Gargi Vachaknavi, or Gargi, in Vedic literature, is honored as one of the great natural philosophers.[1] She is mentioned in the Sixth and the Eighth Brahmana of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, where the brahmayajna, a philosophic congress organized by King Janaka of Videha is described, she challenged the sage Yajnavalkya with perturbing questions on the atman (soul).[2][3]
Gargi was named after the sage Garga, in whose lineage she was born; her last name comes from her father Vachaknu.[4]
Gargi composed several hymns that questioned the origin of all existence. Yogayajnavalkya Samhita, a classical text on Yoga is a dialogue between Gargi and sage Yajnavalkya.[5] Gargi was one of the Navaratnas in the court of King Janaka of Mithila. She has composed several hymns and is an author of Gargi Samhita.