The Maitrayaniya Upanishad (, ) is an ancient Sanskrit text that is embedded inside the Yajurveda.Charles Johnston (1920-1931), The Mukhya Upanishads, Kshetra Books, (Reprinted in 2014)Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 327-386 It is also known as the Maitri Upanishad (, ), and is listed as number 24 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads.
The Maitrayaniya Upanishad is associated with the Maitrayanas school of the Yajurveda. It is a part of the "black" Yajurveda, with the term "black" implying "the un-arranged, motley collection" of content in Yajurveda, in contrast to the "white" (well arranged) Yajurveda where Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Isha Upanishad are embedded.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 217-219 The chronology of Maitrayaniya Upanishad is contested, but generally accepted to be a late period Upanishadic composition.Stephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press, , Chapter 1
The Maitrayaniya Upanishad consists of seven Prapathakas (lessons). The first Prapathaka is introductory, the next three are structured in a question-answer style and discuss metaphysical questions relating to Atman (Self), while the fifth to seventh Prapathaka are supplements. However, several manuscripts discovered in different parts of India contain lesser number of Prapathakas, with a Telugu language version showing just four, and another Burnell version showing just one section. The content and structure of the Upanishad is also different in various manuscript recensions, suggesting that the Upanishad was extensively interpolated and expanded over a period of time. The common kernel of the Upanishad across different recensions, states Max Muller, is a reverence for Self, that can be summarized in a few words as, "(Man) is the Self – the immortal, the fearless, the Brahman".Max Muller, The Upanishads, Part 2, Maitrayana-Brahmana Upanishad Introduction, Oxford University Press, pages xliii-lii
The Maitri Upanishad is an important ancient text notable, in its expanded version, for its references to theories also found in Buddhism, elements of the Samkhya and Yoga schools of Hinduism, as well as the Ashrama system.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 328-329 The text is also notable for its practice of Anyatrapyuktam (or Ityevam Hyaha), that is being one of the earliest known Sanskrit texts that embedded quotes with credits and frequent citations to more ancient Sanskrit texts.
Etymology The etymological root of the Maitrayaniya Upanishad is unclear. This has historically led to a variety of names and spellings for this Upanishad.
Maitra (Sanskrit: मैत्र) and Maitri (मैत्री) are related words which literally mean "kindly, benevolent, good will, amity, friend of all creatures".see maitrI and maitra Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Cologne Digital Lexicon, Germany The likely root for the Upanishad is probably the name of an ancient Indian scholar, Maitra, sometimes spelled Maitri or Maitreya, giving the text the alternate name of Maitri or Maitra Upanishad.Maitri Upanishad - Sanskrit Text with English Translation EB Cowell (Translator), Cambridge University, Bibliotheca Indica, See Preface chapter pages iii-vii The ancient scholar is also credited with a school of thought, thus giving the text the name Maitrayaniya Upanishad. Other names for this text include Maitrayani Upanishad (मैत्रायणि उपनिषद्), Maitrayana Upanishad, Maitrayaniya-brahmana Upanishad, Sriyagussakhayam Maitrayaniya-brahmana Upanishad, Maitreyopanishad and Maitrayaniyopanishad.
Chronology The Maitrayaniya Upanishad offers no firm evidence as to its date. But on various internal criteria such as its passages on yoga and its doctrinal heterogeneity, scholarly consensus places its composition in late 1st millennium BCE or even slightly later, likely after Atharva Veda texts such as the Mundaka Upanishad and Prashna Upanishad. But its precise chronology is unclear and contested. The chronology is difficult to resolve because all opinions rest on scanty evidence, an analysis of archaism, style and repetitions across texts, driven by assumptions about likely evolution of ideas, and on presumptions about which philosophy might have influenced which other Indian philosophies.Patrick Olivelle (1996), The Early Upanishads: Annotated Text & Translation, Oxford University Press, , Introduction Chapter van Buitenen identified at least five compositional layers in the work, composed at different times by different groups or individuals.
When discussing the chronology of the Upaniṣads, Olivelle did not specifically mention the Maitri Upanishad but noted that the last group of principal Upanishads "cannot be much older than the beginning of the common era."P Olivelle (1998), The Early Upanishads, Oxford University Press, , pages 12-13 Mahony suggests an earlier date, placing Prashna along with Maitri and Mandukya Upanishads, as texts that probably emerged about early fourth century BCE.WK Mahony (1987), Upanishads, in Jones, Lindsay, MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religion (2005), MacMillan, , page 9483 Jayatilleke states, "Buddhism is not far removed in time from, though it is prior to, the Maitri Upanishad".KN Jayatilleke (2013 Reprint, 1963 Original), Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge, Routledge, , page 68 Nakamura states that "although Buddhistic influence can be seen in the Maitri Upanishad (from words used), the particular terms and modes of expression of Mahayana Buddhism do not yet appear (in it)".H Nakamura (2004), A History of Early Vedānta Philosophy, Part 2, Motilal Banarsidass, pages 284-286
Phillips, in contrast, lists Maitri Upanishad before and about the time the first Buddhist Pali canonical texts were composed. RanadeRD Ranade, A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy, Chapter 1, pages 13-18 posits a view similar to Phillips, placing Maitri's chronological composition in the fifth group of ancient Upanishads and last of the Principal Upanishads. Cowell too considers Maitri Upanishad as late era Upanishad, with its later sections comparatively modern, because of the structural and style differences within texts, inconsistencies in Poona manuscript, Calcutta (Kolkata) manuscript, Eckstein manuscript, Burnell manuscript and other manuscripts, and because some version of the manuscripts insert quotes from Vaishnavism.
Deussen states that the Upanishad is chronologically significant because its author(s) takes for granted the concepts and ideas found in Samkhya and Yoga schools of Hinduism, which must have been established by the time Maitri Upanishad was composed.
Structure The extant recension of the text consists seven s (lessons), of which several sections are Khilas (appendices, supplements) added later. The last two are called as khila by medieval era Indian scholar Ramatirtha. Others consider the last three sections as supplements and appendices. Other discovered manuscript versions of the Maitri Upanishad present different number of sections, ranging from 1 to 4, without any appendices. There are also differences in style, structure and content among the discovered manuscripts when the text contains the same number of sections.
The text is a prose style Upanishad, with a motley collection of different sized paragraphs. The first section has four paragraphs, the second has seven, the third presents five paragraphs, while the fourth section contains six. As appendices, the fifth lesson has two paragraphs, while the sixth Prapathaka is the longest section with thirty eight paragraphs. The last supplementary section, or the seventh Prapāṭhaka has eleven paragraphs some with many sub-paragraphs.
The Maitrayaniya Upanishad is embedded after the Brahmana text of Yajur Veda, and in its opening passages refers to rituals contained therein. It contextually belongs to the Sannyasa Upanishads corpus.Patrick Olivelle (1998), Upaniṣhads. Oxford University Press, Hume includes it among his list of "Thirteen Principal Upanishads".
Contents
Maitri Upanishad deals with the concept and nature of Atman (Self), the question of "how is joy possible?" and "how one can achieve moksha (liberation)?"; in later sections it offers a debate on possible answers.
Meditation of Self is the essence of religious activity - First Prapathaka The text begins with the following prelude,Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 331-333
The above prelude is followed by an answer, offered as a tale of a king named Brihadrathathe symbolic name means "mighty chariot" of knowledge; Cowell states that there are several kings of this name in Hindu legends but it is unclear which Brihadratha is referred to here; see Maitri Upanishad - Sanskrit Text with English Translation EB Cowell (Translator), Cambridge University, Bibliotheca Indica, page 242 with footnotes who renounces his kingdom, lives an austere life and therewith seeks the knowledge of the eternal, the Self. Sage the symbolic name means "liberated man, one without sorrow" appears before the king. The king admits, "I lack the knowledge of Self, you know the essence of Self", so please teach me. In the resulting reply, the sage first claims that the "seeking the knowledge of Atman" was a practice of the past,Scholars suggest that this is one of many likely references in Maitri Upanishad to Buddhism; see Maitri Upanishad - Sanskrit Text with English Translation EB Cowell (Translator), Cambridge University, Bibliotheca Indica; Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 327-386 it is difficult and not in vogue, then urges the king to ask something else". The king insists, by asking a series of metaphysical questions to the sage.
The sage then shares with the king the philosophy of the Brahman (Universal Self, Cosmic Principle, Ultimate Reality), described in the next lessons. Paul Deussen states that parts of the above questions, on sorrow and frailty of human life is found in the oldest Upanishads of Hinduism, for example in chapters 3.4, 3.5, 3.7, 3.28 and 4.4 of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, yet its declamation in the question form above in Maitri Upanishad, mirrors those found in Buddhism and Samkhya school of Hinduism. It is likely, states Deussen, that these two philosophies influenced the formulation of these questions in the form presented in Maitri Upanishad.Paul Deussen (Translator), Sixty Upanisads of the Veda, Vol 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , page 331
Every individual has Self, which is serene, the highest light, the cosmic truth - Second Prapathaka Sakayanya answers the king's question, in verse 2.2 of Maitri Upanishad, by asserting that Atman (Self) exists in every individual, and it is that inmost being which "moves about without moving" (exists everywhere), which dispels darkness of ignorance and error, which is serene, immortal, fearless and soaring for the highest light.Max Muller, The Upanishads, Part 2, Maitrayana-Brahmana Upanishad, Oxford University Press, pages 290-291 The Maitri Upanishad states that this is the message of all Upanishads,
Sage Sakayanya thereafter narrates an ancient dialogue between s and Kratu, which is sourced from Rig Veda. The dialogue states that "man was created in the image of its creator, innately has all its powers, and is driven by it". The dialogue raises a series of metaphysical objections and inconsistencies with this premise, and then offers theories to resolve the what, how and why this is so.Maitri Upanishad - Sanskrit Text with English Translation EB Cowell (Translator), Cambridge University, Bibliotheca Indica, pages 244-249