Yädavas

The descendants of King Yadu, the son

of King YAYÄTIof the lunar dynasty.

Kø•æa was born among the Yädavas,

who were known as pastoralists but also

established a kingdom in Dvärakä, in

Gujarat. When Dvärakä was submerged

by the ocean, all its inhabitants perished.

The founders of the Vijayanägara

empire claimed to be descendants of

those Yädavas who were not present at

Dvärakä when it was destroyed.

Yädava-prakäÿa (11th century)

Advaitin guru, the first teacher of

RÄMÄNUJA, who rejected his interpreta-

tion of the Upani•ads, which he criti-

cized in his Vedärthasaƒgraha.

Yadu

See YÄDAVA.

yajña

See SACRIFICE.

Yajña-välkya

A celebrated sage, reputedly the author

of the White YAJURVEDA, the Ÿatapatha

Brähmaæa and the Bøhadäraæyaka

Upani•ad, as well as the Yäjñavalk-

yasmøti, a code of law second in

importance only to the MANUSMØTI. He

figures prominently in the epics,

especially in the Rämäyaæa, where he is

represented as a dissenter from tradi-

tional religion.

yajñopavïta

See JANËU.

Yajur-veda

The second of the VEDAsaƒhitäs(col-

lections), a book for priests, containing

ritual formulas for full and new moon

yajñas (SACRIFICES), the räjasüya, the

aÿvamedha, and the SOMAsacrifices. It

insists on strict observance of the pre-

scribed ritual and considers the yajñaso

important that even the gods have to

follow the commands of the brahmins.

It is divided into many ÿäkhäs (schools)

and is available in two recensions, the

White (Väjasaneyï) and the Black

(Taittirïya) Yajurveda.

yak•as

Semi-divine beings, the attendants of

KUBERA, the god of wealth.

Yama (‘restrainer’)

The Vedic god of the realm of the dead,

son of Vivasvat (the Sun); his twin sister

is Yamï or Yamunä. They are described

as the first human pair, the first to die,

and the first to depart to the nether-

worlds, and Yama is the judge of all

Y

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