Marek wrote: > Vaj, I've got no idea whether Coplin's > comment is true, but it's the only thing > I've ever read that explained the origin > of the title for Maharishi. And it's not > inconceivable that the honorific was > given, in part at least, to reward > Maharishi for his support (political > and monetary) of the Shankaracharya > lineage of Shantanand... > "According to Jay Randolph Coplin, the name "Mahesh" indicated that the Maharishi came from a Hindu family that worshipped Shiva. Cynthia Ann Humes writes that his family was of the Kayastha (scribal) caste. Contrary to some reports, caste rules allow the honorific terms "yogi" or "maharishi" to be applied to those of the Kayastha caste..." - Wikepedia
Read more: 'Gurus In America' by Cynthia Ann Humes and Thomas A. Forsthoefel State University of New York Press, 2005
