Yājñavalkya

Yājñavalkya is a Vedic sage who appears as a leading teacher in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad and the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, debating at the court of King Janaka of Videha and instructing his wife Maitreyī. His historicity and dates are uncertain. He teaches that the self (ātman) is the unseen seer and unheard hearer, which cannot be made an object of knowledge and can only be approached by negation: 'not this, not this' (neti neti). This is a doctrine of what the self is rather than of how a person persists through time.

Key ideas

• The self is the unseen seer and the unthought thinker, never itself an object.
• The self can be described only by negation: 'neti neti', not this, not this.
• It is for the sake of the self that husband, wife and wealth are dear.
• The self is the inner controller (antaryāmin) of all things.

Major works

• Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, books 3–4 (record of his teaching)
• Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (Vedic text in which he appears as an authority)

In the conversation

• Reading group Reading group: Yājñavalkya, Maitreyī and Gārgī in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad Thamarai Selvi Raman · 5 replies
• Question Is Yājñavalkya’s unseen seer an answer to the problem of personal identity? Meera Kulkarni · 4 replies