Parāśara was a maharshi and the author of many ancient Indian texts. He is accredited as the author of the first Purana, the Vishnu Purana, before his son Vyasa wrote it in its present form. He was the grandson of Vasishtha, the son of Śakti Maharṣi.
Full name: Parashara
Books: Krishi-Parashara, Vr̥kṣāyurveda of Parāśara
Parents: Maharsi Sakti, Adrsyati

Maharshi Parashara is a well-known Vedic Sage who is regarded as the father of Jyotish Shastra or Vedic Astrology. He is accredited as the author of Vishnu Purana, the first of 18 Puranas of Hindu Literature compiled by his son Veda Vyasa. Parashara Rishi was a disciple of Bashkal and Yajnavalkya.
Sage Parashara was actually raised by his grandfather, Rishi Vasishtha, one of the Saptarishi. It is because his father Shakti Muni had died before his birth.According to the Vedas, Brahma created Vasishtha, who, with his wife Arundhati, had a son named Śakti Mahariṣhi who sired Parāśara. With Satyavati, Parāśara is father of Vyasa. In Anushasana Parva of Mahabharata, Parāśara told Yudhisthira that he prayed to Shiva. His desire was to obtain a son with great ascetic merit, endued with superior energy, earn world-wide fame, and arrange the Vedas. Shiva appeared and granted him his wishes and in addition, he told him that his son Krishna will be one of the Saptarshis of Savarni manvantara.

According to legend, Vyasa was the son of the ascetic Parashara and the dasyu (aboriginal) princess Satyavati and grew up in forests, living with hermits who taught him the Vedas (ancient sacred literature of India). Thereafter he lived in the forests near the banks of the river Sarasvati, becoming a teacher and a priest, fathering a son and disciple, Shuka, and gathering a large group of disciples. Late in life, living in caves in the Himalayas, he is said to have divided the Vedas into the four traditional collections, composed Puranas, and, in a period of two and a half years, composed his great poetic work, the Mahabharata, supposedly dictating it to his scribe, Ganesha, the elephant god.

The sage Parashara had acquired knowledge of many disciplines and given them to the world. The actual sage himself never wrote the texts, the various texts attributed to him are given in reference to Parāśara being the speaker to his student.

Texts attributed to Parāśara
Seer of verses in the Ṛgveda:
Parāśara Smṛti
Speaker of Viṣṇu Purana considered by scholars as one of the earliest Purāṇas.
Speaker of the Bṛhat Parāśara Horāśāstra, abbreviated as BPHS. It is considered a foundational text of Hindu astrology. The Sanskrit in which it is composed dates to the 7th or 8th centuries CE
Speaker of the Vṛkṣāyurveda (“the science of life of trees”), one of the earliest texts on botany. This text was considered to be an ancient botany primer for students of Traditional Indian Medicine.
Krishi Parāśaram, a book that dealt with agriculture and weeds.
Parashara has many verses in the Rigveda. The Vishnu Purana, Parashara Samhita, Videharaj Janaka referred to as Gita (Parashara Geeta), Brihat Parasara Sanhita, etc. are compositions of Parashara.
Parashara Gita
In the dialogue of Bhishma and Yudhishthira in the Shanti Parva of Mahabharata, Bhishma reveals the conversation between Raja Janak and Parashara to Yudhishthira. This conversation is known as ‘Parashara Gita’. There are talks of knowledge related to religion and action. In fact, in Shanti Parva, a detailed description of the answers to all kinds of philosophy and religion questions is available.
Parashara’s Astrology
Parashara Rishi composed many texts out of which his texts written about astrology are very important. Astrology of ancient and present is based on the rules laid down by Parashara. Rishi Parashara has written the BrihatParashara Hora Shastra, Laghu Parashari (Astrology).