Prachethasa

Prachetasa is considered to be one of the most mysterious figures of Hindu mythology. It is an epithet for Varuna the god of water and its principle and as such are related to ‘shatabhoisag’ asterism. According to the puranas Prachetasa was one of the 10 Prajapatis who were ancient sages and law gives. But there is also a reference to 10 Prachetas who were sons of Prachinabarthis and great grandsons of Prithu. It is said that they lived for 10,000 years in a great ocean, very deeply engaged in meditation upon Vishnu and obtained from Him the boon of becoming the progenitors of mankind. They married a girl named Manisha, a daughter of Kanclu . Daksha was their son. But according to another version it is said that Prajapathi Daksha an ancient sage and contemporary of Lord Shiva, gave his 27 daughters in marriage to Soma ( Chandra). Soma was born from Marichi. But it is also said that Daksha was also the son of a woman called Marichi. Marichi is again referred to as the mother of Daksha. Thus it appears that Prachetasas were Daksha’s fathers as well as Daksha’s great grandsons. This confusion arises in Hindu families essentially because children are often named after their grandfather or great grandfather.

The above name of Prachesa may not be confused with another sage named Prachetas who belonged to KritaYuga ( the period during which Lord Sri Rams appeared) . This sage lived in a hermitage in a forest on the banks of river Ganga. It is said that he had a son named Ratnakar. One day the boy went into the forest to play. He forgot his way to reach the hermitage and began to cry in wilderness; a bird hunter then saw the boy, consoled him and took him to his home. Some scholars claim that the Brahmin boy grew up as a hunter and a robber. He was converted into a devotee of Lord Sri Rama by the sage Narada. He was none the great sage Valmiki who wrote the immortal epic Ramayana.