeya Purānas. These are among the ever-lasting legacies of rishis.
In ancient India, as also in our own times, rishi was also an honorific: a title for great thinkers and spiritual leaders. The texts mention various kinds of rishis, depending on their qualities or function, as in Brahmarshi and Rājarshi; sometimes, on the spiritual level, as in Devarshi, Maharishi, and Parama rishi; some were called Shrutarshi, meaning that they had heard esoteric wisdom. Brahmarishis are believed to have been created directly by Brahma Himself. They are among the initiators of various gotras, and are invoked in the daily prayers of dvijas who belong to their spiritual lineage. They include such names as Kanva, Bharadvāja, and Kashyapa. The names of some rishis are well known, such as Vishvāmitra, Vasishtha, and Agastya. Others, like Marīchi, Kardama, and Gritsamada, are not as widely recognized.
Every great religious tradition has at its roots profound thinkers. Sometimes they appeared as prophets carrying a spiritual message: revelations from Beyond. And they take their people along new paths. Thales of ancient Greece, Gautama Buddha, Vardhamana Mahavira, Moses, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, and Guru Nanak were all such exceptional men, endowed with inscrutable charisma. What is unusual about Hinduism as a religion – perhaps unique in history – is that it emerged in an uncertain age from the utterances of exceptional sage-poets: rishis who came from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds. That is why it may be said that Hinduism has not one, but many founders. Not all rishis always agreed on everything among themselves. This accounts for the ancientness as well as the richness of the tradition. This has also resulted in unsurpassed diversity in the Hindu world. This may also account for the doctrinal tolerance that is, in principle, an intrinsic feature of Hindu visions.
Spurts of Thought 