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📜Origin Story
Uddalaka Aruni, son of Aruna, of the Gautama lineage, was a leading teacher of the Kuru-Panchala country. The Mahabharata tells how, as a pupil of Dhaumya Ayoda, he lay down in a breach of the field embankment to hold back the water, and so earned the name Uddalaka. He is the teacher of his son Shvetaketu in the Chandogya Upanishad.
⚡Key Life Events
The embankment
obeying his teacher Dhaumya, he lay in the breached dyke to stop the water (Mahabharata, Adi Parva).
"Tat tvam asi"
in the Chandogya Upanishad (Book 6) he teaches Shvetaketu with simple demonstrations, the banyan seed, salt dissolved in water, that the unseen essence of all things is the Self: "That thou art".
Debate at Janaka's court
he questions Yajnavalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
📖Stories & Legends
- The embankment: obeying his teacher Dhaumya, he lay in the breached dyke to stop the water (Mahabharata, Adi Parva)
- "Tat tvam asi": in the Chandogya Upanishad (Book 6) he teaches Shvetaketu with simple demonstrations, the banyan seed, salt dissolved in water, that the unseen essence of all things is the Self: "That thou art"
- Debate at Janaka's court: he questions Yajnavalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
🌳Family & Lineage
Aruna
Father
Shvetaketu
Son
Teacher
Dhaumya Ayoda; pupil: Yajnavalkya
🕉️Vedic Contributions
Chandogya Upanishad, Book 6
upanishadthe "tat tvam asi" teaching
✨Associated Elements
- Teaching by experience and example
- The unity of the Self with all that exists
🏔️Setting & Environment
- A teacher's hermitage among fields, with irrigation embankments
- A banyan tree shading teacher and pupil
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