Gautam Lineage Parvar :

 

Angiras, Aayasya and Gautam (Triarsheya)

 

Gautam Rishi was son of Rahugan. The wife of Gautam was Ahilya.

 

Pusha, Ghritaci, Vata, Dhananjaya, Suruci, Gautam and Sushen are the ones ruling the month of Tapas (Magh, January/February).

 

Gautam Rishi and Ahilya had 3 sons Vamdev, Nodha and Shataanand. Shatanand was Kul Guru (chief priest) of Raja Janak.

 

Vamadev, Nodha and Shatanand they were discoverers of Mantras. There is a hymn called Bhadra in the Sam Ved which again is described to Gautam Maharishi.

 

Gautam Rishi and Ahilya even had a daughter called Anjana also known as Anjni she was mother of Lord Hanuman.

 

Gautam's sixty-year long penance is mentioned in the Shanti parv of the Mahabharat. The Narad puran describes the story of the 12 year famine during which Gautam fed all the Rishis and saved them.

 

With Bharadvaj, Gautam shares a common ancestry as they are both descended from Angiras, and sometimes they are both bracketed together under the name Angiras.

The 4th book (mandala) of the Rig Ved is that of the Vamadev Gautam family.

 

Gautam Maharishi is one of the Saptarishis (Seven Great Sages Rishi) sapt-rishis (seven Rishis) of the current Manvantar (seventh). The present manvantar, which is the seventh in order, is called Vaivaswat. The Saptarishis of this manvantar are Atri, Vashishth, Kashyap, Gautam, Bhardwaj, Vishwamitra and Jamdagni.

 

He was one of the Maharishis of Vedic times, known to have been the discoverer of Mantras 'Mantra-diksha', in Sanskrit. The Rig Ved has several suktas that go with his name. He was the son of Rahugan, belonging to the line of Angiras. The Devi Bhagavatam says that the river Godavari is so named because of its association with Gautam.

 

The Devi Bhagavatam says that the river Godavari is so named because of its association with Gautam. The descent of Lord Shiva as Tryambakeshvar, that constitutes the source of the Jyotirling nearby, happened for the sake of Gautam. The Brahmaand-puran mentions that one of the sub-branches of the Raanaayani branch of Sam Ved was initiated by this Gautam. Some famous disciples of Gautam were Praachin-yogya, Shaandilya, Gaargya, and Bharadwaj.

 

While dealing with Nyaya darshan i.e. to act according to rules - niyamen iyate. Rishi Gautam was the pioneer of this system through his book Nyaya Sutra. It deals with logic- the process of reasoning.

 

Nyaya :

 

Nyaya means logical analysis. Those who subscribe to this philosophy believe that by the use of perception valid knowledge resulting in moksh could be acquired. The perception includes the senses and insight, inference, analogy, and verbal testimony.

 

Gautam Rishi was the most ancient sage of all Brahmin law givers. He was quoted by Baudhayan and belonged to Sam Ved School. Gautam's teachings are called Gautam sutra or Gautam smriti.

 

Gautam Rishi was also the author of Dharm-sutra known as Gautam Dharm sutra. It is in fact the earliest Dharm Sutra. It contains 28 chapters with 1000 aphorisms. Almost every aspect of the observances of Hindu dharm - including the rules for the four Ashrama's, the forty sanskars, the four varnas, kingly duties, the punishments for various offences, the obsequies for the dead, do's and don'ts of food consumption, the dharmas of women, the rules for Prayaschit (atonement for sins), and the rules of succession of property. In this sense Gautam's Dharm Shastra may perhaps be considered the oldest law book of the world.