Angirasas

Angirasas refers to a lineage of Vedic sages in ancient Indian tradition, named after the sage Angiras. The Angirasas are not a single historical figure but a family or school of seers who, in the Vedic corpus, are credited with composing or transmitting a number of hymns and ritual texts. Their name appears in the Rigveda as a group of rishis associated with early hymnic material and with the practice of priestly and sacrificial knowledge.

In the Rigveda, several hymns are attributed to members of the Angirasa family, indicating their role as composers or reciters within the early Vedic community. Beyond hymn composition, the Angirasas figure in later Vedic literature as teachers or custodians of ritual formulas, particularly those relating to yajna (sacrifice) and fire protocols. They are also mentioned in Brahmanas and other late Vedic texts as part of priestly genealogies, where the Angirasa line is described in connection with sacred duties and liturgical authority.

The term Angiras often functions as a plural designation for a group of seers rather than a single person. In various sources, individual rishis within the Angirasa lineage are named and venerated, with genealogies linking them to broader Vedic lineages. The Angirasas are thus regarded as one of the early rishi families that contributed to the formation of Vedic hymnography and ritual knowledge.

Overall, the Angirasas represent an influential but plural, ancestral cohort within the Vedic tradition, illustrating how sages and their hymns formed the foundations of early Indo-Aryan liturgy and thought.