Rājarshi
Rājarshi · rāja-ṛshi, “the royal ṛshi”
Grammar: masculine noun; rāja (king) and ṛshi: “the royal ṛshi”, a king who is a ṛshi. With devarshi and brahmarshi it names one of the kinds of ṛshis.
Meaning: a king who is also a ṛshi.
In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa:
Parīkshit the rājarshi. When Parīkshit met Dharma in the form of a bull, Dharma said to him: “O Rājarshi! Examine these positions with your own buddhi and come to a fitting conclusion” (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 17). Sūta tells the ṛshis that Parīkshit Mahārāja, a rājarshi and a mahātmā of great fame, shone in Hastināpura with the splendour of the sovereign of the Kurus (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 17). When Śamīka Maharshi heard that his son had pronounced a śāpa on the king, he said: “Parīkshit Mahārāja is a protector of dharma, of great fame, himself a great bhakta, a rājarshi, a performer of aśvamedha yāgas. He came to our āśrama weary with hunger and thirst; that cakravartī in no way deserves our śāpa” (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 18).
At the prāyopaveśa. When Parīkshit sat in prāyopaveśa on the bank of the Gaṅgā, the great ṛshis came, and with them other foremost devarshis, brahmarshis and rājarshis, and kāṇḍarshis such as Aruṇa. The ṛshis praised him: “O best of rājarshis! This is no wonder in you of the Pāṇḍu line, who follow and serve Śrī Kṛshṇa.” And Śuka Maharshi, surrounded there by the assemblies of brahmarshis, rājarshis and devarshis, shone like Candra surrounded by the grahas and the nakshatras (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 19).
In the time of Pṛthu. When Pṛthu took dīkshā for a great satra-yāga, the devatās, the brahmarshis and the rājarshis assembled there; and in his address to the assembly Pṛthu names, among the cakravartīs who accepted that Śrī Hari is the one who grants dharma, artha, kāma and moksha, Svāyambhuva Manu, Uttānapāda, Dhruva Mahārāja, the rājarshi Priyavrata and his own grandfather Aṅga Mahārāja (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 21).
Related terms: Ṛshi · Brahmarshi · Devarshi · Kāṇḍarshi
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapters 17–19; Skandha 4, Chapter 21