Vashisht
Vasishtha
[Hindu] In Hinduism, one of the Rishis and also one of the Prajapatis. He was the owner of Nandi, the white bull of Shiva.
Vasishtha
Vasishtha Vasistha (Sanskrit) The most wealthy; a celebrated Vedic rishi, representing the typical Brahmin sage. Many legends have clustered about him, especially in regard to his conflict with the sage Visvamitra -- the king who raised himself from the Kshatriya to the Brahmanical class. Many hymns of the Rig-Veda are attributed to these two sages: one hymn represents Vasishtha as the family priest of King Sudas, and in the Rig-Veda (7:33:11) he is called the son of the apsaras Urvasi by Mitra and Varuna, hence his name Maitravaruni. He is also supposed to have owned Nandini, the cow of plenty (offspring of Surabhi). As this cow was able to grant the sage all his wishes, he became the master of every vasu (desirable object).
In Manu (1:35) Vasishtha is enumerated as one of the ten prajapatis, the patriarchs produced by Manu-Svayambhuva for the peopling of the earth. In the Mahabharata he is regarded as the family priest of the Suryavansa (solar race), and also as one of the seven great rishis associated with the seven stars of the Great Bear. In the Puranas, Vasishtha is represented as one of the arrangers of the Vedas in a dvapara yuga of a certain chatur yuga, and as the father of seven celebrated sons.