Shaunaka (, ) is the name applied to teachers, and to a
Shakha of the
Atharvaveda
The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" and ''wikt:वेद, वेद'', "knowledge") or is the "knowledge storehouse of ''wikt:अथर्वन्, atharvans'', the proced ...
. It is especially the name of a celebrated
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
grammarian, author of the , the , the , six
Anukramaṇīs (indices) to the
Rigveda
The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...
, and the
Vidhāna of the Rigveda. He is the teacher of
Katyayana and
Ashvalayana and is said to have combined the Bashkala and Shakala Shakhas of the Rigveda. In the
Mahabarata, he is identified as the son of Ruru and Pramadvara, and in the
Bhagavata Purana
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' (; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam)'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' () or simply ''Bhagavata (Bhāgavata)'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen major Puranas (''Mahapuranas'') and one ...
, he is identified as the grandson of
Gritsamada and son of Sunaka, who belongs to the
Bhrigu dynasty.
Literature
According to the
Vishnu Purana, Shaunaka was the son of Gritsamada and invented the system of the four levels of human life. Sūta mahamuni narrated mythological stories to a group of sages headed by Shaunaka maha muni.
According to Vishnumitra of Champa town, the commentator of 's commentary of , is attributed to Shaunaka who taught it to others in a satra-yajna (a 12-day very large scale collective
yajna
In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐd͡ʒɲə ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedas, Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature ...
) held in
Naimisha.
The Ṛgvidhāna, a
Vidhāna text on the use of Rigvedic mantras, is also attributed to Shaunaka. The Vidhana which he wrote helped simplify the rites and rituals written in the
Shrauta and Gruhya
shastras (scriptures).
Shaunaka had a prominent role in the epic
Mahābhārata. The epic Mahābhārata was narrated to Shaunaka by a storyteller named
Ugrasrava Sauti during a conclave of sages headed by Shaunaka in a forest named Naimisha. Shaunaka also consoled
Yudhishthira on the nature of suffering after the latter was exiled.
See also
*
Bhargava
*
Bhrigu
References
External links
*
Titles and occupations in Hinduism
Ancient Sanskrit grammarians
Characters in the Mahabharata
Gurus and saints
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