Maitreya Upanishad

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MAITREYA UPANISHAD

Samaveda
upanishad group – sannyasa

Om! May my limbs and speech, prana, eyes, ears, life force
And all feelings grow in strength.
All existence is the Brahman of the Upanishads.
May I never deny Brahman, nor may Brahman deny me.
Let there be no denial at all:
Let there be no denial , at least from me.
Let the virtues that are proclaimed in the Upanishads
Who are devoted to the Atman; let them abide in me.
Om! Let there be peace within me!
May there be peace in my surroundings!
May there be peace in the forces that act upon me!

I-1. A king named Brihadratha placed his eldest son on the throne and, considering the body impermanent and disgusted (with worldly life), went to the forest (of penance). There he performed the highest kind of penance and, turning towards the sun, stood with his hand raised. After the lapse of a thousand years, the sun-god (assuming the form of the sage Sakayanya) approached the sage. Like a fire (blazing) without smoke and burning everything with its effulgence, the sage Sakayanya, the knower of the Self, said to the king, "Arise, arise, choose the good." Bowing to him, the king said, "Respected sir, I do not know the Atman. But we have heard that you know the truth. Explain this to me." "This request of yours is apparently impossible. Do not ask me this question. O "Descendant of Ikshvaku, choose (the fulfillment of) other desires." Having reverently touched the feet of the sage Sakayanya, the king recited the following religious text (Gatu).

I-2. Now, why speak of other things? (There is) the drying up of the great seas, the fall of the mountains, the movement of the pole star or of the trees, the inundation of the earth, and the loss of position by the gods. In this worldly life, which is of the nature of (the distinction between) 'he' and 'I', what is the use of enjoying desires if, by resorting to them, there is repeated return (to the phenomenal world)? Therefore you should exalt me. I am like a frog in a well in this worldly life. Respected sir, you are my refuge." Thus (the king said).

I-3. Respected sir, this body is born only from sexual union, devoid of consciousness and is verily hell, for it has come into being through the urethra, is full of bones, smeared with flesh and enclosed in skin; it is completely filled with feces, urine, wind, bile, phlegm, bone marrow, fat, fatty secretions and many other dirty things. Remaining in this kind of body, respected sir, you are my shelter. Thus (he pleaded).

I-4. Then the respected sage Sakayanya, greatly pleased, said to the king: "Great king Brihadratha, you are eminent in the Ikshvaku family, a knower of the Atman, one who has done his duty well, and you are well known by the name Marut. Such is your Self. Respected sir, who is to be described? And he said to the king:

I-5. Such objects as those indicated by sound and touch seem to be (a source of) danger; for the individual self (enclosed in the five elements) may not remember the supreme goal if attached to them.

I-6. Through penance one comes to know the innate disposition (Sattva); from Sattva he gets (steadiness) of mind; through the mind he realizes the Atman; by realizing the Self (worldly life) is averted.

I-7. Just as fire, when its fuel is exhausted, becomes still by itself, so the mind, when its activities are exhausted, becomes still in its source (i.e. in the Self).

I-8. When the mind is settled in its source and goes on the true path, the results dependent on actions are unreal, because the objects of the senses are mixed (i.e. the actions performed do not affect it, because it is without attachment).

I-9. It is the mind that constitutes worldly life; it must be purified. Both the mind and things appear to be coloured by it; this is the eternal mystery.

I-10. By purity of mind one destroys (the effect of) good and bad actions. When with a pure mind one remains in the Self, he enjoys inexhaustible bliss.

I-11. If the mind of a person who is well attached to the field of sense objects were turned towards Brahman, who would not be freed from bondage?

I-12-14. One should feel that the Supreme Lord is present in the middle of the lotus of one's heart as the spectator of the dance of the intellect, as the abode of the supreme love, as being beyond mind and speech, as the lifeboat dispelling all worries (of those drowning in the sea of worldly life), as being of the nature of effulgent Existence, as being beyond thought, as indispensable, as incapable of being comprehended by the (active) mind, possessing extraordinary qualities, motionless, steady and profound, neither light nor darkness, free from all doubts and semblances, and is the consciousness consisting of final bliss.

I-15. That which is eternal, pure, ever-vigilant, free from the nature (of delusion), true, subtle, supremely powerful, one without a second, an ocean of bliss and transcendental, that is the Self, the innermost essence (of all); of this there is no doubt.

I-16. How can the danger (of duality) approach me, who has recourse, as I do, to the inner bliss of the Self, who despises the goblin-woman of desires, who sees the phenomenal world as an illusion and who is not attached to it?

I-17. Those ignorant persons who adhere to castes and orders of life, obtain the (useless) fruits of their respective actions. Those who give up the paths of caste, etc., and are happy in the bliss of the Self, become merged in Brahman (literally Purushas).

I-18. The body consisting of various limbs and observing (the rules of) castes and orders has a beginning and an end and is only a great misfortune. Free from attachment to one's children, etc., and the body, one should live in endless supreme happiness.

II-1. Then the venerable sage Maitreya went to Kailasa. Approaching him (the Lord), he said: "Lord, explain to me the secret of the supreme Truth." The great god said to him:

II-2. The body is considered as a temple; the individual Self (jiva) is Shiva only. One should discard the withered flowers in the form of spiritual ignorance and worship God (with the conviction) "He and I are one."

II-3. True knowledge consists in seeing the indistinguishable (in everything); deep meditation consists in the mind being freed from thinking about sense objects; ablution consists in removing impurities from the mind, and purification consists in controlling the senses.

II-4. He should imbibe the nectar, Brahman, go on alms-giving to preserve the body, and, becoming devoted to the one (Brahman), live in a secluded place of unity, free from duality. Thus should the wise man spend his life; he alone will attain liberation.

II-5. This body is born and has death; it has arisen from the impure secretions of the mother and father; it is the abode of joy and sorrow, and it is impure. Bathing in the form of giving up attachment to it is prescribed when one touches it with the thought that it belongs to one.

II-6. It is made of the primary fluids, subject to severe diseases, the abode of sinful actions, transient and dissipated with the agitated senses. When touching this body, ablution is prescribed (as stated above).

II-7. He always naturally excretes impure excretions at the appropriate time through the nine openings (eyes, ears, etc.). Having impure matter, he smells bad. Touching this, washing (as stated above) is prescribed.

II-8. He is bound to the mother in impurity at birth and is born with the impurity caused by the birth of the child; since he is born bound to death (in due time) and the impurity caused by the birth of the child, touching this body, washing (as said above) is prescribed.

II-9. Regarding the body as "I" and mine is to smear oneself with faeces and urine instead of cosmetics. Thus pure purification has been spoken of (in the verses above). Purification (of the body) with mud and water (external) is practiced in the world.

II-10. The purification that purifies the mind consists of the destruction of the three innate tendencies (loka-vasana, shastra-vasana and deha-vasana); (real) purification is said to be accomplished by washing with mud and water in the form of (true) knowledge and dispassion (Jnana and Vairagya).

II-11. The sense of non-duality is alms (which is consumed), and the sense of duality is a thing unfit for consumption. The acceptance of alms by a mendicant monk is prescribed in accordance with the instructions of the Guru and the scriptures.

II-12. Having accepted renunciation of his own free will, the sage should leave his native place and live far away, like a thief released from prison.

II-13. As soon as (the ascetic) departs from the son of ego, the brother of wealth, the house of delusion and the wife of desires, he is liberated (from worldly bondage); of this there is no doubt.

II-14-15. How can I perform twilight worship (sandhya, i.e., no need for it) when the mother of delusion has (just) died and the son of true awakening has been born, causing double impurity? How can I perform twilight worship when the bright sun of consciousness always shines in the sky of the heart and never sets or rises? (i.e., there is no twilight at all, and hence no place for worship).

II-16. The conviction that is present from the words of the Guru that there is only one (reality) without a second, one is solitude (necessary for meditation), and not a monastery or the depths of the forest.

II-17. Liberation is for those who are free from doubts; there is no liberation even at the end of repeated births for those whose minds are caught in doubts (about the non-duality of the Atman). Therefore one should have faith.

II-18. There is no (true) renunciation by giving up action or reciting mantras (in a formal renunciation ceremony). Renunciation has been declared to be the unity of the individual self (jiva) and the universal Self (Atman).

II-19. He to whom all the basic desires, etc. (such as wife, wealth and progeny) appear as vomit and who has given up pride in his body, has the right to renunciation.

II-20. A wise man should adopt renunciation only when dispassion for all worldly things has arisen in his mind; otherwise he is fallen.

II-21. He who renounces worldly life for the sake of accumulating wealth (donated by rich disciples) or for the sake of (guaranteed) living and clothing or for the sake of a stable position (as head of a monastery) is doubly fallen (i.e., he has neither all the pleasures of worldly life nor liberation); he does not deserve final bliss.

II-22. The wisest reflect on the reality (Brahman); the average reflect on the scriptures; the lowly think of mantras; the lowly are deluded by (the efficacy of) holy places.

II-23. The fool in vain gets (theoretical) enjoyment from Brahman without experiencing it in practice (as I am Brahman), like the joy of tasting the fruits found in the branch of a tree reflected (in a lake).

II-24. If the wise man does not give up the inner (conviction of non-duality) in collecting alms from different houses, as the bee collects honey from flowers, from the father in the form of dispassion, from the wife of faith and from the son of true knowledge, he is liberated.

II-25. People rich in wealth, old in age, and like them mature in knowledge – all of them (only) servants, (no) servants of the disciples of those who are mature in wisdom.

II-26. Even learned men are deluded by the illusion created by me, and not realizing me, the Atman who is omnipresent, they only wander about like cows to fill their wretched bellies!

II-27. For one who desires liberation, the worship of idols of stone, metal, gems and clay leads only to the experience of rebirth; therefore the wise man should perform worship only to his heart (i.e., contemplate on the Brahman enshrined in his heart, non-different from the Self). To prevent rebirth, he should avoid external worship (of idols).

II-28. He who is full internally and externally is like a pitcher full in the sea; he who is empty internally and externally is like a pitcher empty in the sky.

II-29. Do not become one who enjoys objects (of the senses), nor do you become one who believes in the senses. Having rejected all ideations, become that which remains.

II-30. Having discarded (the ideas of) the seer, the vision, and that which is seen, together with the internal tendencies, let you resort only to the Atman, which is the original source of all phenomena.

II-31. This state of being like a stone with all ideas motionless and free from the states of waking and sleeping is the highest state of the Self (in the disembodied state).

Thus (ends the instruction given by Lord Shiva and the second chapter).

III-1. I am I, I am the other (highest), I am Brahman, I am the source (of all), I am also the Guru of all worlds, I am all worlds, I am That .

III-2. I am one, I have attained perfection, I am pure, I am the highest, I remain always, I am He, I am eternal, I am pure.

III-3. I am true knowledge (Vijnana), I am the special one, I am Soma, I am all. I am the auspicious one, I am free from sorrow, I am consciousness, I am impartial.

III-4. I am devoid of honor and dishonor, I am without attributes, I am Shiva, I am free from duality and non-duality, I am free from pairs (opposites), I am He.

III-5. I am devoid of being and non-being, I am beyond speech, I am radiance, I am the power of emptiness and non-emptiness, and I am auspicious and inauspicious (i.e. beyond both).

III-6. I am devoid of equal and unequal, eternal, pure, ever-auspicious; I am free from all and not-all, I am righteous and I am eternally present.

III-7. I am beyond the number one, and I am also beyond the number two. I am above the distinction of good and bad, and I am devoid of ideation.

III-8. I am free from the distinction of many souls, being the form of unalloyed bliss. I am not (existing as an entity), I am not another, I am devoid of a body, etc.,

III-9. I am free from the concept of a substratum and an object resting on it; I am without support. I am beyond bondage and liberation, I am pure Brahman, I am He.

III-10. I am devoid of all things such as mind, I am supreme, greater than the great. I am always in the form of inquiry, I am free from inquiry. I am He.

III-11. I am in the form of the letter 'a' and 'u', and I am in the letter 'm', which (as Om) is eternal. I am free from meditation, and being the meditator, I am beyond the object of meditation, I am He.

III-12. I am the form that pervades everything, possessing the characteristics of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss. I am the form of all holy places, I am the supreme Atman, I am Shiva.

III-13. I am devoid of aim and non-aim, and I am the bliss (rasa) that has no fading. I am beyond measurement and measure and the thing measured; I am Shiva.

III-14. I am not the world, I am the witness of everything and I am eyeless etc., I am immeasurable, I am awake, I am serene and I am Hara (Shiva).

III-15. I am devoid of all senses and I perform all actions. I am (the object of) satisfaction of all the Upanishads, I am always easily accessible ( to the devotees ).

III-16. I am joy ( to the devotees ) and sorrow (to the careless), I am the friend of all silence. I am always in the form of consciousness and I am always in the form of Existence and Consciousness.

III-17. I am not deprived of even the slightest , nor am I a little. I am without the knot of the heart (i.e. bias due to attachment) and I reside in the middle of the lotus of the heart.

III-18. I am devoid of the six changes (birth, etc.), I am without the six sheaths (gross material body, etc.); I am free from the group of six (internal) enemies (passions, etc.), and I am the witness, being the supreme God.

III-19. I am free from space and time, I am the bliss of the chief naked sages, I am beyond "is" and "is not", and I am devoid of all negation (i.e. I am pure Existence without analogue).

III-20. I have the form of the inseparable ether , and I have the omnipresent form. I am the mind (chitta) free from the phenomenal world, and I am devoid of the phenomenal world.

III-21. I am in the form of all radiance, I am the radiance of pure consciousness. I am beyond the three durations (past, present and future) and I am free from passion, etc.

III-22. I am above the body and its inhabitant and I am unique, devoid of attributes. I am beyond liberation, I am liberated and I am always devoid of final liberation.

III-23. I am above truth and falsehood, I am always nothing but pure Existence. I am not bound to go anywhere, being free from movement, etc.

III-24. I am ever unperturbed, I am peace, the greatest being (Purushottama); he who has his own experience is thus, without doubt, me. He who hears this (experience) even once (with supreme faith), becomes himself (i.e. merges in) Brahman. Thus (ends) the Upanishad.

Thus ends the Maitreyopanishad, which belongs to the Samaveda.