Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s4.1033

v2.c4.s4.1033

Yājña-valkya, ‘descendant of Yājñavalkya,’ is repeatedly mentioned in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa¹ as an authority on questions of ritual. He is, however, also given as an authority on questions of philosophy in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad,² but Oldenberg³ is, no doubt, right in thinking that no possible importance can be attached to the mention of Yājñavalkya in the latter capacity. He is said to have been a pupil of Uddālaka Āruṇi,⁴ whom he opposed successfully in a dispute.⁵ His two wives, Maitreyī and Kātyāyanī, are mentioned in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad,⁶ which concludes⁷ with a passage ascribing to Yājñavalkya Vājasaneya the ‘white Yajus’ (*śuklāni yajūṃṣi*). It is remarkable that Yājñavalkya is never mentioned in any other Vedic text outside the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa except the Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka,⁸ where, however, both references are merely transcripts from the Śatapatha.⁹ It has been supposed by Oldenberg¹⁰ and others that Yājñavalkya belonged to Videha, but despite the legend of Janaka’s patronage of him, his association with Uddālaka, the Kuru-Pañcāla, renders this doubtful.