Garga
Encyclopedia
One of the greatest sages of the Puranic times. Garga was the son of Rishi
Rishi
Rishi denotes the composers of Vedic hymns. However, according to post-Vedic tradition, the rishi is a "seer" to whom the Vedas were "originally revealed" through states of higher consciousness. The rishis were prominent when Vedic Hinduism took shape, as far back as some three thousand years...

 Bharadwaja
Bharadwaja
Bharadwaja was one of the greatest Hindu Arya sages descendant of rishi Angirasa, whose accomplishments are detailed in the Puranas. He was one of the Saptarshis in the present Manvantara; with others being Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, Kashyapa.Bhardwaj Rishi was father of...

 and Susheela
Susheela
Susheela or Sushila is an Indian name.* P. Susheela is a legendary Indian playback singer.* Susheela Raman is an acclaimed British Tamil musician.* Susheela Gopalan was an Indian Communist leader....

.He was better known as Garga Muni
Muni
"Muni" is a common abbreviation for "municipal" or a city-related service or organization:*The Muny, an outdoor musical theatre in St. Louis, Missouri*Municipal bond*San Francisco Municipal Railway, the public transit agency for San Francisco, California...

. He was the family priest of the family of Nanda
Nanda (mythology)
Nanda or Nandagopa, according to the Harivamsha and the Puranas, was the head of the gopas .It is said that Nand Baba owned 9 lakhs of cows . Nandvanshis or Ahirs are descendants of Nand. The night of Krishna's appearance or birth, Vasudeva brought Krishna to Nanda for Krishna's childhood years...

 (the foster-father of Krishna). He named Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...

 as "Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...

" after receiving the name by meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....

. From the Vishnu Purana and other Puranas, one understands that although basically of Kshatriya origin, a branch of Gargas became Brahmins and migrated westwards and joined the Yavanas (Ionians). This could be the possible reason that later day Indians referred to Greek mathematicians and astronomers as Gargacharyas while they also maintained that a Vridha-Garga (Earlier or Older Garga) was the pioneer in astronomy. Another branch of Gargas became Vaishya
Vaishya
Vaishya is one of the four varnas of the Hindu social order. According to Vedic tradition, this caste primarily comprises merchants, farmers, cattle-herders and artisans.-Duties of Vaishyas:...

. Gargs Vaishya are mostly from Uttar Pradesh and other parts of northern India like Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi and Haryana. They are one of the 18 gotras under Agarwal.

Gargi is celebrated female sage Vachaknavi, born in the family of Garga.

Garga the sage is the writer of Garga Samhita
Garga Samhita
Garga Samhita is a book written by the sage Garga and deals with the life of Krishna. This Garga Samhita is different from the astrological treatise with the same name Garga Samhita. Only fragments of the astrological text with the name Garga samhita is available; but the whole of the devotional...

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