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Recently I was in a discussion with a friend who had visited Chidambaram Temple and he was telling me about the legend of Vyaghrapada mentioned in this question but my curiosity was piqued by another statement he said. He mentioned that this lion-legged rishi was married to the sister of Brahmarishi Vasishth and they sired the rishi Upamanyu!

I am aware that Vasishth was one of the Manas Putras of Lord Brahma and all of them were male. As mentioned in the Bhagavata Puran:

Thereafter, Lord Brahma created ten more sons- Marichi, Bhrigu, Kratu, Pulah, Pulatsya, Angira, Atri, Vashishtha, Daksh and Narad. Nine out of them took permission for the creation of their offsprings, but Narad accepted celibacy and resolved to preach Bhagwad bhakti (devotion for God.)

So my question is - Is there any mention of a sister of Brahmarishi Vasishth in any scripture and if so is she mentioned as the wife of Vyaghrapada and mother of Upamanyu?

Sarvabhouma
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Dr. Vineet Aggarwal
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    So this means that when Vasishtha and Agastya emerged from the pot, along with Agastya Bhrata who features in Ramayana, there is now a sister also? I don't remember this particular detail, though you can check Shiva Purana for the veracity of the claim, as Upamanyu's story is detailed there. – Surya Jul 18 '18 at 14:10
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    @Surya Yes that's the only possibility but I haven't read about a woman emerging from the pot along with these two anywhere! BTW regarding the brother of Agastya I had a different theory that I had mentioned in the answer here - https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/7979/who-is-agastyas-brother-in-the-ramayana – Dr. Vineet Aggarwal Jul 19 '18 at 12:36
  • Maybe your friend is wrong because in the question linked by you about Vyaghrapada, Keshav mentions the Rigveda Anukramani which says Vyaghrapada is Vasishtha's descendant so obviously he couldn't have married his great-and-some-more grandmother. – Surya Jul 20 '18 at 11:46
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    @Surya yes that's always a possibility ;) However it does suggest some link to Vasishth so its worth exploting I guess if someone can figure out who Vasishth's sister was. – Dr. Vineet Aggarwal Jul 20 '18 at 13:11
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    @Dr.VineetAggarwal Are you talking about same Upamanyu who on being hungry started crying..... If so..as per Vamana Purana, his mother's name was Atreyi... – YDS Jul 29 '18 at 10:29
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    Not sure if it is the same one but thanks for sharing this info. If we assume her name refers to her being a daughter of Atri rishi it gets even more confusing since Vasishtha was not Atri's son rather was his brother. – Dr. Vineet Aggarwal Jul 30 '18 at 12:13
  • It's important to note that Vasiṣṭha didn't have only one birth. Him emerging from the pot, is not his first birth. His first birth as Ṛṣi Vasiṣṭha, was as a mānasaputra. – Bingming Feb 23 '24 at 05:51
  • btw, it's quite impossible for Vyāghrapāda to have Vasiṣṭha's sister as his wife, because as I have mentioned here clearly https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/58292/24460, Vyāghrapāda was a Vasiṣṭha. His gotra was Vasiṣṭha and his pravara was ekārṣeya. Therefore, having vivāha with Vasiṣṭha's sister would be a sagotra vivāha, which is niṣiddha. And being a Ṛṣi himself, Vyāghrapāda wouldn't commit such a pāpa, nor would Vasiṣṭha himself allow it. Also, sister of Vasiṣṭha, would be a few generations (at least one) elder to Vyāghrapāda, making her vivāha with Vyāghrapāda further impossible. – Bingming Feb 23 '24 at 05:55
  • So, there might be a sister of Vasiṣṭha (who I am not aware about yet), but it's impossible for her to have had vivāha with Vyāghrapāda, as per śāstras. That Upamanyu's mother is the sister of Vasiṣṭha, is based on two sthalapurāṇas actually. These are Cidambaramāhātmyam and Kāñcīmāhātmyam. – Bingming Feb 23 '24 at 08:09

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