ORIENTAL SERIES.

37* YAJNAWALKYA.
YAJNAWALKYA A celebrated sage, to whom is attri
buted tbe Wliite Yajur-veda, tlie atapatha Brahma?ia, the
Bnhad Aranyaka, and the code of law called Yajnawalkyasmn'ti.
He lived before the grammarian Katyayana, and was
probably later than Mann ; at any rate, the code bearing his
name is posterior to that of Mann. He was a disciple of Bash-
kali, and more particularly of Yaiiampayana. The Maha-bharata
makes him present at the Raja-suya sacrifice performed by
Yudhi-shtfhira ; and according to the $atapatha Brahmami he
flourished at the court of Janaka, king of Yideha and father of
Sita. Janaka had long contentions with the Brahmans, in which
he was supported, and probably prompted, by Yajnawalkya,
This sage was a dissenter from the religious teaching and practices
of his time, and is represented as contending with and
silencing Brahmans at the court of his patron. A Brahman
named Yidagdha akalya was his especial adversary, but he
vanquished him and cursed him, so that " his head dropped off,
and his bones were stolen by robbers." Yajnawalkya also is
represented as inculcating the duty and necessity of religious
retirement and meditation, so he is considered as having been
the originator of the Yoga doctrine, and to have helped in preparing
the world for the preaching of Buddha. He had two
wives, Maitreyi and Katyayani, and he instructed the former in
his philosophical doctrine. Max Muller quotes a dialogue be-
tween them from the $atapatha Brahmafta (Ancient Sanskrit
Literature, p. 22), in which the sage sets forth his views.
The White Yajur-veda originated in a schism, of which
Yajnawalkya was a leader, if not the author. He was the originator
and compiler of this Yeda, and according to some it was
called Yajasaneyl Sanhita, from his surname Yajasaneya. See
Yeda.
"What share Yajnawalkya had in the production of the $atapatha
Brahma?ia and Bnhad Arawyaka is very doubtful. Some
part of them may, perhaps, have sprung directly from him, and
they were probably compiled under his superintendence ;
but it
may be, as some think, that they are so called because they treat
of him and embody his teaching. One portion of the Bnhad
iranyaka, called the Yajnawalklya Kaflda, cannot have been his
composition, for it is devoted to his glorification and honour, and
was probably written after his death.