30 Facts About Yajnavalkya

Yajnavalkya proposes and debates metaphysical questions about the nature of existence, consciousness and impermanence, and expounds the epistemic doctrine of neti neti to discover the universal Self and Atman.

Yajnavalkya is mentioned in the Mahabharata as well as various Puranas, Brahmanas and Aranyakas.

Yajnavalkya was the pupil of Uddalaka Aruni, whom he defeated in debate.

Yajnavalkya plays a central position in a debate known as Bahudakshina Yajna hosted by King Janaka in Mithila, Videha, which is in the east of India, where Yajnavalkya defeats philosophers from all around the country.

The figure of Yajnavalkya is considered by Scharfstein as one of the earliest philosophers in recorded history.

Yajnavalkya is credited by Witzel for coining the term Advaita.

Later in his life, Yajnavalkya left both his wives to live as a renunciant.

Yajnavalkya is mentioned in the Mahabharata, Puranas, as well as in ancient Jainism texts such as the Isibhasiyaim.

Once, the guru Vaisampayana got angry with Yajnavalkya, who was one of his leading disciples.

Yajnavalkya demanded that Yajnavalkya give back all of his knowledge he had learned from him.

Yajnavalkya was said to have taken the guru's knowledge and to have added his own insight.

Yajnavalkya plays a central position within the Brihadaranyaka Upanisad, which is a part of the Sukla Yajur Veda.

Yajnavalkya responds saying that he does not claim himself to be the greatest Brahmistha and whoever the greatest Brahmistha is should indeed be honoured.

Yajnavalkya intended to explain that one cannot question who is the support of that which is the support of everything.

Yajnavalkya's threat is not produced out coercion to halt the asking of complex questions, but to end a discussion that had become finite, which Gargi had not realized yet.

In 3.8, Gargi asks a final series of questions to Yajnavalkya proclaiming that if he can answer these questions, no other brahmin could beat him in this debate.

Yajnavalkya responds by discussing the metaphysical element known as Akshar, or that which is imperishable.

Yajnavalkya was the seer of who received the Shukla Yajurveda from the Divine.

The Yajnavalkya Smriti is often comparable to a priorly written dharma sastra, the Manu Smriti.

Yajnavalkya's smriti is more precise and organized than that of Manu's.

The Yajnavalkya Smriti became even more well-known through a commentary written on it by Vijnaneshvara called the Mitakshara in the mid-twelfth century.

The Yoga Yajnavalkya is a commentary by Yajnavalkya on the knowledge of Yoga.

The actual author of Yoga Yajnavalkya text was probably someone who lived many centuries after the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya.

Yajnavalkya is beyond good and evil, and neither what he has done, nor what he has omitted to do, affects him.

Yajnavalkya describes the self by a series of negations and says it is not, not - not graspable, not destructible, not attached, not disturbed by anything good or bad done by himself.

Yajnavalkya 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.

Yajnavalkya introduces the idea that fulfilling desires with the right intention is part of dharma, a departure from previous texts.

Yajnavalkya emphasizes the significance of gift-giving and yoga in dharma, considering them central practices.

Yajnavalkya suggests that those who understand the self hold superior knowledge of dharma.

Yajnavalkya recognizes that not all dharma originates from Vedic sources; some are derived from worldly customs or enforced by rulers.