Uddalaka
Uddalaka (उद्दालक) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu boy-name meaning “The great Upanishadic rishi-teacher”. Find pronunciation, origin, deity association, popularity and similar Hindu baby names.
Uddalaka (उद्दालक) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu boy-name meaning “The great Upanishadic rishi-teacher”. Find pronunciation, origin, deity association, popularity and similar Hindu baby names.
Uddalaka (उद्दालक, IAST: uddālaka) is an Sanskrit-origin Hindu boy-name meaning “The great Upanishadic rishi-teacher”. Uddalaka Aruni is the rishi who teaches his son Shvetaketu the doctrine "Tat tvam asi."
Meaning, etymology & significance
Uddalaka (उद्दालक) — also called Uddalaka Aruni — is the great rishi-teacher of the Chhandogya Upanishad. The sixth chapter of that Upanishad records his patient teaching of his son Shvetaketu, culminating in the great Mahavakya: "Tat tvam asi" ("That thou art") — one of the four supreme statements of Vedanta.
Uddalaka uses everyday examples — salt dissolved in water, the seed within a fruit — to bring the boy to the realisation that the inmost Self is identical with Brahman. The pedagogical method is celebrated to this day.
A child named Uddalaka is therefore named with this Vedantic-teacher tradition.
Pronunciation: ud-DAA-la-ka. Pair with classical-Brahmanic surnames.
Astrology — nakshatra & rashi
By the standard Vedic correspondence between the first syllable of a name and the lunar mansion (nakshatra), Uddalaka aligns with the Krittika nakshatra, under the Vrishabha rashi (Moon sign).
Similar names
Hindu names with a similar feel or meaning include: Aruni, Shvetaketu, Yajnavalkya. Each is a distinct choice with its own etymology — explore them on their own pages for fuller context.
