Yajnavalkya was a Hindu Vedic sage. He is mentioned in the Upanishads, and likely lived in the Videha kingdom of northern Bihar approximately between the 8th century BCE, and the 7th century BCE. Yajnavalkya is considered one of the earliest philosophers in recorded history, after Aruni. Yajnavalkya proposes and debates metaphysical questions about the nature of existence and impermanence, and expounds the epistemic doctrine of neti neti ("not this, not this") to discover the universal Self and Ātman. His ideas for renunciation of worldly attachments have been important to Hindu sannyasa traditions.
