Maharishis

In Ancient India, Maharshi is a Sanskrit word " महर्षि "(formed from the prefix mahā- meaning "great" and r̥ṣi meaning "seer"), meaning a member of the high class of ancient Indian scientists popularly known in India as " Rishis", or "seers", especially those who do research to understand Nature and its governing laws. There were many Maharshi in Ancient India who have shaped the ancient Indian ways of life, and made a very deep and profound impact on the civilization of the Indian sub-continent.

Maharshi may also refer to "seers" or "sages" in India. The term became popular in English literature "sometime before 1890" and was first used in 1758.

Alternate meanings describe Maharshi 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.

Anyone who achieves the highest state of awareness in the path of evolution and completely understand the working of parabramha are only the ones who can adopt the title. The Maharshis are capable of making others as saints and impart the knowledge of the working of the divine.

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 Valmiki, Patanjali and Dayananda Sarasvati.

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