Bahudakshina Yajna
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| Bahudakshina Yajna | |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | बहुदक्षिणा यज्ञ |
| Title means | The Yajna in which scholars are awarded by monetary gifts |
| Place | Court of King Janaka in Mithila |
| Type | Scholarly Yajna |
| Philosophy | Indian philosophy |
Bahudakshina Yajna (Devanagari: बहुदक्षिणा यज्ञ) was a famous scholarly yajna organised by King Janaka of Mithila at his court.[1] It was organised in order to find the best brahmagyaani (or brahma-nishtha; greatest scholar of Vedas) among the participating Brahmin scholars in the yajna. It is mentioned in the Hindu scripture, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.[2][3][4][5]
Bahudakshina Yajna is made by two Sanskrit words Bahudakshina and Yajna. The word Bahudakshina is compound Sanskrit word made by two Sanskrit terms Bahu and Dakshina. The literal meaning of Bahu is many, large, big or great, etc. similarly the literal meaning of Dakshina is fees, honorarium, gift, donation given to Gurus or religious leaders or the money and donation given at the end of Yajna to priests. The literal meaning of Yajna is Vedic rituals described in the Brahmana texts. Thus the literal meaning of Bahudakshina Yajna is the Yajna in which learned Brahmins, scholars or priests are awarded with a large monetary gifts for their scholarly wisdom by the Yajmaana.[6][7][unreliable source?] The term Bahudakshina is also mentioned in a shloka of the text Narada Purana as
एकेन जन्मना मोक्षं परमान्पोति स ध्रुवम् । अग्निहोत्राणि वेदाश्च यज्ञाश्च बहुदक्षिणाः ॥
— Book 2 (Uttarārdhaḥ), Chapter 41, Shloka 10, Narada Purana
