Ancient sages and rishis had renounced worldly attachments and dedicated their lives to the search for the Supreme Truth. They were great thinkers and venerated as seers of Truth. Though they recorded the revelations they had felt and experienced, they did not disclose any personal details about themselves as they were self effacing by nature. Nor did they aspire for name or fame.
One such sage of great renown is Yaagnyavalkya, pointed out Nannilam Sri V. Rajagopala Ganapadigal in a discourse. Though not much is known about his life, certain details of his life and achievements have been gleaned from various sources such as the scriptures, the epics and the puranas. He is much-admired for his proficiency in yoga and has always stood victorious in spiritual debates.
There is a mention of him as a disciple of Vaisampayana in the Santi Parva of the Mahabharata. Yaagnyavalkya is also talked about in the Satapata Brahmana and in the Bhagavata Purana. Vaisampayana, himself a direct disciple of the illustrious sage Vyasa, is the narrator of the Mahabharata to Janamejaya during the Sarpa yaga.
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An interesting fact about Yaagnyavalkya is that he had once displeased his guru Vaisampayana and had to give back the Yajur Veda he had learnt from him. Later, he performed austerities and had the good fortune to be the disciple of Sun God from whom he learnt the Veda known as the Shukla Yajur Veda. He began to propagate this Veda.
He authored the Yaagnyavalkya Smriti that is till date a very relevant text on dharma sastra relating to a variety of topics. Yagnyavalkya also features in the Brihadharanyaka Upanishad as the guru of king Janaka, who is known for his interest in Yoga and Vedanta sastra.