Abbreviation: Janaka - J ; Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa- VR
I would discuss about J from the perspective of Vedic literature and Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, not from the perspective of Mahābhārata and Purāṇas. To begin the discussion I would list 2 personages, whom I consider distinct:
(i) Vedic J : this is J, the philosopher-king of Videha. King J of Videha achieved the status of the ideal Upaniṣadic king, as he is cast as both the generous patron and the knowledgeable monarch. He features in several episodes in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (the last-14h kāṇḍa being the famed Br̥hadāraṇyakopaniṣad) and the Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa, and throughout these appearances he is known for hosting philosophical tournaments and for participating in debates with brahmāṇas, both of which are characteristics shared by other Upaniṣadic kings. Central to his depiction as king is his personable relationship with Yājñavalkya. The two of them have several dialogues with each other, and on a number of occasions they display their friendship through exchanging witty remarks. Although the Br̥hadāraṇyakopaniṣad portrays J as a powerful king, ultimately Yājñavalkya, who has success in debate against the Kuru Pañcāla Brāhmaṇas establishes the king's reputation as a legitimate rival to the kings of Kuru-Pañcāla, and is portrayed as his source of power. This indicates that J's relationship with Yājñavalkya was an integral aspect of his power as a king.
Incidentally, J's reputation as the one who possessed Upaniṣadic teachings and one who hosted brāhmaṇas in his court seems to have been well known and coveted among his rivals, as is indicated in a dialogue featuring Ajātaśatru. (Br̥hadāraṇyakopaniṣad 2.1.1-20 ; Kauṣitaki Upaniṣad 4.1-20) In this encounter, the brāhmaṇa Gārgya approached Ajātaśatru to give him an instruction, but finding the king to be more knowledgeable, Gārgya asks to be his student. Initially, when Gārgya offers to deliver his teaching, Ajātaśatru replies enthusiastically and promises to give Gārgya one thousand cows for his instruction. Then the king proclaims: "People will rush here saying: 'A Janaka, a Janaka'" These words clearly show that Ajātaśatru accepts Gārgya’s offer because he recognizes that learning from an eminent brāhmaṇa and hosting him in his court would enhance his reputation and power, specifically in relation to J.
In both the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa and the Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa, J teaches Yājñavalkya, and on one occasion he overtly defeats him in a brahmodya. Although the Br̥hadāraṇyakopaniṣad contains a number of dialogues in which kṣatriyas teach brāhmāṇas, it does not contain any dialogues where Yājñavalkya does not win.
It's important to notice a crucial detail that when J is the one doing the teaching, he gives excessively, that is shared throughout the dialogues between brahmāṇas and Upaniṣadic kings; whether the brāhmaṇas are teachers or students and whether they lose or win in the debates, the brāmaṇas get paid. J is not only is known for his knowledge, but also is depicted as clever in his debating tactics. A dialogue from the Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa tells us that before he entered a discussion with them, J shaved his head and beard, cut his nails, and anointed his body, and approached them carrying a staff and wearing sandals. These details indicate that J is preparing himself to be the student of the brahmins. However, when he enters into a discussion with them, he takes the initiative and asks the first question. The brāhmaṇas recognize that by means of this debating tactic, J has outmaneuvered them: “You have indeed (again) out-talked us since you have taken the initiative and questioned us who are more than one” (Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa 1.22)
(ii) J from VR, Sītā's father : This J is also the king of Videha, whose capital is Mithilā, and some of his ancestors are also named J. And his royal line is distantly related to the Ikṣvākus. His kingdom Videha is also on friendly terms with Ayodhyā. He is a righteous king, known for his greatness and generosity. He found Sītā in a furrow when he was ploughing the fields, and thus became her foster-father, and later the father-in-law of Rāma. Furthermore, there is much mythical background surrounding his ancestors, as in Uttarkāṇḍa, which we will mention shortly.
I personally consider the Vedic J and the J from VR as distinct persons because I haven't identified any strong reason given by those who assert them as identical, till now. The common idea for them being identical are usually given by citing passages either from Mahābhārata, Purāṇas, or modern commentaries of the works, which mention the philosopher king J. who had frequent debates with scholars on Brahman, to be Sītā's father but don't provide any justification for that. The naive reasons often cited are that the name of both is the same, both are intelligent and recognized kings, and both rule Videha. It's not uncommon for people to have same name even in the same dynasty. And the genealogical records vary from text to text. Also, it is not necessary that the Videha in Vedic literature is the same as the Videha in VR. The J from VR might probably be a character name and kingdom inspired from Vedic J. Either way, it's hard to come to a definite conclusion about the J's or for that matter any of the known names of personages in scriptures.
We have already discussed quite a bit about the Vedic J, and now we would discuss about J from the lens of critical edition of VR. Most of the Purāṇic texts mentioning J are written much later than the VR.
In Sarga 70, Bālakāṇḍa, J recounts the genealogy of his House to sage Vasiṣṭha,
Please listen, great sage. There was once a righteous king, the mightiest of men, named Nimi, renowned for his deeds in all the three worlds. His son was named Mithi, and Mithi's son was J, the first of that name. After J was born Udāvasu. After Udāvasu was born the righteous Nandivardhana, Nandivardhana's son was called Suketu.
After Suketu the righteous and mightly Devarāta was born. The royal seer Devarāta had a son known as Br̥hadratha. Br̥hadratha had a son, the valorous hero Mahāvīra. Mahāvīra's son was the steadfast and truly vailorous Sudhr̥ti. And Sudhr̥ti's son was the righteous, nay the very righteous Dhr̥ṣṭaketu. The royal seer Dhr̥ṣṭaketu had a son named Haryaśva. Haryaśva's son was Maru. Maru's son was Pratīndhaka. Pratīndhaka's son was righteous king Kīrthiratha. Kīrtiratha's son was known as Devamīḍha. Devamīḍha's son was Vibudha, and Vibudha's son was Mahīdhraka.
Mahīdhraka's son was the might King Kīrtirāta. Mahāroman was born to the royal seer Kīrtirāta. Righteous Svarṇaroman was born to Mahāroman. Hrasvaroman was born to the royal seer Svarṇaroman. Two sons were born to that great man who knew the ways of righteousness. I am the elder, and the youngest is my brother, the heroic Kuśadhvaja.
So, according to this quote, if we consider Nimi to be the patriarch of this family line of J, there occur at least two J's in it. The first J is the grandson of Nimi and another J is Sītā's father, character of VR. Now, we have little data to come to the conclusion which of these two J's, or some other, is the Vedic J, if we follow the account of VR.
In Sarga 51-3, Uttarakāṇḍa, Rāma told Lakṣmaṇa about Nimi.
There was a king named Nimi. Heroic and established in righteousness. He was the twelth son of the extremely great Ikṣvāku. At that time, near the āśrama of Gautama, that king, who was endowed with might, founded a city similar to the city of gods. He himself aptly named the city Vaijayanta. And that was where the illustrious royal seer made his dwelling.
After he had founded the very great city, this thought struck him: 'I will perform a long sacrificial session.' This delighted his father's heart. Then that royal seer Nimi, foremost of the Ikṣvākus, after taking leave of his father, Ikṣvāku, the son of Manu, chose Atri, Añgiras, and that treasure store of austerities Bhr̥gu........
Here we see, Nimi, as the vaṃśakara, or dynast, of the lineage of J and a son of Ikṣvāku is strongly linked to the royal family of Ayodhyā.
In Sarga 51-5 of Uttarakāṇḍa, we see the birth of Nimi's son
But as for those great seers, so rich in austerities, they placed on Nimi's body a fire stick. And those great seers then spun it back and forth vigorously to the accompaniment of mantras and oblationss in order to produce a son for Nimi. Because of the spinning back and forth [mathana], his son was called Mithi. And because of such birth [janana], he became J. And since, he was born of someone who was bodiless [videha], he was known as Vaideha. And thus was born J, of immense blazing energy, the first king of Videha. He was called and, because of him, his lineage is known as Maithala.
So, clearly, as we see here, the first king J of the royal house of Nimi, was the king of Videha too and Mithi is also referred as J, along with his son, that brings us to our earlier point that there are at least 2 J's in the family line instead of just 2. This makes it even more tough to ascertain which J really could have been the Vedic J. But what's even more problematic is that nowhere in seven kāṇḍas do we read the mention of Yājñavalkya or any other chars that were present in Br̥hadāraṇyakopaniṣād in critical edition of VR. So, there is a significant possibility that none of J's of VR actually refer to the Vedic J, and are instead three distinct persons.
VR is a later text than the much of the Vedic literature such as Brāhmaṇas, Āraṇyakas and Upaniṣads and names such as Rāma, Daśaratha, Sītā, Vasiṣṭha and J especially are attested in many Vedic texts, which are much older than VR. On the other hand, nowhere in the surviving Vedic literature, there is anything like the story of Rāma related in connection with any figures bearing these names (particularly Janaka), nor any of these figures related to each other in ways paralleling their interrelationships in the epic. Only in the Purāṇas and Mahābhārata do we see such deliberate connections made, where Vedic J is considered to be the same as J, Sītā's father in VR.
In Bhagavad Gītā (3.20), Kr̥ṣṇa tells Arjuna,
karmaṇaiva hi saṁsidhimāsthitā janakādayaḥ |
lokasaṅgrahamevāpi sampaśyan kartumarhasi || 20 ||
janakādayaḥ : Janaka and others
Since J and others attained success along with action itself, (therefore) you surely ought to perform (your duty) also with the view to making people undertake their duties, and preventing them from taking the wrong path.
Some commentators on this verse may add that it mentions J, father of Sītā, but that's false because the verse in Sanskrit clearly speaks only of Janaka, and not of Rāma, Sītā or Daśaratha. According to me, in Bhagavad Gītā (3.20), the J referred to is probably the Vedic J instead of the J from VR. Although the J from VR is considered wise, intelligent, and generous, he pales in front of the Vedic J who was clever, extremely scholarly and even respected by Brāhmaṇas (not on the basis of his being just a king, but based on his knowledge and ability, as earlier shown, there are often ocassions where the Vedic J outwitted brāhmaṇa scholars and teach them as well).
Aṣṭāvakra Gītā only contains conversation and dialogue between J and Aṣṭavakra, nowhere is there even a mention of Rāma or Sītā which may connect him with the J of VR, and although some commentators may call the J. in Aṣṭāvakra Gītā as the same J from VR, they offer little proof to their stance. (for e.g. Mukherjee, 2000, p.1). Furthermore, there is even lack of data to say for certain that J in Aṣṭāvakra Gītā is Vedic J, but what's clear is that his character is probably inspired from him, based on the textual analysis of how the text compares to Upaniṣads and Bhagavad Gītā.
Thus, I have here shown that there is little evidence to ague on the basis of VR, Br̥hadāraṇyakopaniṣad, Śathapatha Brāhmaṇa and Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa that the two J's viz. Vedic J and J, who is foster-father of Sītā are identical persons. In fact, on the basis of these texts, my argument rests that these are probably distinct persons.
References
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