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Yajnavalkya
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Yajnavalkya

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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.

OverviewAI-generated

Yajnavalkya was a male Hindu astronomer, philosopher, writer, and poet who lived during the first millennium BCE. Born in 800 BCE and dying in 700 BCE, he is noted for his floruit in 750 BCE. He was a citizen of India and spoke Sanskrit as his native language.

He studied under Aruni and worked primarily in the field of philosophy. His literary output includes 28 works, with notable titles such as *Die Yājñavalkasmŗti*, *The Vyavahára Mayúkha*, *The Yajnavalkya smriti*, *The Yâjnavalkyasmriti*, and *Śrīyājñavalkyasmr̥tiḥ*. These texts are attributed to the author Yājñavalkya.

Synthesized by Vinony from 15 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, Open Library. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

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

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Gender
male
Citizenship
India
Occupation
poet
Languages spoken
Sanskrit
Native language
Sanskrit
Religion
Hinduism
Student of
Aruni
Field of work
philosophy
Image
Yajnavalkya and Janaka.jpg
Show 5 more facts
Commons category
Yajnavalkya
floruit
0750-00-00
date of birth
0800-00-00
date of death
0700-00-00
P13311
IMP
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~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)