Maharishi Kashyap: Father of all living creatures

Maharishi Kashyap is Maharishi Marichi’s son and Maharishi Shandilya’s grandfather. He’s one of the most prominent and important rishis in Sanatan dharma, having made major contributions to several fields and sections of the dharmic realm.
Rishi Kashyap plays a vital role in sustaining Srishti itself. His wives included Aditi, Diti, Kadru, Danu, Arishta, Surasa, Surabhi, Vinata, Tamra, Krodhavasha, Ira, Yamini, Kastha, Timi, Patangi, Sarama, Vishwa, and Mun. He had several sons from each of them; from each of his wives originated a separate class of beings.

Son of Maharishi Kashyap

From Aditi came the adityas and devatas, from Diti came demons, from Kadru came nagas, from Danu came daityas, and so on. He created so many yonis that the world became populous. In glory he is like Brahma in creative potency he is as good as Brahma and is the one due to whom we know of the devatas and the danavas.

Teaching of Maharishi Kashyap

Maharishi Kashyap is mentioned in the line of teachers in the tradition of Shandilya Vidya and a key contributor to several vidyas. He is hailed as one of the earliest rishis and mantra-drasthas. More importantly, he is a key factor in soma yajna; he is the one who created the concept of Soma Pavamana, which comprises the single most important moment of soma yajna. Soma Pavamana is a crucial part of Soma yajna.

Soma Yajna is a crucial part of the life of Brahmanas as well, especially as the devata of the yajna is regarded as either Chandra, who is the regulator devata of all Brahmanas, or Shiv, who is also the most important deity for Brahmanas. This in turn makes Maharishi Kashyap an indispensable part of the religious realm and brahmana dharma.

Contribution

Coming to the contribution of Maharshi Kashyap to the field of dharmic literature, there are several texts and several fields to which he has contributed.
Firstly, coming to the sphere of Shilpa and Vasu, there are two texts authored by Maharishi Kashyap, which are the Kashyap Shilpa Shastra, which deals with Shilpa or architecture, and Kashyapea, which deals with Vasu and discusses several topics under it, such as the placement of rooms and the details of auspicious and inauspicious lands.

Another important name when one discusses the various contributions of Maharishi Kashyap is the plethora of texts called Kashyap Samhita. There are several texts going by this name, each having its own sector within the Dharmik system.

Kashyap Samhita

There is a text called Kashyap Samhita, which is part of the Pancharatra cannon of Vaishnava Agamas and deals with garudi vidya, or the removal of poisons. The Pancharatra called Kashyap Samhita, albeit not being discussed much in modern times, is still a very important text within the Pancharatra canon and finds mention in multiple Pancharatra Samhitas such as Padma, Purushottama, Bharadwaj, Kapilgyan, and such. It also finds mention in the Garuda Panchakshara Kalpa, which deals with the mantras of Garudi Vidya and are to be interpreted using the vidhanas of Kashyap Samhita.

The text Kashyap Samhita also deals with a vital aspect of yogi darshan as it covers the topics of dhyana pranayam and such, also expanding on how to develop concentration and other auxiliaries necessary for dealing with dhyana. This text is in the span of thirteen adhyayas or chapters, each dealing with different subjects.

Adhyaya of Kashyap Samhita

Adhyaya 1 deals with the famed Garuda-pamcākṣarī mantra and its anga mantras.
Adhyay 2 deals with the techniques of dhyāna, or meditation.
Adhyaya 3 deals with the disciplined use of the mantra to achieve specific ends.
Adhyaya 4 deals with the five kinds of poisons: sthāvara, jangama, krtrima, grahaja, and śańkāviṣa.
Adhyay 5 deals with the details of various yantras, like the Sarva-Rakākara yantra./
Adhyaya 6 deals with the various mantras and vidyas
Adhyaya 7 is a continuation of the rituals detailed in the sixth Adhyaya.
Adhyay 8 deals with the treatment for bites from the Darvīkara and other snakes like Mandalī, Rājila, and Vaitaka.
Adhyaya 9 deals with the treatment to be administered to a person bitten by the sixteen Mandalī varieties of snakes.
Adhyaya 10 deals with the medication for bites from the Rijila variety of snakes.
Adhyay 11 deals with the medication for sixteen varieties of rats.
Adhyaya 12 deals with the twenty kinds of venoms and the treatment administered therein.
Adhyaya 13 deals with the abhishek rites that are to be conducted along with the yantra design for achieving multiple fruits.

Another Kashyap Samhita

There is yet another kashyap samhita that forms a part of ayurveda and deals with a very similar topic; this kashyap samhita deals with garudi vidya from the perspective of ayurveda and gives details of poisons and their various remedies and how to prepare those remedies or medicines. This, however, doesn’t undermine the ritualistic part associated with garudi vidya and poison removal in traditional Ayurveda and focuses on doing abhimantran of the various medicines prepared by means of yajnas and certain other rituals all involving the usage of Garuda mantras.

Maharishi Kashyap is also said to be the author of another text related to ayurved, which is also known as Kashyap Samhita, with its other name being Briddha Jivakiya Tantra, which is an ayurvedic text that deals with the topics of pediatrics, gynecology, and obstetrics from the perspective of ayurved and has contributed several findings to the field of ayurved. The text also contains some information on surgery and the rituals of sterilization of the tools to be used in the surgical procedures, staying true to the deeply dharmik character of traditional Ayurveda that combines rituals with medicine and makes the most potent solution to ailments.

Shakta Kashyap Samhita

With respect to the domain of shaktas, there is yet another Kashyap Samhita, which contains the dhyana and mantras of several deities. The Revatikalpa section of the text serves more as an encyclopedia than as a text describing rituals and mantras. This kashyap samhita actually contains information pertaining to the kukadevis and their associated Bhairavas or shivas for many of the castes and subcastes, along with their upasana paddhati, thus making it a key text for shaktas and those belonging to families of shakta lineages.

Dharma Kashyap Samhita

With respect to dharma shastras, there is a text called Kashyap Dharma Sutra, which had once served as a foundational basis for the people of Kashyap Gotra, albeit now considered to be lost. There are quotations and references to it found in Bhasya Granthas and other shastras. According to the information I got from my pujya gurudev, the Kashyap Dharma sutra took a different approach in dealing with rules and regulations, focusing heavily on karma Siddhanta while formulating the rules of conduct to be observed by the people, especially during rituals and sacred rites.

Kashyap Sutra

Within the domain of Vedanta Darshan, there is a separate text authored by Maharishi Kashyap known as the Kashyap Sutra, which is a collection of fifteen sutras describing the nature of karma and punarjanma and emphasizing how a person can attain moksh. Sutra 15 of this text is really crucial as it states that the guru is the cause of all causes. Bhasyakaras who have explained this sutra in many ways have all emphasized the necessity of guru, and the sutra itself as a whole corpus of the 15 aphorisms focuses on the importance of right knowledge, and this right knowledge is obtained by means of guru. Kashyap Gyankanda is yet another text of similar nature focusing on the nature of knowledge and its various types and explains how to obtain the right knowledge and arrive at the right conclusions.

Kashyap Sangit

Maharishi Kashyap also contributed to the field of music by composing a text called Kashyap Sangit, which forms a core part of classical music and rasa theory, albeit now believed to be lost. The text is preserved in portions and found in forms of quotations cited in the bhasya of the Natya Shastra by Mahamaheshvar Acharya Abhinavgupta, where he quoted Kashyap Sangit to show the vinoyog of each of the rasa and bhavas of Natya, which implies that Kashyap Sangit was not something just related to music and singing and rather encompassed a broader range of subjects, including rasa and bhava, which makes the text very important to the field of Natya as well.

Maharishi Kashyap role in human tantra

Maharishi Kashyap is one of the Shaptarshis and plays a key role in our manavtantra, as each manavtantra has its own set of saptarshis who are tasked with being the guides of the Manu of the manavtantra, making him an indispensable authority and part of forming the rules and regulations for our manavtantra. He was the direct grandson of Brahma, as his father, Maharishi Marichi, was one of the Manas putras of Brahma, which makes Kashyap Maharishi a prime custodian of several Veda mantras, including some of the rigved, which are related to Somayajna and other such rituals.

Kashyap Gotra

The greatness of Maharishi Kashyap is such that whenever there is a case where a person’s gotra is not known, they are assigned Kashyap gotra due to several reasons, including the provision of shastras to do so, making it clear that he is of high importance even in this aspect. Maharishi Kashyap has contributed to almost every field, from darshan to yogi to ayurveda and even karmakanda, and being one of the Shaptarshis, he is of extreme importance. The glories of Maharishi Kashyap are unparalleled, especially within the domains of Ayurveda and Sangit Shastra.