Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s16.38

v1.c3.s16.38

Janaka, king of Videha, plays a considerable part in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa¹ and the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad,² as well as in the Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa³ and the Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad.⁴ He was a contemporary of Yājñavalkya Vājasaneya,⁵ of Śvetaketu Āruṇeya, and of other sages.⁶ He had become famous for his generosity and his interest in the discussion of the nature of Brahman, as ultimate basis of reality, in the life-time of Ajātaśatru of Kāśi.⁷ It is significant that he maintained a close intercourse with the Brahmins of the Kuru-Pañcālas, such as Yājñavalkya and Śvetaketu; for this indicates that the home of the philosophy of the Upaniṣads was in the Kuru-Pañcāla country rather than in the east. There is a statement in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa⁸ that he became a Brahmin (brahmā). This does not, however, signify a change of caste, but merely that in knowledge he became a Brahmin (see Kṣatriya). Janaka is occasionally mentioned in later texts: in the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa⁹ he has already become quite mythical; in the Śāṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra¹⁰ a sapta-rātra or seven nights' rite is ascribed to him.