Parāśara

Parashara
Mahabharata character
Personal Information
Children	Vyasa
Father	Śakti Maharṣi

Parashara (IAST: Parāśara) was a maharishi and the author of many ancient Indian texts. He is accredited as the author of the first Purana, the Vishnu Purana, before his son Vyasa wrote it in its present form. He was the grandson of Vasishtha, the son of Śakti Maharṣi, and the father of Vyasa. There are several texts which give reference to Parashara as an author/speaker. Modern scholars believe that there were many individuals who used this name throughout time whereas others assert that the same Parashara taught these various texts and the time of writing them varied. The actual sage himself never wrote the texts; he was known as a traveling teacher, and the various texts attributed to him are given in reference to Parashara being the speaker to his student. He is the third member of the Ṛṣi Paramparā of the Advaita Guru Paramparā.

According to the Vedas, Brahma created Vasishtha, who, with Arundhati, had a son named Śakti Maharṣi who sired Parashara. With Satyavati, Parashara fathered Vyasa. Vyāsa sired Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura through his deceased brother's wives. Vyāsa also sired Shuka through his wife, Jābāli's daughter Pinjalā. Thus Parashara was the great-grandfather of both the warring parties of the Mahābhārata, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Parashara is used as a gotra for the ancestors and their off springs thereon.

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