Sakayanya, also known as ''Jata Sakayanya'', a descendant of ''Saka'', was a ritual authority and contemporary of ''Sankha'' in the ''Kathaka Samhita'' (xxii.70) also known as ''Charaka Samhita'' belonging to
Krishna Yajurveda
The ''Yajurveda'' ( sa, यजुर्वेद, ', from ' meaning "worship", and ''veda'' meaning "knowledge") is the Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in ''The Blackwell C ...
, and which was compiled by ''Katha'', a disciple of
Vaisampayana
Vaishampayana ( sa, वैशंपायन, ) is the traditional narrator of the ''Mahabharata'', one of the two major Sanskrit epics of India.
Legend
Vaishampayana is a renowned sage who is stated to be the original teacher of the ''Kr ...
.
Sakayanya was a disciple of
Rishi Maitri. And, Shubhra Sharma in his treatise titled - 'Life in the Upanishads' writes that Sakayanya "burns with all the splendor and the grandeur of an incarnation of the Puranic literature, who appears out of the blue and even has the capacity of granting boons". The ideas which Sakayanya expresses were already formed and developed in the earlier
Upanishads
The Upanishads (; sa, उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts that supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy.Wendy Doniger (1990), ''Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism'', 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, , ...
.
Sakayanya speaks about the 'pure noumenal Self' who arising from the body shines in his own splendour, and of the 'phenomenal Self' called the ''Bhutatman'' who is subject to the influence of actions and therefore undergoes
transmigration as was taught to him by Rishi Maitri.
In the Maitri Upanishad Sakayanya deals with various questions as to form, manifestation, division, existence, and infinity of time. With regard to the question - Whether time is the original cause of everything or not?, he says that Time (''Kala''), Death (''Yama'') and Life (''Prana'') are identical, Time is one of chief manifestation of
Brahman
In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...
, there are two forms of Brahman – 1) Time and 2) Non-time (that existed before the sun came into existence and is indivisible); from the former that is divisible, all creatures are born, and explains that Time ripens and dissolves all beings in the great self, but he who knows into what Time itself dissolved is the knower of the Veda (Maitri or Maitrayani Upanishad VI.14-16).
He even offers
Samkhya metaphysics to explain the
Yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...
processes.
He finally removes the pessimism of
Brihadratha Ikshvaku
Brihadratha, belonging to the Ikshvaku race, was a king of the Vedic era (there are several kings of this name in Hindu tradition). This name Brihadratha of a warrior king who was a Maharatha is found in the Rig Veda. The word, Brihadratha, mea ...
who saw the whole universe decaying around him and who had requested Sakayanya to lift him out of the mire of existence like a frog from a waterless well (Maitri I.7) by teaching him the six-faceted yoga involving ''pranayama'' ('breath-control'), ''pratyahara'' ('withdrawal of the senses'), ''dhyana'' ('meditation'), ''dharana'' ('concentration'), ''tarka'' ('inquiry') and ''samadhi'' ('absorption') which yoga was centuries later systemised by
Patanjali.
References
{{Rishis of Hindu mythology, state=collapsed
Rishis
Vedanta