Description and Usage
Maharishi may refer to a Hindu guru or "spiritual teacher" of "mystical knowledge". Additional meanings cited by dictionaries include: sage, poet, spiritual leader, wise man and holy man.
Alternate meanings describe Maharishi as a collective name that refers to the seven rishis or saptarishis (including Maharishi Bhrigu) cited in the scriptures of Rig Veda and the Puranas, or any of the several mythological seers that are referenced in Vedic writings and associated with the seven stars of the constellation Ursa Major.
Maharishi may refer to any individual who has added the title to their name. According to Brewers Dictionary, outside of India, the most well known Maharishi was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who founded Transcendental Meditation and made it available to the West.
Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950) was an "Indian sage" with a philosophy about the path to self-knowledge and the integration of personality espoused in books by author Paul Brunton and Ramana's own writings such as the Collected Works (1969) and Forty Verses on Reality (1978).
The title was also used by Maharishi Valmiki, Maharishi Patanjali and Maharishi Dayananda Sarasvati.
The term Maharishi became popular in modern English literature "sometime before 1890" and was first used in 1758.
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