Kahoda (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

: कहोड़) was a Vedic sage in the

Mithila Kingdom Videha ( Prākrit: ; Pāli: ; Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-eastern Indian subcontinent whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The population of Videha, the Vaidehas, were initially organised into a monarchy ...

of the ancient

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. He was an

Acharya In Indian religions and society, an ''acharya'' (Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ; Pali: ''ācariya'') is a religious teacher in Hinduism and Buddhism and a spiritual guide to Hindus and Buddhists. The designation has different meanings i ...

Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

in the

Mithila region Mithila (), also known as Tirhut, Tirabhukti and Mithilanchal, is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothil ...

. He was the father of the famous Indian philosopher

Ashtavakra Ashtavakra (, ) is a revered Vedic sage in Hinduism. His maternal grandfather was the Vedic sage Aruni, his parents were both Vedic students at Aruni's school. Ashtavakra studied, became a sage and a celebrated character of the Hindu Itihasa ...

Early life

According to the texts

Satapatha Brahmana The Shatapatha Brahmana (, , abbreviated to 'SB') is a commentary on the Śukla Yajurveda. It is attributed to the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya. Described as the most complete, systematic, and important of the Brahmanas (commentaries on the Vedas), it ...

and

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

, Kahoda was the son of ''kauṣītaki'' or ''kauṣītakeya.'' In the text

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad The ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' (, ) is one of the Mukhya Upanishads, Principal Upanishads and one of the first Upanishadic scriptures of Hinduism. A key scripture to various schools of Hinduism, the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanisad'' is tenth in the ...

, he is mentioned as ''Kahola'', the son of ''kauṣītakeya''. He was born in a poor Brahmin family in the

Videha Kingdom Videha ( Prākrit: ; Pāli: ; Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-eastern Indian subcontinent whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The population of Videha, the Vaidehas, were initially organised into a monarchy ...

. He studied

at the Ashram of the Vedic sage Uddalaka Aruni.

Later life

Kahoda was a brilliant student of Vedas among all the disciples of his teacher Uddalaka Aruni at his Ashram. Due to his brilliance knowledge in the Vedic study, his teacher Uddalaka Aruni was very pleased with him. Kahoda became the favourite disciple of his teacher. After the completion his Vedic study, he became the assistant teacher in the Ashram of Uddalaka Aruni. Later his teacher Uddalaka Aruni married his own daughter Sujata with him. After the marriage of Kahoda with Sujata, they still lived in the Ashram. Kahoda continued teaching Vedas to the disciples in the Ashram.

Legacy

According to legend, the city of

Kahalgaon Kahalgaon (formerly known as Colgong during British rule) is a municipality town and one of 3 sub-divisions of Bhagalpur District in the state of Bihar, India. It is located close to the Vikramashila, that was once a famous centre of Buddhi ...

in the Bhagalpur district of the present Bihar state in India, was named after ''Kahola Rishi'', which is another name of the sage Kahoda.

References

{{India-philosopher-stub Ancient Mithila University Vedic scholars Indian philosophers Rishis Mithila Videha Vedas