An ancient sage belonging to the tradition of preceptors. (See under Guruparamparā) . It is said that this sage got that name because he was in the habit of eating पिप्पली in large quantities daily. प्रश्नोपनिषद् tells a story of how the sages सुकेश , शैब्य , सत्यकाम ( कश्यप ), कौशल्य , भार्गव and कबन्धी went to पिप्पलाद seeking आत्मज्ञान (spiritual knowledge) and how he gave them instructions on the same.

पद्म पुराण gives the following information regarding पिप्पलाद :--"Once कुण्डल , a ब्रह्मिन् residing in कुरुक्षेत्र , got a son named सुकर्मा . सुकर्मा 's parents were old and सुकर्मा spent most of his time looking after his sickly aged parents. कुण्डल taught his son all the वेदस् and शास्त्रस् . At that time in the गोत्र of कश्यप was born a ब्रह्मिन् named पिप्पलाद . Controlling his senses and abandoning all passions he did severe penance in a forest called दशारण्य . The greatness of his penance made the animals of the forest leave their mutual enmity and live in perfect peace. Even the देवस् were astonished at the power of his penance.

पिप्पलाद did penance sitting as majestic and motionless as a mountain for a thousand years. Ants made a sand-heap over him like a mole-hill. The sage sat inside without any motion; poisonous black cobras circled round him and yet the sage made no movement. Three thousand years went by like that and then the देवस् showered flowers on him. ब्रह्मा appeared and gave him the boon ' सर्वकामसिद्धि ' (getting all that is desired) and by the blessing of ब्रह्मा he became a very learned person also.

पिप्पलाद became arrogant with the boon of 'Sarvakāmasiddhi' in his possession. One day while he was sitting on a river-bank a swan appeared before him and in clear tones said:--" पिप्पलाद , why are you so proud of your greatness? I do not believe you have that power of universal attraction. This art is अर्वाचीन (modern); you do not know प्राचीन because you are illiterate. You take pride unnecessarily for having done penance for three thousand years. Do you know सुकर्मा , the wise son of कुण्डल ? He is the man who has acquired this power of attraction. There is no महाज्ञनी (one possessing spiritual knowledge) like him anywhere else in this world. सुकर्मा has given no gifts, he has not practised meditation, he has not performed यागस् or यज्ञस् nor has he ever done a pilgrimage. He has not done any of these virtuous deeds and yet he is well-versed in all the शास्त्रस् and वेदस् . Even though he is a child you do not possess enough knowledge to equal his. Why? Because he is always engaged in the care and welfare of his parents. You take pride in your achievements without reason."

Hearing that पिप्पलाद went and met सुकर्मा . पिप्पलाद knew that the bird was none other than ब्रह्मा himself. They talked to each other for a long time and then पिप्पलाद admitted that सुकर्मा was a greater man than himself. (Chapters 60-62, Padma Purāṇa) .