Shaunaka is a significant name in Hinduism and Sanskrit literature. It is applied to teachers and a Shakha (branch) of the Atharvaveda. One of the most notable figures bearing this name was a celebrated Sanskrit grammarian who authored several important texts, including the Ṛgveda-Prātiśākhya, the Bṛhaddevatā, the Caraṇa-vyūha, and six Anukramaṇīs (indices) to the Rigveda. He is said to have been the teacher of Katyayana and Ashvalayana and is credited with uniting the Bashkala and Shakala Shakhas of the Rigveda.

According to the Vishnu Purana, Shaunaka was the son of Gritsamada and is attributed with inventing the system of the four levels of human life. In the Mahābhārata, Shaunaka played a prominent role as the leader of a conclave of sages who listened to the epic being narrated by a storyteller named Ugrasrava Sauti in a forest called Naimisha.

Shaunaka is also associated with the Ṛgveda-Prātiśākhya, which he is said to have taught to others in a satra-yajna, a 12-day very large scale collective yajna, held in Naimisha, according to Vishnumitra of Champa town, the commentator of Uvaṭa's commentary of Ṛgveda-Prātiśākhya.