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{{short description|Ancient Indian sage and philosopher}}

{{EngvarB|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox Hindu leader
| image = Yajnavalkya and Janaka.jpg
| caption = Yajnavalkya teaches [[Brahman|Brahma Vidya]] to King [[Janaka]]
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| honors = [[Rishi]]
| spouse = [[Maitreyi]], Katyayani
| philosophy = [[Advaita]]
| influenced = Virtually all [[Indian philosophy]]
| influences = [[Aruni]]
| notable_ideas = [[Neti neti]]
| birth_place = [[Videha]], present day [[Janakpur]]
| birth_date = Fifth day during waxing phase of moon in Phalgun Hindu month
| home_town = Jagban, [[Madhubani district]], [[Bihar]]
| region = [[Mithila region]]
| disciples = [[Janaka]]
}}
{{See also|Yajnavalkya Ashram}}{{Hinduism}}
'''Yajnavalkya''' or '''Yagyavalkya''' ({{lang-sa|याज्ञवल्क्य}}, {{IAST|Yājñavalkya}}) is a [[Hindu]] Vedic sage figuring in the [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]] (c. 700 BCE).<ref name=staal3>{{cite book|author=Frits Staal|author-link=Frits Staal|title=Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HcE23SjLX8sC&pg=PA3| year=2008|publisher= Penguin Books |isbn= 978-0-14-309986-4|page=3}}, '''Quote:''' "Yajnavalkya, a Vedic sage, taught..."</ref>{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|pp=3, 52–71}}<ref name=benami9>Ben-Ami Scharfstein (1998), ''A comparative history of world philosophy: from the Upanishads to Kant'', Albany: State University of New York Press, pp. 9-11</ref><ref name=olivelle7thcen>{{harvnb|Olivelle|1998|p=xxxvi with footnote 20}}</ref> Yajnavalkya proposes and debates [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] questions about the nature of existence, consciousness and impermanence, and expounds the [[epistemology|epistemic]] doctrine of [[neti neti]] ("not this, not this") to discover the [[Brahman|universal Self]] and [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Ātman]].<ref name="Ganeri2007p27">{{cite book|author= Jonardon Ganeri|title= The Concealed Art of the Soul: Theories of Self and Practices of Truth in Indian Ethics and Epistemology|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=5dITDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA27| year=2007|publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0-19-920241-6|pages=27–28, 33–35}}</ref> Texts attributed to him include the ''[[Yajnavalkya Smriti]]'', ''[[Yoga Yajnavalkya]]'' and some texts of the [[Vedanta]] school.<ref name=fisher55/><ref>{{cite book|author=Patrick Olivelle|title=The Asrama System: The History and Hermeneutics of a Religious Institution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RYkPtXiXRYcC |year=1993|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-534478-3|pages=92 with footnote 63, 144, 163}}</ref> He is also mentioned in various [[Brahmana]]s and [[Aranyaka]]s.<ref name=fisher55/>

==Setting==
The ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]'' is dated at c. 700 BCE,.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ben-Ami Scharfstein |title=A Comparative History of World Philosophy: From the Upanishads to Kant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iZQy2lu70bwC&pg=PA56|year=1998|publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-3683-7 |pages=56–57 }}</ref><ref name=olivelle7thcen/> Staal notes that though the name Yajnavalkya is derived from ''[[yajna]]'', which connotes ritual, Yajnavalkya is referred to as "a thinker, not a ritualist".<ref name=staal3/>

Yājñavalkya was the pupil of [[Uddālaka Āruṇi]], whom he defeated in debate.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Macdonell|first=Arthur Anthony|title=Vedic Index of Names and Subjects|last2=Keith|first2=Arthur Berriedale|publisher=John Murray|year=1912|volume=II|pages=189|language=}}</ref>

In the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'', a set of dialogues portrays Yajnavalkya as having two wives, one [[Maitreyi]] who challenges Yajnavalkya with philosophical questions like a scholarly wife; the other Katyayani who is silent but mentioned as a housewife.{{sfn|Pechilis|2004|pp=11–15}} While Yajnavalkya and Katyayani lived in contented domesticity, Maitreyi studied metaphysics and engaged in theological dialogues with her husband in addition to "making self-inquiries of introspection".{{sfn|Pechilis|2004|pp=11–15}}<ref name=muir246>John Muir, {{Google books|VPMfAAAAMAAJ|Metrical Translations from Sanskrit Writers|page=251}}, page 246–251</ref> In contrast to the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'', the epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'' states Maitreyi is a young beauty who is an Advaita scholar but never marries.<ref name=muir251>John Muir, {{Google books|VPMfAAAAMAAJ|Metrical Translations from Sanskrit Writers|page=251}}, pp. 251–253</ref>

The figure of Yajnavalkya is considered by Scharfstein as one of the [[History of philosophy|earliest philosophers]] in [[recorded history]].<ref name=benami9/> Yajnavalkya is credited by Witzel for coining the term ''[[Advaita]]'' (non-duality of Atman and Brahman).<ref name="Staal2008p365">{{cite book|author=Frits Staal|title=Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=HcE23SjLX8sC&pg=PA365 |year=2008| publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-309986-4|page=365 note 159}}</ref> The ideas attributed to him for renunciation of worldly attachments have been important to Hindu [[sannyasa]] traditions.<ref>{{cite book|author=Patrick Olivelle|title=The Samnyasa Upanisads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fB8uneM7q1cC |year=1992|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-536137-7|pages=92, 140–146}}</ref>

==Texts==
Yajnavalkya is associated with several other major ancient texts in Sanskrit, namely the ''[[Shukla Yajurveda]]'', the ''[[Shatapatha Brahmana]]'', the ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]'', the [[Dharmasastra]] named ''[[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]]'', ''Vriddha Yajnavalkya'', and ''Brihad Yajnavalkya''.<ref name=fisher55>I Fisher (1984), Yajnavalkya in the Sruti traditions of the Veda, ''Acta Orientalia'', Volume 45, pages 55–87</ref> He is also mentioned in the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' and the [[Puranas]],{{sfn|White|2014|pp=xiii, xvi}}<ref name=mandliklvi>Vishwanath Narayan Mandlik, {{Google book|3AwYAAAAYAAJ|The Vyavahára Mayúkha, in Original, with an English Translation}}, pages lvi, xlviii–lix</ref> as well as in ancient [[Jainism]] texts such as the ''Isibhasiyaim''.<ref>Hajime Nakamura (1968), Yajnavalkya and other Upanishadic thinkers in a Jain tradition, The Adyar Library Bulletin, Volume 31–32, pages 214–228</ref>

Another important and influential Yoga text in Hinduism is named after him, namely ''[[Yoga Yajnavalkya]]'', but its author is unclear. The actual author of ''Yoga Yajnavalkya'' text was probably someone who lived many centuries after the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya, and is unknowIng Yajnavalkya was father, Vajasaneya was his biological son, who wrote or explained Yoga Yajnavalkya in writings to his descendants!
{{sfn|Larson|Bhattacharya|2008|pp= 476–477}} Ian Whicher, a professor of Religion at the University of Manitoba, states that the author of ''Yoga Yajnavalkya'' may be an ancient Yajnavalkya, but this Yajnavalkya is not to be confused with the Vedic-era Yajnavalkya "who is revered in Hinduism for ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad''".<ref>Ian Whicher (1999), The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana: A Reconsideration of Classical Yoga, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791438152}}, pages 27, 315–316 with notes</ref>

According to [[Vishwanath Narayan Mandlik]], these references to Yajnavalkya in other texts, in addition to the eponymous ''Yoga Yajnavalkya'', may be to different sages with the same name.<ref name=mandliklvi/>

==Ideas==
===On karma and rebirth===
One of the early expositions of [[karma]] and rebirth theories appear in the discussions of Yajnavalkya.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Hock | first=Hans Henrich | title=The Yajnavalkya Cycle in the Brhad Aranyaka Upanisad | journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society | publisher=American Oriental Society | volume=122 | issue=2 | year=2002 | pages=278–286 | doi=10.2307/3087621 | jstor=3087621 }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|
<poem>
''Now as a man is like this or like that,
''according as he acts and according as he behaves, so will he be;
''a man of good acts will become good, a man of bad acts, bad;
''he becomes pure by pure deeds, bad by bad deeds;

''And here they say that a person consists of desires,
''and as is his desire, so is his will;
''and as is his will, so is his deed;
''and whatever deed he does, that he will reap.
</poem>
|''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]] 4.4.5-6''|<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130413042723/http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/quotes/brihadaranyaka-upanishad-4-4-5-6 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5-6] Berkley Center for Religion Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University (2012)</ref>}}

[[Max Muller]] and [[Paul Deussen]], in their respective translations, describe the Upanishad's view of "Soul, Self" and "free, liberated state of existence" as, "[Self] is imperishable, for he cannot perish; he is unattached, for he does not attach himself; unfettered, he does not suffer, he does not fail. He is beyond good and evil, and neither what he has done, nor what he has omitted to do, affects him. (...) He therefore who knows it [reached self-realization], becomes quiet, subdued, satisfied, patient, and collected. He sees self in Self, sees all as Self. Evil does not overcome him, he overcomes all evil. Evil does not burn him, he burns all evil. Free from evil, free from spots, free from doubt, he became Atman-Brâhmana; this is the Brahma-world, O King, thus spoke Yajnavalkya."<ref name=pauldeussenc4b2>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814684}}, pages 475-507</ref><ref>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads02ml#page/160/mode/2up Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.3-4], [[Oxford University Press]], pages 161-181 with footnotes</ref>

===On spiritual liberation===
The section 4.3 of the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' is attributed to Yajnavalkya, and it discusses the premises of [[moksha]] (liberation, freedom), and provides some of its most studied hymns. Paul Deussen calls it, "unique in its richness and warmth of presentation", with profoundness that retains its full worth in modern times.<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814684}}, page 482</ref>

=== On the light of man ===
When asked by [[Janaka|King Janaka]],"What is the light of man?" he replies, "The sun, O King; for, having the sun alone for his light, man sits, moves about, does his work, and returns." Then the king asks, "When the sun sets, what is the light of man?" He replies, "The moon indeed is his light; for, having the moon alone for his light, man sits, moves about, does his work, and returns." Then the king asks, "When the sun has set, O Yajnavalkya, and the moon has set, what is the light of man ?" He replies, "Fire indeed is his light; for, having fire alone for his light, man sits, moves about, does his work, and returns." Then the king asks, "When the sun has set, O Yajnavalkya, and the moon has set, and the fire is gone out, what is then the light of man?" He replies, "Sound indeed is his light; for, having sound alone for his light, man sits, moves about, does his work, and returns. Therefore, O King, when one cannot see even one's own hand, yet when a sound is raised, one goes towards it." Then the king asks, "When the sun has set, O Yajnaavalkya, and the moon has set, and the fire is gone out, and the sound hushed, what is then the light of man?" He replies, "The Self indeed is his light; for, having the Self alone as his light, man sits, moves about, does his work, and returns."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Müller|first=F. Max (Friedrich Max)|url=http://archive.org/details/upanishads02ml|title=The Upanishads|date=1879–84|publisher=Oxford, The Clarendon press|others=Princeton Theological Seminary Library|pages=162–163}}</ref>

=== On Self ===
He describes the self by a series of negations and says it is not, not (neti, neti) - not graspable, not destructible, not attached, not disturbed by anything good or bad done by himself. He then says, he who knows this truth remains "controlled, at peace, patient and full of faith" and "everyone comes to be his self" and "he becomes the self of everyone"<ref>{{Cite book|last=Scharfstein|first=Ben-Ami|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iZQy2lu70bwC&pg=PA56|title=A Comparative History of World Philosophy: From the Upanishads to Kant|date=1998-01-01|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-3683-7|pages=64|language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=52}}

=== On Dreams ===
Yajnavlkya believed that dreams are active projections of the self. To him, this is evidence of that dreaming shares the creative nature of Reality in itself.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Scharfstein|first=Ben-Ami|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iZQy2lu70bwC&pg=PA56|title=A Comparative History of World Philosophy: From the Upanishads to Kant|date=1998-01-01|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-3683-7|pages=63|language=en}}</ref>

===On love and soul===
The Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue of ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]'' states that love is driven by "love for oneself (''ātman''),"{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=28}} and it discusses the nature of Atman and Brahman and their [[Monism|unity]],{{Sfn|Hino|1991|pp=94–95}} the core of the later [[Advaita Vedanta|Advaita philosophy]].{{sfn|Brereton|2006|pp=323–345}} The Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue has survived in two manuscript [[recension]]s from the [[Madhyandina Shakha|Madhyamdina]] and [[Kanva Shakha|Kanva]] [[Shakha|Vedic schools]]; although they have significant literary differences, they share the same philosophical theme.{{sfn|Brereton|2006|pp=323–45}}

This dialogue appears in several Hindu texts; the earliest is in chapter 2.4 – and modified in chapter 4.5 – of the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'', one of the principal and oldest [[Upanishads]].{{Sfn|Marvelly|2011|p=43}}{{sfn|Hume|1967|pp=98–102, 146–48}} Adi Shankara, a scholar of the influential [[Advaita Vedanta]] school of Hindu philosophy, wrote in his ''Brihadaranyakopanishad bhashya'' that the purpose of the Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue in chapter 2.4 of the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' is to highlight the importance of the knowledge of Atman and Brahman, and to understand their oneness.{{Sfn|Hino|1991|pp=5–6, 94}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Paul Deussen|title=The System of the Vedanta: According to Badarayana's Brahma-Sutras and Shankara's Commentary thereon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DI7cCgAAQBAJ |year=2015|publisher=KB Classics Reprint|isbn=978-1-5191-1778-6 |pages=173–174 }}</ref> According to Shankara, the dialogue suggests renunciation is prescribed in the ''[[Sruti]]'' (vedic texts of Hinduism), as a means to knowledge of the Brahman and Atman.{{Sfn|Hino|1991|pp=54–59, 94–95, 145–149}} He adds, that the pursuit of self-knowledge is considered important in the ''Sruti'' because the Maitreyi dialogue is repeated in chapter 4.5 as a "logical finale" to the discussion of Brahman in the Upanishad.{{Sfn|Hino|1991|p=5}}

Concluding his dialogue on the "inner self", or soul, Yajnavalkaya tells Maitreyi:{{Sfn|Marvelly|2011|p=43}}
{{blockquote|
<poem>
One should indeed see, hear, understand and meditate over the Self, O Maitreyi;
indeed, he who has seen, heard, reflected and understood the Self – by him alone the whole world comes to be known.
</poem>
|''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' 2.4.5b{{sfn|Deussen|2010|p=435}}}}

After Yajnavalkya leaves and becomes a sannyasi, Maitreyi becomes a [[Sannyasa|sannyasini]] – she too wanders and leads a renunciate's life.<ref name="Yajurveda">{{Cite web|work=Shukla Yajurveda|title=Yajnavalkya's Marriages and His Later Life | url=http://shuklayajurveda.org/yagnavalkya-chapter7.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402112317/http://shuklayajurveda.org/yagnavalkya-chapter7.html |archive-date=2 April 2015|publisher=Shuklayajurveda Organization|access-date=2 April 2015}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Neti neti]]
*[[Ancient Mithila University]]
*[[Janaka]] of [[Videha]]
*[[Gargi Vachaknavi]]
*[[Aruni|Uddalaka Aruni]]
*[[Ashtavakra]]
*[[Yajnavalkya Ashram]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===

*{{cite journal|first=Joel P.|last= Brereton|year= 2006| jstor= 20064512|title= The Composition of the Maitreyī Dialogue in the Brhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad|journal=[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]]|volume=126|number= 3}}

*{{cite book|first=Paul|last= Deussen|year= 2010| title= Sixty Upanishads of the Veda|publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]]|isbn= 978-81-208-1468-4}}

*{{cite book|last= Hino |first=Shoun |title=Suresvara's Vartika On Yajnavalkya'S-Maitreyi Dialogue|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dvcrBnKaIgEC |year =1991 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0729-7 |edition=2nd}}
*{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n121/mode/2up|title= Brihadaranyaka Upanishad|first= Robert|last= Hume |publisher= (Translator), Oxford University Press|year=1967}}

* {{cite book |last=Joseph |first=George G. |year=2000 |title=The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics |edition=2nd |publisher=Penguin Books |location=London |isbn=0-691-00659-8}}

* {{cite book |last=Kak |first=Subhash C. |author-link=Subhash Kak |year=2000 |chapter=Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy |editor-link=Helaine Selin |editor-last=Selin |editor-first=Helaine |title=Astronomy Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy |pages=303–340 |location=Boston |publisher=Kluwer |isbn=0-7923-6363-9}}

* {{cite book|last1=Larson |first1= Gerald James|last2=Bhattacharya |first2=Ram Shankar|year= 2008|title=The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: Yoga: India's philosophy of meditation|publisher= Motilal Banarsidass|isbn= 978-81-208-3349-4|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=p6pURGdBBmIC}}

*{{cite book|last=Marvelly|first=Paula|title=Women of Wisdom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AxcegJBHHNAC&pg=PT43|location=Oxford|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|year=2011|isbn=978-1-78028-367-8}}
* {{Cite book |translator-last=Mohan |translator-first=A. G. |translator-link=A. G. Mohan| year=2013 |title=Yoga Yajnavalkya | edition= 2nd |publisher= Svastha Yoga |isbn=978-9810716486 }}

* {{Cite book |last=Olivelle |first=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f9-2jV7sRuEC |title=Upaniṣads |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-283576-5 |language=en}}

*{{cite book|first= Karen|last= Pechilis|year= 2004|title= The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States|publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0-19-514537-3}}

* {{cite book |last=Teresi |first=Dick |year=2002 |title=Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science - from the Babylonians to the Maya |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster, Inc.]] |location=New York |isbn=0-684-83718-8}}

*{{cite book|last= White |first=David Gordon |title=The "Yoga Sutra of Patanjali": A Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ZGrAgAAQBAJ |year=2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0691143774}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=24967}}
* {{Internet Archive author |search=(Yájnavalkya OR Yajnavalkya OR Yājñavalkya)}}
* [http://www.shuklayajurveda.org/home.html Sukla Yajur Veda] from http://www.shuklayajurveda.org
* [http://www.shuklayajurveda.org/yagnavalkya-intro.html Yogeeswara Yagnavalkya]

{{Rishis of Hindu mythology}}
{{Hindudharma}}
{{Indian Philosophy}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yajnavalkya}}
[[Category:7th-century BC people]]
[[Category:8th-century BC people]]
[[Category:Mithila]]
[[Category:Rishis]]
[[Category:Ancient Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:Scholars from Bihar]]
[[Category:8th-century BC Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:7th-century BC Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:7th-century BC mathematicians]]
[[Category:Maithil Brahmin]]
[[Category:Philosophers of love]]
[[Category:Upanishadic people]]
[[Category:8th-century BC Hindus]]
[[Category:7th-century BC Hindus]]

Yajnavalkya - Revision history

Blshastri2: slightly enhance section for clarity to improve readability

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article