Shandilya (Rishi)

rdf:langString Shandilya (Rishi)

rdf:langString Shandilya (IAST: Śāṇḍilya, Sanskrit: शाण्डिल्य) was the Rishi and was the progenitor of the Śāṇḍilya gotra of Nepal. The name derives from the Sanskrit words Śaṇ (roughly, Full), and Dilam (Moon), thus meaning Full Moon, therefore implying Śāṇḍilya to be the priest (sage) of the Moon God. Śāṇḍilya, the son of Devala and the grandson of Kashyapa, is associated with the Shatapatha Brahmana (X.vi.iii.1) of the Shukla Yajurveda, with the Chandogya Upanishad (III.xiv.1) associated with the Kauthuma shākhā of the Samaveda, and with the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (X.vi.3) which is the concluding part of the Shatapatha Brahmana. He was also known as "Udara- Śāṇḍilya", and the disciple of Atidhanvān Śaunaka who taught him about the greatness and the limitlessness of Brahman. He is one of the most prominent metaphysical philosophers. He concludes that the essence of the soul is consciousness and that the determinate (the body, the individual, the seeker) finds its ultimate resting place in the indeterminate (Purusha, Brahman) as the indeterminate. Shandilya's other Acharyas include Kaushika, Gautama Maharishi, Kaishorya Kaapya, Vatsya Vaijavap, and Kushri. Shandilya's disciples include Kaundinya, Agnivesa, Vatsya Vamakakshayan, Vaishthapureya, and Bharadwaj. He composed the Shandilya Upanishad. He has been credited with writing the Shandilya Bhakti Sutra. According to the Bhagavata Purana, he was instrumental in resolving certain metaphysical doubts of King Parikshit of Hastinapura and King Vajra of Dwaraka.