Skip to content
Yajnavalkya
EntityQ1423663· pop 29· linked from 1,346 articles

Yajnavalkya

Sign in to save

Yajnavalkya or Yagyavalkya (, IAST:) is a Hindu Vedic sage prominently mentioned in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (c. 700 BCE) and Tattiriya Upanishad. Yajnavalkya proposes and debates metaphysical questions about the nature of existence, consciousness and impermanence, and expounds the epistemic doctrine of neti neti ("not this, not this") to discover the universal Self and Ātman. Texts attributed to him include the Yajnavalkya Smriti, Yoga Yajnavalkya and some texts of the Vedanta school. He is also mentioned in the Mahabharata as well as various Puranas, Brahmanas and Aranyakas.

Person · Open Library

Works
28

Top works

  • Die Yājñavalkasmŗti
  • The Vyavahára Mayúkha
  • The Yajnavalkya smriti
  • The Yâjnavalkyasmriti
  • [Yajnavalkya-Smṛiti, or Dharmaśastra, with Vijnāneṣvara's Mitāksharā

via Open Library + Wikidata

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
4
Total plays
67

<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Yajnavalkya">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · Yajnavalkya

Quotes

  • Later, the doctrine of the Self was explicitated by seers like Yajnavalkya, who is up there with Plato as an ideas man next to whom a whole philosophical tradition is but a series of footnotes.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Hindu leader.image
Yajnavalkya and Janaka.jpg
Hindu leader.caption
Yajnavalkya teaches Brahma Vidya to King Janaka
Hindu leader.religion
Hinduism
Hindu leader.honors
Rishi
Hindu leader.spouse
Maitreyi, Katyayani
Hindu leader.philosophy
Upanishad
Hindu leader.influences
Aruni
Hindu leader.notable_ideas
Neti neti
Hindu leader.birth_place
Videha
Hindu leader.birth_date
Fifth day during the waxing phase of moon in Phalgun Hindu month
Hindu leader.home_town
Jagban
Hindu leader.region
Mithila region
Hindu leader.disciples
Janaka
Hindu leader.honorific prefix
Brahmistha

via Wikipedia infobox

~18 min read

Encyclopedic overview

21 sections
Contents
  • Name
  • Depiction in texts
  • Scriptural references
  • ''Taittiriya Upanishad''
  • ''Brihadaranyanka Upanishad''
  • Works
  • ''Sukla Yajur Veda''
  • ''Yajnavalkya Smriti''
  • ''Yoga Yajnavalkya''
  • Ideas
  • On karma and rebirth
  • On spiritual liberation
  • On the light of man
  • On the self
  • On dreams
  • On love and soul
  • On dharma
  • See also
  • References
  • Bibliography
  • External links

Yajnavalkya or Yagyavalkya (, IAST:) is a Hindu Vedic sage prominently mentioned in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (c. 700 BCE) and Tattiriya Upanishad. Yajnavalkya proposes and debates metaphysical questions about the nature of existence, consciousness and impermanence, and expounds the epistemic doctrine of neti neti ("not this, not this") to discover the universal Self and Ātman. Texts attributed to him include the Yajnavalkya Smriti, Yoga Yajnavalkya and some texts of the Vedanta school. He is also mentioned in the Mahabharata as well as various Puranas, Brahmanas and Aranyakas.

thumb|Imagery of Sage Yagnavalkya kept at Buddinni village in Karnataka

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Yajnavalkya” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (6)