Yajnavalkya

Yajnavalkya (याज्ञवल्क्य)
Yajnavalkya teaches Brahma Vidya to King Janaka
Spouse(s)	Maitreyi, Katyayani
Titles/honours	Rishi
Philosophy	Advaita

Yajnavalkya (Sanskrit: याज्ञवल्क्य, Yājñavalkya) is a revered Vedic sage of Hinduism. He is mentioned in the oldest Upanishadic scriptures, and likely lived in Videha kingdom of northern Bihar around the 8th century BCE, or 7th century.

According to Ben-Ami Scharfstein – a professor emeritus of Philosophy at Tel Aviv University, Yajnavalkya was one of the earliest philosophers in recorded history, after Aruni. Yajnavalkya proposes and then debates metaphysical questions about the nature of existence and impermanence, expounds the epistemic doctrine of neti neti ("not this, not this") to discover the universal Self and Ātman. He renounced worldly attachments, and his renunciation ideas have been important to the Hindu sannyasa traditions.

Yajnavalkya is credited to be the one who coined the word Advaita (non-dual, monism), one of the important traditions within Hinduism. Numerous texts are attributed to him, such as the Yajnavalkya Smriti, Yoga Yajnavalkya and texts of the Vedanta school. He is also mentioned in various Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads.

Yajnavalkya is also famed in the Indian tradition for being a Vedic scholar who welcomed participation of women in Vedic studies, and Hindu texts present some of his most significant philosophical ideas in the form of his dialogues with two women, Gargi and Maitreyi.