Smritis - Vedas - Sage Yajnavalkya

Imp Pre-script :  Trying to write something about our ancient scriptures and Sages in English collating info from the web is not exactly the right thing.  An attempt to write something on a great Sage.  If there are mistakes / distortions / wrong presentation, please bear and point out them – will learn and correct (adiyen dhasan)

 

The  Mitākṣarā, written by,  is a vivṛti (legal commentary) on the Yajnavalkya Smriti.  Vijñāneśvara was a scholar in the Kalyani Chalukya court.  The Salutation starts thus : He, in whom there exist under complete subjugation, the Dharma and non-Dharma, with their three-fold results, as well as the five kinds of pains, which overpower all living beings and who is untouched by qll these, is the Lord. I praise that Vishnu who is designated by the syllable Om. 

The sacred literature of the Hindus is known as Sruti & Smriti.  Sruti literally means – what is heard.  The Vedas, Aranyakas, Upanishads are included in this class.  Smriti means that which is remembered – hence traditions.  The law books, puranas, Ithihasas, et. al belong to this.   Smritis, therefore, are not like tho Vedas, considered to be eternal and unchangeable. Every Yuga or cycle had its own Smriti, hence  It is not necessary to enter into the question as to the origin of Smritis. Suffice to know that Smritis were brought into existence as circumstances called for them.   

Eternal truths of Hinduism, either in philosophy, or religion or dharma have come down to us through the Maharishis in the past. Vedas are the records of Maharishis, who comprehended the truths through their divine power, otherwise called tapas and yoga. Puranas describe penance for several years without food, which are only a description of such divine power. That divine power is revealed to mankind through some sages, who propagate the truths and tenets recorded in the eternal Vedas. 

Staal notes that though the name Yajnavalkya is derived from yajna, which connotes ritual, Yajnavalkya is referred to as "a thinker, not a ritualist." Yajnavalkya was a disciple  of Vaisampayana and the compiler of the Shukla Yajurveda Samhita. Yajnavalkya was the pupil of Uddālaka Āruṇi, whom he defeated in debate. 

Yajnavalkya was the seer who received the Shukla Yajurveda from the Divine. Thus, he is known as the founder of the Sukla Yujurveda tradition. Yajnavalkya or Yagyavalkya is a  Vedic sage featured  in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Tattiriya Upanishad. Yajnavalkya proposes and debates metaphysical questions about the nature of existence, consciousness and impermanence, and expounds the epistemic doctrine of neti neti ("not this, not this") to discover the universal Self and Ātman.  Yajnavalkya himself mentions, “Anyone who desires to master yoga should know the Aranyaka that I received from the sun as well as the yoga treatise that I proclaimed.” (Yajnavalkya Smriti 3. It is written as a discourse from Yajnavalka to his sagely disciples about the laws or dharmas of society.  The scripture is broken into three sections discussing: (1) achara (i.e., behavior), (2) vyavahara (i.e., legal procedure), and (3) prayascita (i.e., atonement).  In the second section, Yagnavalkya breaks down the entire court process into four steps: plaint, plea, evidence and verdict. In the third section, Yajnavalkya claims that through prayascita, the soul and the world are pleased. 

Near Mithila, there lived in an ashram a Maharishi named Katyayana. His daughter Katyayani  was very beautiful and intelligent. She was proficient in many branches of learning.   Yagnavalkya accepted his offer and the marriage was conducted in an auspicious day. The couple led an ideal life of enjoyment, happiness, contentment and peace. In the course of time Katyayani presented Yagnavalkya with four sons and they were named Katyayana, Chandrakanta, Mahamedha and Vijaya. All these sons in their own time became great scholars and renowned for their knowledge in Vedas and Sastras. 

In the town of Janakpur, near the city of Mithila, assisting King Janaka as a minister was a learned Vedic scholar and sage name Mitra. He had an accomplished and extremely beautiful daughter called Maitreyi.  She had a thirst for theological truths and was interested in gaining knowledge of the Vedas, Upanishads and Sastras.  Maitreyi learnt and trained under Gargi.  Since Yagnavalkya was already married to Katyayani , she with the consent of her parents  went, along with Gargi, to Katyayani and dwelt in detail her objective of learning from the great sage and she said the only way was to become the second wife. She requested Katyayani to grant her the boon and consent for the marriage. Katyayani, realising Maitreyi's bent of mind, acceded to her request.   

Maitreyi  was a great scholar, studied metaphysics and was engaged in theological dialogues with her husband in addition to "making self-inquiries of introspection”.  The dialogues of wisdom  between Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi as husband and wife in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad explores the concept of Atman (soul or self) & its undisputed relationship with God Almighty to throw light on idea of "Non dual" nature of "living creature & their Creator".

 

sa hovāca maitreyī, yenāhaṁ nāmṛtā syām, kim ahaṁ tena kuryām, yad eva bhagavān veda tad eva me brūhīti.

 

"Then, what is the good of all this? If one day, death is to swallow me up, and transiency is to overwhelm me, impermanence of the world is to threaten us, and if everything is to be insecure at the very start; if all that you regard as worthwhile is, after all, going to be a phantom; because it is not going to assure us as to how long it can be possessed, how it may not be taken away from us and at what time we shall be dispossessed of all the status that we have in life; if this is the uncertainty of all existence, what good can accrue to me from this that you are bestowing upon me, as if it is a great value?"

 

Here is a vigraha of Sage Yajnavalkya at Athur Padashala for Vedas, run by - Sri Chaturvedha Vidhya Ganapathi Trust.  Couple of photos of Veda vidyarthis at the Padashala also feature here. 

Johan Frederik "Frits" Staal (1930 – 2012), a German,  was the department founder and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and South/Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.  Staal specialized in the study of Vedic ritual and mantras, and the scientific exploration of ritual and mysticism. He was also a scholar of Greek and Indian logic and philosophy and Sanskrit grammar. 

Lot of inputs extracted from Yagnavhlkya Smriti with commentary of Vijñāneśvara called ‘The  Mitākṣarā’,  and the notes from the gloss of Balambatta.   

Please condone mistakes, if any – in this post.
 
adiyen Srinivasa dhasan
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
18.12.2024