Yājñavalkya
Late Vedic age · Videha (Mithilā) · Śukla Yajurveda, Upaniṣads
Yājñavalkya is the great teacher of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, one of the oldest and deepest of the Upaniṣads. Tradition credits him with the Śukla (White) Yajurveda and the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, and the Yājñavalkya Smṛti, a major law-book, bears his name.
At the court of King Janaka of Videha he wins a great debate on brahman against many learned challengers, among them the woman philosopher Gārgī. His teaching on the ātman — the Self that is the inner controller, which can only be described as “neti, neti”, “not this, not this” — lies at the heart of Vedānta. He had two wives, Maitreyī and Kātyāyanī.
Tradition tells that after a quarrel with his teacher Vaiśampāyana, Yājñavalkya gave back all the Yajus he had learned. He then worshipped the Sun, who appeared as a horse (vājin) and taught him fresh Yajus — the origin of the name Vājasaneyi for the White Yajurveda.
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Śukla Yajurveda · Court of King Janaka · “Neti, neti”