Vamadeva

"I first noted the name Vamadeva while studying the Upanishads. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad quotes Rishi Vamadeva for the great saying (mahavakya) Aham Brahmasmi (I am Brahman or I am God). This it relates to Vamadeva’s saying in the Rig Veda, "I was Manu and I became the Sun (IV.26.1). The Aitareya Upanishad mentions Vamadeva, who was said to have learned the Vedas while still within his mother’s womb. It quotes another statement of Vamadeva from the Rig Veda (IV.27.1), "When I was in my mother’s womb I learned the birth of all the Gods." Among the first hymns of the Rig Veda whose inner meaning became clear to me were those of Brihadukta, the son of Vamadeva (RV X. 54 – 56). Others were hymns of Vamadeva himself, which comprise most of the fourth book of the Rig Veda, particularly his hymns to Agni and Indra, such as Sri Aurobindo also specially admired."

"Vamadeva was an unusual and mysterious Rishi, ascribed with an almost miraculous birth. Vamadeva and his gotra (family), the Gotamas were associated with the land of Videha in Bihar and Nepal from which Sita came and which was the home of the great royal-sages, the Janakas, on which many Upanishads like the Brihadaranyaka, and Advaitic works, like the Ashtavakra Gita, were based. The first mentioning of Sita as an earth Goddess occurs in the hymns of Vamadeva in the Rig Veda (IV.57). Many teachings are ascribed to dialogues between Vasishta, purohit of Kosala, and Vamadeva, purohit of nearby Videha, including teachings on astrology and on Ayurveda. Vamadeva was a name of Indra, the supreme Vedic God, particularly as a falcon (shyena). It was also a name of Savitar, the Sun God, who dispensed his grace or beauty (vama). Vamadeva later became a name of Lord Shiva in his northern face. So it was an important and powerful name and one that few people carried."