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Mathomathis would like to present an article on Sushruta Samhita | Medical treatment of inflamed ulcers based on the book Sushruta Samhita, volume 4: Cikitsasthana by Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna | 1911 | 123,229 words. The article was adopted from the website: https://www.wisdomlib.org/, a detailed explanation is available on the website. This disease may be ascribed to two causes, such as the congenital (Sahaja) and that attributable to the use of injudicious diet. The first type (Sahaja) is due to a defect in the seeds of one’s parents and the second is originated from the use of unwholesome food. The symptoms, which mark the first of these two types, are emaciation and a dryness (of the body), diminished capacity of eating, too much thirst and restlessness; while the symptoms, which usually attend the latter type of the disease, are obesity, voracity, gloss of the body, increased soporific tendency and inclination for lounging in bed or on cushions. A case of emaciation, etc., (viz., the first kind of Prameha) should be remedied with nutritious food and drink, etc., whereas Apatarpana, etc., (fasting, physical exercise, depletory measures etc.), should be adopted in cases of obesity viz., the second kind of (Prameha). Forbidden Articles of Food & Drink:— All patients suffering from Prameha should forego the use of (the different species of wine and fermented liquor known as) Sauviraka, Tushodaka, Shukta, Maireya, Sura, and asava, water, oil, clarified butter, milk, any modification of the expressed juice of sugarcane, cakes, milk-curd, acid, Panaka, the flesh of domestic and aquatic animals and of those which frequent swamps or marshy places Articles of diet:— The use of sufficiently old and matured, Shali and Shashtika rice, barley, wheat, Kodrava, Uddalaka, with the different preparations of Chanaka, Adhaki, Kulattha or Mudga pulse is recommended; or the meal should be taken with the Shakas (potherbs) of bitter or astringent taste cooked with the oils of Nikumbha, lngudi, mustard or. linseed oil; or with the soup of the lean flesh of Jangala animals which are possessed of anti-diuretic properties cooked without any clarified butter and unseasoned with any acid juice. Preliminary Treatment:— The patient should be first anointed with any of the oils (of Nikumbha, lngudi, Sarshapa, Atasi, etc.); or with the medicated clarified butter cooked with the drugs of the Priyangvadi group and should also be treated with strong emetics and purgatives. After the application of purgatives, an Asthapana measure with a decoction of the drugs of the Surasadi group, mixed with honey and Saindhava salt and with the powders of Shunthi, Bhadradaru and Musta by way of an after-throw, should be resorted to. (On the eighth day) in a case attended with a burning sensation, a decoction of the Nyagrodhadi group without (i.e., mixed with a little quantity of) Sneha (oil or clarified butter) should be used (in the manner of an Asthapana). The five Medicinal remedies:— After cleansing the system, the expressed juice of Amalaka mixed with Haridra (powder) and honey should be administered. As an alternative, a decoction of Triphala, Vishala, Deva-daru and Musta or an Aksha (two Tola) measure of the Kalka (powders) of Shala, Kampillaka and Mushkaka (both of them) sweetened with honey and the expressed juice of Amalaka should be taken; or powders of the flowers of Kutaja, Kapittha, Rohita, Vibhitaka and Saptaparna (should be taken with honey, Haridra and the expressed juice of Amalaka), or a decoction of the roots, leaves, barks, flowers and fruits of Nimba, Aragvadha, Saptaparna, Murva, Kutaja, Soma-vriksha, Palasha should be given to the patient. All cases of Meha are often found to yield to the use of any of these five medicinal preparations. Specific Treatments:— Now we shall specifically describe the course of treatment to be adopted in each particular type of the disease (Prameha). A decoction of Parijata should be given in a case of Udaka-meha; a decoction of Vaijayanti in that of Ikshu-meha; a decoction of Nimba in a case of Sura-meha; a decoction of Citraka in a case of Shikata-meha; a decoction of Khadira in a case of Shanair-meha; a decoction of Patha and Aguru in a case of Lavana-meha; a decoction of Haridra and Daru-haridra in a case of Pishta-meha; a decoction of Shaptaparna in a case of Sandra-meha; a decoction of Durva, Shaivala, Plava, Hatha-karanja and Kasheruka, or that of Kakubha and red-sandal wood in a case of Shukra-meha; and a decoction of Triphala, Aragvadha and Draksha mixed with honey in a case of a Phena-meha. All decoctions, to be employed in the foregoing ten types of Kaphaja-meha, should be sweetened with honey (slightly sweetened with honey—D. R). Treatment of Pittaja Prameha:— In the Pittaja types of the disease, a decoction of the drugs of the Shala-saradi group or that of Ashvattha should be administered in a case of Nila-meha; similarly a decoction of Raja-vriksha should be given in a case of Haridra-meha; a decoction of the Nyagrodhadi group, mixed with honey, in a case of Amla-meha; a decoction of Triphla in a case of Kshara-meha; a decoction of Manjishtha and (red) Chandana in a case of Manjishtha-meha; and a decoction of Guduci, seeds of Tinduka, Kashmarya and Kharjura, mixed with honey, in a case of Shonita-meha Palliative Measures:— Now we shall describe the palliative measures to be adopted even in cases of incurable types of the disease. A Kalka compound of Kushtha, Kutaja, Patha, Hingu and Katu-rohini should be taken with a decoction of Guduci and Citraka in a case of Sarpir-meha. A patient afflicted with an attack of Vasa-meha should be made to drink a decoction of Agni-mantha or of Shimshapa. Similarly a decoction of Khadira, Kadara and Kramuka should be given in a case of Kshaudra-meha; a decoction of Tinduka, Kapittha, Shirisha, Palasha, Patha, Murva, and Dusparsa (Duralabha) mixed with honey, or the Kshara, (alkaline water) prepared from the ashes of the bones of an elephant, horse, hog, ass or camel, in a case of Hasti-meha. A gruel (Yavagu prepared in the manner of Shadanga-kalpa) with a decoction […]
Mathomathis would like to present an article on: Vedic Glossary documented by Indic Cosmology, Kosla Vepa (INDIC STUDIES FOUNDATION), on the context of: THE STORY OF THE INDIC COSMOLOGY AND THE CELESTIAL TIME KEEPERS. The article would consists of Indic Savants In The Computational Sciences From Antiquity 1 A. Krishnaswami Ayyangar 2 Acyuta Pisarati (c. 1550 CE-1621 CE) 3 Apastambha, author of Sulva Sutra, circa 2000 BCE 4 Aryabhata (476 CE – 550 CE.) 5 Aryabhata Ia (author of Aryabhata Siddhanta) 6 Aryabhata lb (author of Aryabhattiyum of Kusumapura) Born in Asmaka,, A1b = or not=A1a 7 Aryabhata II 8 Bakshali Manuscript 9 Baudhayana (fl. 700 B.C.E.) 10 Bhaskara I 11 Bhadrabahu 12 Bhartrihari, considered to be the father of semantics 13 Bhaskara (1114-c. 1185) 14 Bhaskara 1(629 CE of Vallabhi country) 15 Bhaskara II (Bhaskaracharya son of Maheshwara) 16 Bhattotpala of Kashmir (966 CE) 17 Bhutivesnu son of Devaraja, circa 14th century CE? 18 Bose 19 Brahmadeva 20 Brahmadeva son of Chandrabuddha 1092 ce 21 Brahmagupta (c. 598-c. 670) , son of Jisnugupta 22 Brihaddeshi 23 Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao 24 Cangadeva (fl. 1205) 25 Chandraprajnapati, ? 5”’ century BCE 26 Chandrasekhara Simha or Chandrasekhar Samanta (are they the same — yes)) 1835 CE 27 D. K. Ray-Chaudhuri 28 Damodara, son of Parameswara and guru of Nilakantha Somasutvan as well 29 Dasaballa (son of Vairochana) 1055 CE 30 Deva (Deva Acharya) 31 Gaargeya 32 Ganesha Daivajna I (1505 CE son of Lakshmi and Kesava)) 33 Ganesha Daivajnya II (great grandson of Ganesha Daivajnya 1(1600 CE) 34 Gangadhara 35 Gangesha Upadhyaya 36 Ghatigopa 37 Govinda Bhatta 38 Govindaswami (c. 800-850) 39 Halayudha (fl. 975) 40 Haridatta (circa 850 CE) 41 Harish-Chandra 42 Hemachandra Suri (b. 1089) 43 Hemcha n dra 44 Jaganath Pandit (fl. 1700) 45 Jagannatha Samrat 46 Jayadeva (fl. 1000) 47 Jayant Narlikar 48 Jyesthadeva of KERALA (circa 1500 CE?) 49 Kamalakara (1616) alt.1610 CE, son of narasimha (belongs to Daivjnya 50 Katyayana , Author of Sulva Sutras 51 Kesava Daivajna 52 Kodandarama (1807-1893) of the Telugu country alternate (1854CE ) son 53 Krishna Daivajna 54 Krisnadesa 55 Kumararajiva 56 Lagadha 57 Lakshmidasa , son of Vachaspati Misra 58 Lakshmidasa Daivajna 59 Lalla son of Bhatta Trivikrama 60 Latadeva , pupil of Aryabhata lb 61 Lokavibhaga (Jaina text) 62 Madhava (son of Virupaksha of the Telugu country) 63 Madhava of Sangramagama in Kerala (1340 to 1425 CE 64 Mahadeva (son of Bandhuka) 65 Mahadeva son of parasurama, 66 Maharajah Sawai Jai Singh 67 Mahavira (Mahaviracharya) (fl. 850) 68 Mahavira , founder of Jainism, author of Surya prajnapati 69 Mahavira of the Digambara sect 70 Mahendra Sun (1349 CE) 71 Mahendra Sun, pupil of Madana Sun , (1370 CE) 72 Malayagiri, Jam Monk from Gujarat 73 Malikarjuna Sun , 1178 CE, name suggest Telugu country 74 Manava 75 Manjula 76 Manjula (fl. 930) 77 Mathukumalli V. Subbarao 78 Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri 79 Munishvara 80 Nagesh Daivajnya (son of Shiva Daivajnya) (1619 CE) 81 Narasimha Daivajna (son of Krishna Daivajnya) 1586 CE 82 Narayana Pandit (fl. 1350) 83 Narayana (c. 1500-1575) 84 Narendra Karmarkar 85 Navin M. Singhi 86 Nilakantha Somayaji or Nilakantha Somasutvan (1444 CE to 1550 CE) 87 Nisanku – son of Venkataknishna Sastri (source, sourcebook KVS) 88 Padmanabha son of Narmada (same as Parameswara?) 89 Panduranga swami 90 Panini 91 Paramesvara (1360-1455 CE) alt.1380 — 1460 CE,a Namputiri of Vataserri in Kerala 92 Patodi 93 Pillai 94 Pingala 95 Prabhakara (pupil of Aryabhata I, 525 CE? 96 Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis 97 Prashastidhara (fl. 958) 98 Pruthudakaswami (fl. 850) 99 Putumana Somayaji (c. 1660-1740) 100 Raghunath Raj 101 Raj Chandra Bose 102 Rajagopal 103 Rama Daivajnya , sonn of Madhusudhana Daivajnya 104 Ramanujam 105 Ranganatha son of Narasimha Daivajnya (1643 CE) . commentary on Surya Siddhanta 106 Referred to as son of Padmanabha (1417 CE) are they one and the same 107 S. N. Roy 108 S. S. Shrikhande 109 Saamanta Chandrasekhar Simha (see also Chandrasekhar Sinha) 110 Sankara Variyar (1500 — 1600 CE) pupil of Jyeshtadeva 111 Sankara Varman (fl. 1800) 112 Sarvadaman Chowla 113 Satyendra Nath Bose 114 Shreeram Shankar Abhyankar 115 Somaswara circa 11 century CE 116 Sridhara (fl. 900) 117 Sridharacharya 118 Srinivasa Ramanujan 119 Sripati (son of Nagadeva, 999 CE) 120 Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar 121 Suryadeva Yajwan (1191 CE of Gangaikonda Cholapuram in Tamilnadu) 122 The Daivajna Family — The Bernoullis of India 123 Trikkantiyur 124 Umaswati (fl. 150 B.C.E.) 125 Varahamihira (c. 505-c. 558) 126 Varahamihira (son of Adityadasa) 127 Venkatesh Ketkar 128 Vijayanandi 129 Vijay Kumar Patodi 130 Virasena 131 Virasena Acharya 132 Virupaksha Suri of the Telugu country 133 Vishnu Daivajnya (son of Divakara Daivajnya) same as Visvanatha? 134 Visvanatha Daivajna (son of Divakara Daivajna) 1578 CE 135 Yajnavalkya 136 Yallaiya (1482 CE of Skandasomeswara of the Telugu country) 137 Yaska 138 Yatavrisham Acharya 139 Yativrsabha 140 Yavanesvara
Mathomathis would like present an article on Life in the Womb: Conception and Gestation in Buddhist Scripture and Classical Indian Medical Literature By Author: Robert Kritzer. Before proceeding further, make sure to complete the previous article: Life in the Womb | Conception and Gestation in Buddhist Scripture | 101 The Garbhāvakrāntisūtra is a rather long sūtra that includes an account of the mechanism of rebirth. The account begins before conception, when the being about to be reborn is in the intermediate state (antarābhava). The text is best known for its week-by-week description of the development of the fetus, but it also details the ills to which the newly born being is subject. There are several extant versions of the sūtra. The earliest is a translation by Dharmaraksa titled Pao-t’ai ching (Taishō edition, Buddhist canon [T.], 317), dated 281 or 303. A translation by Bodhiruci titled Fo wei a-nan shuo ch’u-t’ai hui (T. 310 n. 13), dated 703–713, is found in the Ratnakūtasūtra. I-ching also translated the sūtra, and his translation (dated 710) can be found in two different places, in the Ratnakūtasūtra (T. 310 n. 14), titled Fo shuo ju-t’ai-tsang hui), and in the Mūlasarvāstivādavinayaks․ udrakavastu, titled Ju-mu-t’ai ching (T. 1451: 251a14–262a19). I-ching’s version is much longer than Dharmaraksa’s or Bodhiruci’s. It consists of three parts: (1) An account of the instruction of Nanda; (2) An account of conception and gestation that generally corresponds with Bodhiruci’s version, followed by various teachings related to suffering and how to overcome it; (3) An account of Nanda’s previous lives. There is no extant Sanskrit for the portion of the Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya in which the sūtra is found, but there is a ninth-century Tibetan translation. The other Tibetan translations of the sūtra are from the Chinese translations, not from a Sanskrit original. The Carakasamhitā:- The Carakasamhitā is the earliest of the Indian medical texts that Kenneth Zysk calls “the classical compilations,” which also include the Suśrutasamhitā, the Ashtanga Hridaya samhita, and the Astāngasamgraha. As is the case with Indian Buddhist texts, it is difficult to establish the dates of Indian medical texts. According to Zysk, the Carakasamhitā and the Suśrutasamhitā probably date from a few centuries before or after the beginning of the common era, whereas the Astāngahrdayasamhitā and the Astāngasamgraha are from around the seventh century, with the Astāngahrdayasamhitā probably being slightly older. Clearly, the authors of Indian medical texts share a certain pool of knowledge with authors of religious texts, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist. Author in the following article is primarily concerned with the different emphases and the uses to which this knowledge is put in the Garbhāvakrāntisūtra, which includes the most prominent Buddhist treatment of the subject of conception and gestation, and the Carakasamhitā, which author have chosen as a representative of the classical medical tradition. Conception:- Since both the Garbhāvakrāntisūtra and the Carakasamhitā presuppose a belief in rebirth related to, if not directly resulting from, karma, it is not surprising that their accounts of conception are generally quite similar. According to both texts, the mother must be at the proper time of her menstrual cycle, and her reproductive organs must be healthy. Naturally, the father and mother must have sex. Finally, the entity that will be reborn as the new baby must be present in the form of the intermediate being (antarābhava) at the time of intercourse; this is crucial if moral continuity is to be preserved from one lifetime to the next. Not surprisingly, given the different purposes of the two texts, there are also some differences. The Garbhāvakrāntisūtra specifies that the parents must have a “defiled thought,” that is to say, a lustful thought. This reflects the Buddhist conviction that desire, because it leads to rebirth, is essentially defiling and is, as the second Noble Truth implies, the cause of suffering. Like the non-Buddhist religious texts discussed above, the Garbhāvakrāntisūtra describes the rebirth process in detail, not as a disinterested explanation of the facts of life, but for the sake of arousing or confirming disgust in samsāra. Its audience was probably the meditating monk. The Carakasamhitā, on the other hand, is not addressed to monks, and it passes no moral judgment on socially acceptable sexual activity. Rather, its aim is to encourage a successful pregnancy and a healthy birth. In addition to instructions regarding the best position for intercourse, the sensibilities of both partners are taken into account. The couple is recommended to wear white clothes and garlands, to have pleasant dispositions, and to have sexual desire for one another. They should be stimulated, ready for intercourse, and well fed, and their bed should be sweet smelling and comfortable. For a week after intercourse, the woman is to be pampered with various soothing and nutritious drinks, all white in color, and all of her surroundings should be white. She should have a large white bull or a decorated horse to look at, morning and evening. She should be told pleasant stories and look upon men and women of agreeable form, speech, and behaviour as well as other pleasant sense-objects. Far from evoking disgust, these passages emphasize the pleasantness of the process, and the frequent mention of the color white suggests purity, not defilement. The other obvious difference is that the Garbhāvakrāntisūtra refers to the about to-be-reborn being as antarābhava, or intermediate being. The Carakasamhitā, on the other hand, calls it the “soul” (jīva), the same word that is used in the Brahmanical and Jaina texts mentioned earlier. Despite the difference in terminology, the Garbhāvakrāntisūtra and the Carakasamhitā agree that something in addition to the material contributions of the father and mother is required for conception to occur. Thus, in both these systems, which take rebirth for granted, a conscious entity accompanied by previously accumulated karma seems to be necessary for the mixture of semen and blood to become animated. After the explanation of the conditions for entering the womb, the Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya version of the Garbhāvakrāntisūtra (but not the version translated by Dharmaraksa) describes some features of the antarābhava. […]
Mathomathis would like to present article on Indian Astronomy | Astronomical Dating of Events | 103 by the author Kosla Vepa Published by Indic Studies Foundation, 948 Happy Valley Rd., Pleasanton, Ca 94566, USA. Previous article can be found here (Indian Astronomy | Astronomical Dating of Events | 108 (Vikrama Samvat | Saptarsi Tradition)) Their website can be located Indicstudies.us. The studies is also conducted by N.S. Rajaram PhD. Author’s in the volume 1 of their research start their discussion on a topic called Why are History and the Chronology Important by Kosla Vepa PhD. The Western historians have tried to identify Kanishka era with 78 CE in their attempt to deny historicity of the Salivahana saka. Professor Sengupta had considered astronomical information from two kharosthi inscriptions which refer to regnal years of Kanishka , but could not match with the 78 CE date and so he proposed his own date for the starting of the Kanishka era. The inscriptions in question are no.26 and no. 35 in the Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol. II. edited by Sten Konow. According to the inscriptions, in the eleventh year of reign of king Kanishka, on the 20th day of Asadha, it was uttaraphalguni naksatra. In the year 61, on the 8th day of caitra, the naksatra was purvasadha. Know had concluded that the full moon day was the first day of the month in these inscriptions. Sengupta correctly pointed out that there is no such Indian system in which the first day of the month is the full moon day. The months are full moon ending months and the 20th day of Asadha of the inscription would correspond to sravana sukla panchami and 8th day of caitra would correspond to caitra krsna astami. With these calendrical data, when Sengupta tried to calculate the dates based on the 78 CE as the beginning of Kanishka era, he could not quite match the data from the inscriptions. So he proposed that the Kanishka era be started from December 25 of 79 CE, nearly two years after the Salivahana saka. But, based on the list from Rajataragini, Kanishka’s date would be 1298 BCE. The eleventh and sixty-first years would be 1287 BCE and 1237 BCE respectively. Figure A shows the star map for June 23, 1287 BCE, it is sravana sukla pancami uttaraphalguni, an exact match to the inscription. Figure B shows the star map for March 1, 1237 BCE, caitra krsna astami, also an exact match to inscription no. This clearly establishes the consistency of the record in rajatarangini with the kharosthi inscriptions and hence the miss-identification of Kanishka era by the Western historians. Author Concludes as following: The real history of Bharata is preserved in its itihasa and purana texts. The Chronology is comprehensive and cogent. Simulations of the astronomical data preserved in these texts, using modern planetarium software, have attested the coherence of the chronology. From the date of the Mahabharata war, the sarpa yaga of Janamejaya, the date of Buddha, Asoka Maurya, Kanishka, Adi Sankara, the Gupta period, through the Vikrama and Salivahana sakas, the chronology exhibits a continuous flow which has been convincingly demonstrated by the simulations using planetarium software. The consistency is staggering. Many of the sticky points with ‘traditional chronology’ of the historians is simply resolved with these stimulations. There is still a large body of inscriptional data awaiting validation by simulations using the planetarium software.
As long with many sages that were born in the land, Sage Yajnavalkya was also one of the renowned sages within ancient vedic dharma/tradition who had an extensive amount of knowledge about the self and who has realized the life completely, that is in vedantic dharma we term as: jeevan mukti, the one who has realized completely and he is liberated. He is said to have been a sage present in the court of King Janaka of Mithila. The sage was also been found in one of the early vedic text of Mahabharata. His name is closely connected with the Sukla Yajurveda. Some hold that the Vajasaneyi Samhita of the Sukla Yajur Veda is known after his surname Vajasaneya. Yajnavalkya was the son of the sister of Mahamuni Vaishampayana, the Vedacharya of the Taittiriya section. He was studying the Taittiriya Samhita from Vaishampayana who was also his Guru. Vaishampayana had many other disciples too and they all were students of the Taittiriya Shakha. Vishampayana however was irked by the nature of Yajnavalkya. Over a period of time Vaishampayana excluded Yajnavalkya from his class and foreclosed further learning of the compilations of Taittiriya samhita. He restrained Yajnavalkya from quoting the Taittiriya Samhita, which became known as the Krishna Yajur. Yajnavalkya piqued by this development, determined not to have any human Guru thereafter. Inspired by the God Surya, he acquired fresh insights into the vedas; this was developed into what is now known as the Shukla Yajur. Yajnavalkya married two wives. One was Maitreyi and the other Katyayani. Of the two, Maitreyi was a Brahmavadini. There was a time when Yajnavalkya wished to divide his property between the two wives and proceed to forest as an ascetic. While Katyayani, a woman of intelligence, was comfortable with this idea and immediately accepted the property given to her, Maitreyi mused on this proposal; she wanted to know from Yajnavalkya, whether she could become immortal through wealth. Yajnavalkya replied that there was no hope of immortality through wealth and that she would only become one among the many who were well-to-do on earth. On hearing this, Maitreyi requested Yajnavalkya to teach her what he considered as the best for attaining the ultimate liberation (jeevan mukti) Then Yajnavalkya elaborately described to her the sole greatness of the Absolute Self, the nature of its existence, the way of attaining infinite knowledge and immortality, etc. This immortal conversation between Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi is recorded in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The central theme of the discourse is this: “This Source of knowledge; this source of power; all these worlds; all these gods; all these beings:- All this is just the Self. This Self alone exists everywhere. It cannot be understood or known, for It alone is the Understander and the Knower. Its nature cannot be said to be positively as such. It is realised through endless denials as “not this”, “not this”, a process of negation in the philosophical inquiries. The Self is self luminous, indestructible, unthinkable”. Yajnavalkya through his other wife Katyayani(Daughter of Bharadhwaja), had three sons ”Chandrakanta, Mahamegha and Vijaya”. Yajnavalkya, though a great Brahma – Jnani (Knowledge), was a great Karma – kandi (one who strongly practices karma) as well. He was a celebrated Shrotriya and a Brahma Nishtha (follower) Guru. Once King Janaka of Videha wanted to know from which real Brahma Nishtha to receive Brahma Vidya. In order to find out who was the real Brahma-nishtha, Janaka performed a huge Bahu Dakshina sacrifice to which all the Rishis from far and wide were invited. And he offered one thousand cows with their calves, all their horns being decked with enormous gold. Then he proclaimed to the assembled ones, “Whosoever is the best Brahmana amongst you may drive these cows home”. None dared to get up and take away the cows as they were afraid of censure by the others. But Yajnavalkya stood up and asked his disciple Samasravas to drive the cows home. The other members from the community to which the sage belonged to got angry at this and said to one another, “How can he declare himself to be the best among us?”. There upon several Rishis (Sages) challenged Yajnavalkya with many questions on transcendental matters to all of which Yajnavalkya gave prompt reply. There was a great debate in which Yajnavalkya won over all the others. Janaka was convinced that Yajnavalkya was the best Brahma Nishtha and received Brahma Vidya from him thereafter. The Verbal combat that ensued in the court of Janaka on this occasion is very famous. Apart from the fact that these arguments are interesting and enlightening, they are also known for its pungency and tragedy. Noted among the arguers are a learned lady called gargi, sage uddalaka, sakalya and many others. Yajnavalkya won over everyone very convincingly. We can find these debates verbatim in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The third and the fourth chapters of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad abound with the great philosophical teachings of Yajnavalkya. Yajnavalkya was also the author of the famous Yajnavalkya Smriti. His other works are Yajnavalkya Shakha, Pratijna Sutra, Satapatha Brahmana, and Yoga Yajnavalkya. At the sacrifice of Janaka, there was an exchange of words between Yajnavalkya and Vaishampayana. But on hearing that Yajnavalkya had obtained a fresh Veda from the Sun God (Surya Deva), Vaishampayana was much pleased and he requested Yajnavalkya to teach that Veda to his own disciples also. Yajnavalkya consented and taught his Veda to the disciples of Vaishampayana. In the end, Yajnavalkya took Vidvat Sannyasa (renunciation after the attainment of the knowledge of Brahman) and retired to the forest. Yajnavalkya was one of the greatest sages ever known. We find him arguing with and overcoming even his teacher Uddalaka at the court of Janaka. His precepts as contained in the Upanishads stand foremost as the crest-jewel of the highest teachings on Brahma Vidya. The master who guided thousands of persons, from King janaka to the commonest students on the path of enlightenment, was Yajnavalkya. His was the mastermind […]