![]() ![]() A mendicant's behavior may be perceived as madness by those caught up with cravings for the material world, but he is not. This sentiment, states Patrick Olivelle, is similar to those found in the early Buddhist text Suttanipata, in a conversation between the god of death and evil named Mara and Buddha, wherein the latter states a father grieves on account of his sons.Ī renouncer, states Yajnavalkya Upanishad, has no desire for sons or married life, and goes past all these vicissitudes. The text depicts how boys tend to fall for mischief, go to Gurukul but may not learn, commit adultery and other sins in their youth, become penniless, grow old into sorrow and suffer the vicissitudes of life. He causes pain to his parents by miscarriage, in delivery, then through illnesses. The Yajnavalkya Upanishad, similarly, calls the desire for son as vain. This characterization in this text, states Olivelle, is an attempt to create revulsion for a woman's body in the mind of an ascetic who has sworn to a celibate lifestyle, and similar characterization is also found in Buddhism and Jainism texts. Women are chains of suffering and hold gems of sins, asserts the text. Women, states the text, are like "a brilliant splendor of a pearl necklace" but are a source of sin, both lovely and cruel, they ensnare men into evil tendencies, and they get old, die and their bodies becomes food for other creatures. However, it also includes sections for the ascetic monk giving him reasons to never desire women or children. Yajnavalkya Upanishad quoting Yoga Vasistha 5.26.11, Translated by Patrick Olivelle The later additions in the text are also notable for referencing and extensively quoting text from the early-2nd millennium CE Yoga Vasistha, as well some quotes from the Suta Samhita of Skanda Purana and the Pancadasi of 14th-century Vidyaranya. It is a short text, and notable for being identical in first three parts to the more ancient Sannyasa text and influential Jabala Upanishad. ![]() The Yajnavalkya Upanishad describes the state and expected behavior from a sannyasi as he leads the monastic life after renouncing all material and social ties. In the Telugu language anthology of 108 Upanishads of the Muktika canon, narrated by Rama to Hanuman, it is listed at number 97. This text has been sometimes titled as Yajnavalkyopanishad in some manuscripts. Olivelle and Sprockhoff suggest it to be 14th- or 15th-century text. The composition date or author of Yajnavalkya Upanishad is not known, but the chapter 4 of the text is likely a late medieval era text since it references texts which were composed in 1st millennium CE and early 2nd millennium. ![]() The text is attached to the Shukla Yajurveda, and is one of the 20 Sannyasa (renunciation) Upanishads. The Yajnavalkya Upanishad (Sanskrit: याज्ञवल्क्य उपनिषत्, IAST: Yājñavalkya Upaniṣad) is a late medieval era Sanskrit text and a minor Upanishad of Hinduism. ![]()
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