Maitreyi
Maitreyi who lived during the later
Maitreyi appears in ancient Indian texts, such as in a dialogue where she explores the Hindu concept of Atman (soul or self) in a dialogue with Yajnavalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. According to this dialogue, love is driven by a person's soul, and Maitreyi discusses the nature of Atman and Brahman and their unity, the core of Advaita philosophy. This Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue is the topic of Sureshvara's varttika, a commentary.
Maitreyi is cited as an example of the educational opportunities available to women in Vedic India, and their philosophical achievements. She is considered a symbol of Indian intellectual women, and an institution is named in her honour in New Delhi.
Early life
![Physical map of late Vedic India](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Late_Vedic_Culture_%281100-500_BCE%29.png/200px-Late_Vedic_Culture_%281100-500_BCE%29.png)
In the
Although Maitreyi of ancient India,[3] described as an Advaita philosopher,[1] is said to be a wife of the sage Yajnavalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad in the time of Janaka, the Hindu epic Mahabharata states Sulabha Maitreyi is a young beauty who never marries.[2] In the latter, Maitreyi explains Advaita philosophy (monism) to Janaka and is described as a lifelong ascetic.[2] She is called a brahmavadini (a female expounder of the Veda) in ancient Sanskrit literature.[4][5] Maitreyi and Yajnavalkya are estimated to have lived around the 8th century BCE.[6]
In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Maitreyi is described as Yajnavalkya's scholarly wife; his other wife, Katyayani, was a housewife.[7] While Yajnavalkya and Katyayani lived in contented domesticity, Maitreyi studied metaphysics and engaged in theological dialogues with her husband in addition to "making self-inquiries of introspection".[7][8]
In the Rigveda about ten hymns are attributed to Maitreyi.[9] She explores the Hindu concept of Atman (soul or self) in a dialogue contained in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The dialogue, also called the Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue, states that love is driven by a person's soul, and it discusses the nature of Atman and Brahman and their unity, the core of Advaita philosophy.[10][11]
This dialogue appears in several Hindu texts; the earliest is in chapter 2.4 – and modified in chapter 4.5 – of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the principal and oldest Upanishads, dating from approximately 700 BCE.[12][13] The Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue has survived in two manuscript recensions from the Madhyamdina and Kanva Vedic schools; although they have significant literary differences, they share the same philosophical theme.[14]
After Yajnavalkya achieved success in the first three stages of his life –
Then said Maitreyi: "If now, Sir, this whole earth filled with wealth were mine, would I be immortal thereby?"
"No", said Yajnavalkya. "As the life of the rich, even so would your life be. Of immortality, however, there is no hope through wealth."
Then said Maitreyi: "What should I do with that through which I may not be immortal? What you know, Sir – that, indeed, tell me!"
Yajnavalkya replied to Maitreyi: "Ah! Lo, dear as you are to us, dear is what you say! Come sit down. I will explain to you. But while I am expounding, do seek to ponder thereon."— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.4.2–4[15]
In the dialogue which follows, Yajnavalkya explains his views on immortality in Atman (soul), Brahman (ultimate reality) and their equivalence. Maitreyi objects to parts of Yajnavalkya's explanation, and requests clarification.[13]
![Painting of a sage and four disciples, sitting near water](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Raja_Ravi_Varma_-_Sankaracharya.jpg/220px-Raja_Ravi_Varma_-_Sankaracharya.jpg)
Scholars have differing views on whether this dialogue is evidence that in ancient Vedic tradition women were accepted as active participants in spiritual discussions and as scholars of Brahman.[16][12] Wendy Doniger, an Indologist and a professor of History of Religions, states that in this dialogue Maitreyi is not portrayed as an author, but is part of an Upanishadic story of a Brahmin with two wives who are distinguished by their intellect.[17] Karen Pechelis, another American Indologist and a professor of Comparative Religion, in contrast, states that Maitreyi is portrayed as theologically minded, as she challenges Yajnavalkya in this dialogue and asks the right questions.[18]
First-millennium Indian scholars, such as Sureshvara (Suresvaracharya, c. 750 CE), have viewed this male-female dialogue as profound on both sides; Maitreyi refuses wealth, wishing to share her husband's spiritual knowledge, and in the four known versions of the Upanishadic story she challenges Yajnavalkya's theory of Atman.[14][19] Yajnavalkya acknowledges her motivations, and that her questions are evidence she is a seeker of ultimate knowledge and a lover of the Atman.[20]
The Maitreyi dialogue in the Upanishad is significant beyond being a gage of gender relations. Adi Shankara, a scholar of the influential
Nature of love
The Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue includes a discussion of love and the essence of whom one loves, suggesting that love is a connection of the soul and the universal self (related to an individual):[25][26]
Lo, verily, not for love of a husband is a husband dear, but for the love of the Self a husband is dear.
Not for the love of the wife is a wife dear, but for love of the Self a wife is dear.— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.4.2–4[13]
According to theological author and editor Robert Van De Weyer, this asserts that all love is a reflection of one's own soul: parents' love of their children, a love of religion or of the entire world.[27] German Indologist and Oxford University professor Max Müller says that the love described in the Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad extends to all aspects of one's life and beyond; in verse 2.4.5, "The Devas (gods) are not dear to one out of love for gods, but because one may love the Self (Atman) that the gods are dear".[28] In the dialogue "the Brahman-class, the Kshatra-class, these worlds, these gods, these beings, everything that is what this Soul is", and when "we see, hear, perceive and know the Self, then all is known".[13][28]
Concluding his dialogue on the "inner self", or soul, Yajnavalkaya tells Maitreyi:[12]
One should indeed see, hear, understand and meditate over the Self, O Maitreyi;
indeed, he who has seen, heard, reflected and understood the Self – by him alone the whole world comes to be known.— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.4.5b[29]
After Yajnavalkya leaves and becomes a sannyasi, Maitreyi becomes a sannyassini – she too wanders and leads a renunciate's life.[30]
Legacy
Maitreyi, who is also mentioned in a number of Puranas, "is regarded as one of the most learned and virtuous women of ancient India"[31] and symbolizes intellectual women in India.[17] A college in New Delhi is named after her,[4] as is the Matreyi Vedic Village, a retreat location in Tamil Nadu.[32]
References
- ^ a b Olivelle 2008, p. 140.
- ^ a b c d e John Muir, Metrical Translations from Sanskrit Writers, p. 251, at Google Books, page 251–253
- ^ Bowen 1998, p. 59.
- ^ a b Ahuja 2011, p. 39.
- Veda, one who asserts that all things are to be identified with Brahman(Ultimate Reality). It does not mean "one who speaks like God".
- ISBN 978-0-7914-3683-7.
- ^ a b Pechilis 2004, pp. 11–15.
- ^ a b John Muir, Metrical Translations from Sanskrit Writers, p. 251, at Google Books, page 246–251
- ISBN 978-81-8475-563-3.
- ^ a b Hino 1991, pp. 94–95.
- ^ Brereton 2006, pp. 323–345.
- ^ a b c Marvelly 2011, p. 43.
- ^ a b c d Hume 1967, pp. 98–102, 146–48.
- ^ a b Brereton 2006, pp. 323–45.
- ^ a b Hume 1967, pp. 98–99.
- ^ Majumdar 1977, p. 90.
- ^ a b Doniger 2010, p. 187.
- ISBN 978-0-19-514537-3.
- ^ Hino 1991, pp. 99–107.
- ^ Hino 1991, pp. 5–6, 94.
- ISBN 978-1-5191-1778-6.
- ^ Hino 1991, pp. 54–59, 94–95, 145–149.
- ^ Hino 1991, p. 5.
- ^ Majumdar 1977, p. 204.
- ^ Candrakīrti & Lang 2003, p. 52.
- ^ Weyer 2013, p. 60.
- ^ a b Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Max Muller (Translator), Oxford University Press, p. 110
- ^ Deussen 2010, p. 435.
- ^ "Yajnavalkya's Marriages and His Later Life". Shukla Yajurveda. Shuklayajurveda Organization. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ Geaves 2009, p. 484.
- ^ "An Eco-Spiritual Retreat". Maitreyi - The Vedic Village. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
Bibliography
- Ahuja, M. L. (2011). Women in Indian Mythology. New Delhi: Rupa & Co. ISBN 978-81-291-1825-7.
- Bowen, Paul (1998). Themes and issues in Hinduism. ISBN 978-0-304-33850-4.
- Brereton, Joel P. (2006). "The Composition of the Maitreyī Dialogue in the Brhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad". JSTOR 20064512.
- ISBN 978-0-19-515112-1.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Deussen, Paul (2010). Sixty Upanishads of the Veda. ISBN 978-81-208-1468-4.
- Doniger, Wendy (2010) [First published 2009]. The Hindus: An Alternative History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-959334-7.
- Geaves, Ron (2009). Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Editors: Denise Cush, Catherine Robinson, Michael York). ISBN 978-0-415-55623-1.
- Hino, Shoun (1991). Suresvara's Vartika On Yajnavalkya'S-Maitreyi Dialogue (2nd ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0729-7.
- Hume, Robert (1967). Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. (Translator), Oxford University Press.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0436-4.
- Marvelly, Paula (2011). Women of Wisdom. Oxford: ISBN 978-1-78028-367-8.
- Olivelle, Patrick (2008). Upanishads. ISBN 978-0-19-954025-9.
- Pechilis, Karen (2004). The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514537-3.
- Staal, Frits (2008). Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights. Penguin Books India. ISBN 978-0-14-309986-4.
- Weyer, Robert Van De (2013). 366 Readings From Hinduism. Jaico Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7992-070-1.
External links
- Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya Dialogue, 1st set Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.4, Max Muller (Translator)
- Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya Dialogue, 2nd set Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.5, Max Muller (Translator)
- The conversation of Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi on the absolute self, 1st set, Swami Krishnananda (Translator)