The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2021 page)

 
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(Skt., ‘seer’). In Skt. literature, a patriarchal poet-sage. The
is are the visionary authors of the Vedic hymns (and other sacred literature) ‘heard’ within the silent depths of the heart and preserved in the orthodox
brahman
gotras
of which they are the founders. Such
is were known as mahar
is, ‘great seers’, or brahmar
is, ‘priestly seers’. Of these the saptar
is, ‘the seven seers’, identified with the constellation Ursa Major (their wives with the Pleiades), are particularly prominent.
According to legend the
is were men of extraordinary creativity and magical power. Much of Skt. literature is devoted to accounts of their supernatural powers (e.g. flying, creating celestial worlds) and command over nature. The term
i or mahar
i survives today in contemporary usage as a title for certain ‘holy men’, such as Ramana Mahar
i and Mahar