Manas, Ayodhya Kand, from Chaupai line no. 7 that precedes Doha no. 106—to
Chaupai line no. 6 that precedes Doha no. 109.
Sage Bharadwaj is credited with two great works—viz. Bharadwaj Shrauta-
Sutras consisting of ten sections, and Bharadwaj Griha-Sutras.
The profound philosophy pertaining to the divine nature of Lord Ram and him
being the Tarak Brahm himself personified is preached to sage Bharadwaj by sage
Yagyawalkya in Ram Uttar Tapini Upnishad of the Atharva Veda, Canto nos. 2-3.
In addition to this, the story of Lord Shiva’s marriage with Parvati was narrated
to sage Bharadwaj by sage Yagyawalkya in Ram Charit Manas—refer: Baal Kand,
from Chaupai line no. 1 that precedes Doha no. 48—to Chaupai line no. 1 that
precedes Doha no. 104.
(^3) Sage Yagyawalkya—He belonged to that Vedic period when people had an
integral and holistic view of life and the reality behind existence, and all-activities,
secular or religious, were regarded as one big, wholesome and composite religious
sacrifice called a Yagya. Life itself was consecrated and devoted to the realization of
the transcendental and supreme truthful Reality. There was no distinction between
renunciation and involvement in life’s chores. There was no dichotomy between the
two, and the various debates arising in Indian spiritual practices due to different
interpretations and re-interpretations of the Vedic and Upanishadic tenets was a
product of the later period. One such exemplary sage and seer belonging to that
golden period was Yagyavwalkya—he was an enlightened wise man who was not
only a self-realised householder but an ardent ascetic, an acclaimed scholar and an
exemplary renunciate man par-excellence, all at the same time.
It is believed that Yagyawalkya was an incarnation of Lord Brahma, the creator,
when he was cursed by Lord Shiva. [Skand Puran, Nagar Khand, 1-9.] His father was
named Brahmabahu (literally, the limbs of Brahma, because the latter’s limps had
manifested as this person). [Vayu Puran, 61.] But according to a book of religious law
written by Yagyawalkya himself known as ‘Yagyawalkya Sanhita’, his father also
had the same name. So, our Yagyavalkya was, in effect, ‘Yagyavalkya, the second’.
[Yagyavalkya Sanhita, 1.]
Yagyawalkya’s teacher in the science of Yoga (meditation) and the knowledge of
the self (metaphysics and philosophy) was sage Vashistha, son of Hiranyanabha
Kaushalya, a king of the Raghu dynasty which ruled Ayodhya in ancient times. [Vayu
Puran, 88; Bhagwat Mahapuran, 93/106.] The sage performed severe penances and
austerities, know as Tapa, at Mithila, the birth place of Sita, the divine consort of
Lord Ram. [Skandpuran, Reva Khand, 42.]
He used to attended the court of great ancient wise kings, such as king Janak (the
father of Sita—Brihad Aranykya Upanishad, canto 3-4) and Yudhisthir (of the
Mahabharat fame—Mahabharat, Sabha Parva, 4/32). It was in the court of king Janak
that Yagyawalkya had defeated all the assembled scholars of the time on various
metaphysical and theological concepts. He is also believed to be a chief priest in
Yudhisthir’s Rajsu Yagya.
Sage Yagyawalkya was one of the greatest, most erudite, wise and renowned
seers of his time. He was a senior and enlightened man, so wise and learned a scholar
that even king Janak, who himself was a most self-realised and enlightened king of
his era, was so much bowled over by his erudition, depth of knowledge and
scholarship that he accepted the sage’s discipleship (refer Brihad Aranyaka
Upanishad, Canto 4, Brahmin 2, verse nos. 1, 4). He was proclaimed the undisputed
champion and winner in a metaphysical and theological debate held in the court of
Janak during the course of a great fire sacrifice held where great scholars, seers and
sages from far and wide had assembled (refer Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad, Canto 3,
Brahmin 1-9).
He was a much sought after teacher and an honoured exponent of the eclectic
Advaitya Vedanta philosophy of non-duality. This basically propounds, inter alia, that
everything in existence, visible or invisible, minute or colossus, important or