mantras there are many praises in rig-veda a hymn i got in rig-veda is a hymn to sage vashistha i f you see vedas you will find a lot of praises but the term saptrishi is not used in vedas. but in brahmanas aranyakas etc.
only 5 verses i am giving here:—
HYMN XXXIII Vasiṣṭha.
- THESE who wear hair-knots on the
right, the movers of holy thought,
white-robed, have won me over.
I warned the men, when from the
grass I raised me, Not from afar can
my Vasisthas help you.
2 With Soma they brought Indra
from a distance, Over Vaisanta, from
the strong libation.
Indra preferred Vasisthas to the
Soma pressed by the son of Vayata,
Pasadyumna.
3 So, verily, with these he crossed
the river, in company with these he
slaughtered Bheda.
So in the fight with the Ten Kings,
Vasisthas! did Indra help Sudās
through your devotions.
4 I gladly, men I with prayer prayed
by our fathers have fixed your axle:
ye shall not be injured:
Since, when ye sang aloud the
Sakvari verses, Vasisthas! ye
invigorated Indra.
5 Like thirsty men they looked to
heaven, in battle with the Ten Kings,
surrounded and imploring.
Then Indra heard Vasiṣṭha as he
praised him, and gave the Trtsus
ample room and freedom.
source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv07033.htm
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad(2.2.4)
acknowledge the names of seven
rishis(or Saptarshis)
2.2.3 Regarding
this there is the
following verse:
There is a bowl that has its opening below and bulges at the top; various kinds of knowledge have been put in it; seven sages sit by its side, and the organ of speech, which has communication with the Vedas, is the eighth'. The 'bowl that has its opening below and bulges at the top' is this head of ours, for it is the bowl that has its opening below and bulges at the top.'Various kinds of knowledge have been put in it', refers to the organs; these indeed represent various kinds of knowledge. 'Seven sages sit by its side', refers to the organs; they indeed are the sages. 'The organ of speech, which has communication with the Vedas, is the eighth', because the organ of speech is the eighth and communicates with the Vedas.
2.2.4 These two
(ears) are Gotama
and Bharadvaja:
this one is
Gotama, and this
one Bharadvaja:
These two (eyes)
are Visvamitra and
Jamadagni: this
one is Visvamitra,
and this one
Jamadagni. These
two (nostrils) are
Vasistha, and
Kasyapa: this one
is Vasistha, and
this one Kasyapa:
The tongue is Atri,
for through the
tongue food is
eaten. 'Atri' is but
this name 'Atti'.
He who knows it
as such becomes
the eater of all,
and everything
becomes his food.