Source: TW
You can love or hate them but the Descendants of the Ṛṣis remain unparalleled in that individualist, competitive streak of producing new & fresh ritual, theurgical & theological conceptions. Only idiots like that mediocre professor from JNU, referred to in the original tweet, will place limitations on the spiritual genius of the Ārṣeyas.
If you show a true Ārṣeya a so-called rural or tribal deity, he will do one or more of the following things:
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“See” in the rural/tribal deity an ectype of a more transcendental deity; or
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“See” him or her as a parivāra of the higher deity
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“See” an entire lore, canon of rites & metaphysics for the deity in question. And these “new rites” and “new forms of deities” work perfectly well; as if they have always been there since time immemorial.+
The Ārṣeyas have indeed stayed true to their seemingly grandiose claim in the Mahābhārata.
Haters can of course deny the irreplaceable Ārṣeya underpinnings of the Dharma.