Aruni
Encyclopedia
Aruni or Uddalaka or Uddalaka Aruni is a great Upanishadic sage. Aruni was one among the disciples of sage Ayodha Dhaumya, along with Upamanyu
Upamanyu
Upamanyu is the name of a Hindu rishi, the traditional author of hymn 1.102.9 of the Rig Veda.The historian B. C. Law, writing in the 1920s, supposed that Upamanyu was the father of Kamboja Aupamanyava referred to in the Vamsa Brahmana of the Sama Veda....

 and another named 'Veda' (Mbh
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

 1.3). Aruni hailed from the country of Panchala
Panchala
Panchala is an ancient region of northern India, which corresponds to the geographical area around the Ganges River and Yamuna River, the upper Gangetic plain in particular. This would encompass the modern-day states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. During the ancient times, it was home to a...

 and was known as Aruni of Panchala.

As per Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

 (MBh 1.3), on one rainy night Aruni's preceptor Dhaumya Muni asked him to supervise water flowing through a certain field. Aruni went there and found that water had breached the field and was moving away from its designated path. Aruni tried to stop water by all means but was unsuccessful. Left with no other way, Aruni lay down on the breach and prevented the water flow using his body. Due to this Aruni did not return to the hermitage in the night. Later in the morning, Dhaumya Muni came to the spot in search of Aruni with other disciples. Upon seeing the dedication and sincerity of Aruni, Dhaumya was very pleased upon Aruni and gave him the title Uddalaka. Later Aruni became very famous under the name Uddalaka Aruni.

Philosophical Contributions of Aruni

Uddalaka Aruni is said to have systematised the Vedic and Upanishadic thoughts. Many Mahavakyas are ascribed to sage Uddalaka Aruni. Among those, "Tat Tvam Asi" illumines the Chāndogya Upanishad, which is a part of the Sama Veda. This great utterance is repeated nine times in this Upanishad as the ultimate Truth, which reveals itself as the conclusion of each inner experiment. The teacher is Uddalaka and the student Svetaketu, his son, engaged in a profound soul-education.
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