History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.179.3

v7.c94.179.3

110) and of Yāj. smṛti. In the Bṛ. Up. II. 4. 1 and IV 5. 1 (Yājñavalkyasya dve bhārye babhūvatur--Maitreyī ca Kātyāyanī ca) it is expressly stated that Yājñavalkya had two wives, (philosophy-minded) Maitreyī and Kātyāyanī (worldly-minded). Maitreyī desired such knowledge as would lead to immortality and she asks questions, in all of which she addresses Yājñavalkya as 'bhagavān' (in Bṛ. Up. II. 4. 3 and 13 and IV. 5 4, 14) and never as mere Yājñavalkya. On the other hand, Gārgī in the Bṛ. Up. is called Vācaknavī (in III. 6. 1, III 8 1 and 12), is not Yājñavalkya's wife but a pert and rationalistic woman inquirer like Aśvala, Ārtabhāga, Bhujyu Lāhyāyani, Uṣasta Cākrāyana, Kahola (all present in the court of Janaka), who including Gārgī questioned the claim of Yājñavalkya to be regarded as 'brahmiṣṭha'. In Bṛ. Up. III. 6. 1 when Gārgī pursues her ratiocination too far (in matters depending upon āgama and being beyond reasoning) Yājñavalkya reprimands her and says that she would die (lit. her head would fall away) if she pursued the subject in a pure logistic way. All those inquirers address Yājñavalkya as mere Yājñavalkya without any honorific epithet like 'bhagavān' and Gārgī does the same (in Bṛ Up. III. 6. 1, III. 8. 2-6). Acc. to Yāj Smṛti III. 110 the Bṛ. Up, a Yoga-śāstra and the smṛti are the works of one man (whose two wives were Maitreyī and Kātyāyanī) and who had a philosophical skirmish with Gārgī Vācaknavī (according to the Bṛ. Up.).