Bhrigu was a rishi in Hinduism. He was one of the seven great sages, the Saptarshis, and one of the many Prajapatis created by Brahma. The first compiler of predictive astrology and also the author of Bhrigu Samhita, an astrological (jyotisha) classic. Bhrigu is considered a manasaputra ("mind-born-son") of Brahma. The adjectival form of the name, Bhargava, is used to refer to the descendants and the school of Bhrigu. According to Manusmriti, Bhrigu was a compatriot of and lived during the time of Manu, the progenitor of humanity. Along with Manu, Bhrigu had made important contributions to the Manusmriti, which was constituted out of a sermon to a congregation of saints in the state of Brahmavarta, after the great floods in this area. As per the Skanda Purana, Bhrigu migrated to Bhrigukaccha, modern Bharuch, on the banks of the Narmada river in Gujarat, leaving his son Chyavana at Dhosi Hill.
A painting depicting Bhrigu
The Saptarshi are the seven seers of ancient India who are extolled in the Vedas, and other Hindu literature such as the Skanda Purana. The Vedic Samhitas never enumerate these rishis by name, although later Vedic texts such as the Brahmanas and Upanisads do so.
Saptarshi: Vishvamitra (top left), Jamadagni (top middle), Gautama (top right), Vasishtha (in the middle, beardless), Kashyapa (down left), Bharadvaja (down middle, in a yogic asana, upside down), Atri (down right). Pahari, from a Bandralta-Mankot workshop; c. 1700. Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh