Maithreya Upanishad
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 of Maithreya
Upanishad deals with a dialogue between Lord Siva and Bhagavan Maithreya at
Mount Kailasa. Maithreya pleads Shiva to teach him the Parama Thathwa or the
ultimate truth. Lord Siva gives him valuable advice in the ensuing sections as
follows:
Your body is the
temple of God, life is the Paramatman. So you have to come out of ignorance and
worship your own Atman. He says knowledge is realization about non duality (
abheda darshanam jnam.)
He continues that
dhyana (contemplation) is freeing the mind from all worldly matters and snana
is removing all evil thoughts from one’s mind.
In the
third stanza we get a beautiful description about the concept of salvation.
“ Brahmaamritham pibeed
Bhaiksha
maachareed deharakshane
Vasee
dekaandiko bhutwa chaikaanthe dwaitha varjithae
Ithyaevamaacharet
dheemanaasa evam mukthi ma pnuyat”
[One who drinks the Amrith called Brahma and begs his food
for lively hood and at the same time lives a lonely life with the feeling of non duality will attain Moksha.
Stanza
IV to VIII gives a detailed description about the insanity about the human body
which excretes waste through Nava dwaras (Nine openings) and we cleanse our
body with water to keep its purity. But what is real holiness? It is to do away
with aham (I). Cleansing of the soul with real knowledge is essential. Real begging
is Adwaitha bhavana (non duality)
Stanza XI and XII describe the
real nature of sanyasa (asceticism). Verse XIII says that when the mother
called desire is dead, jnana the son is born (knowledge). One who realizes this
needs no more rituals. In the heart that is the sky, life that is the sun is
burning. Then there is no sunrise, no sunset. One who derives Brahmanjana
doesn’t need to follow any rituals. He will feel all is one.
Stanza
XVI again gives us a warning. One who is doubtful will not attain Moksha (Bible
also teaches the same truth). One can inherit Salvation only by faith.
Verse
XVII again gives a beautiful description of sanyasa. Real sanyasa is not
abandoning karma. Just by claiming that one is a sanyasi he will not become an
ascetic. Real sanyasa is the oneness of jeevatma and paramatma. For a genuine
sanyasi all worldly affairs should become like vomitted substance.
Verse
XX gives a warning to those who accept sanyasa for attaining worldly richness.
Those who gain money, food, dress and fame through the means of sanyasa will
never attain Moksha.
Verse
XXIII states as follows:
"Madhukaramaataram
Vairagya
janakam
Sradha
kalathram
Jnana nandhanam".
Ananda should
become our mother, virakthi(detachment) should be our father, faith has to be
the wife and jnana should be the Son). One who realizes this truth will
definitely attain salvation. One who doesn’t know the real nature of the spirit
wanders like a crow from place to place for filling its stomach.
We get a very important lesson
about idol worship in verse XXIII.
“ Paashaana
lokamani
Mrinmaya
vigraheshu
Pooja
punarjanana bhogakareem moksho”
[One who
worships all forms of idols made of metals and earth will invite punarjani
(re-birth).]
One should
worship only the aatman that resides in the heart.
Chapter 3
Chapter III starts with the question who am I? I am the
only reality; I am the ultimate truth.
‘Aham asmi
paraschaasmi Brahmaasmi prabhavo’.
We
get a fantastic description about the Almighty God in this section which
contains 25 beautiful slokas and stanza 25 makes a tall claim: anyone who hears
maithreya Upanishad at least once becomes Brahmamaya. He becomes close to God
and he will attain the stature of the infinite.
Dr. Karickam
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