Women Of Words 01 - Maitreyi Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

Maitreyi (Sanskrit: मैत्रेयी) ('Wise one') was an Indian philosopher who lived during the later Vedic period in ancient India. Maitreyi and Vedic sage Yajnavalkya are estimated to have lived around the 8th century BCE. Maitreyi is mentioned in the Gṛhyasūtras with several other women scholars of the Vedic era. Her father, sage Maitri who lived in the Kingdom of the Videhas, Mithila, was a minister in the court of King Janaka. Maitreyi explains Advaita philosophy (monism) to Janaka and is described as a lifelong ascetic. In the epic Mahabharata Maitreyi is described as a young beauty who never marries. She is called as a brahmavadini (a female expounder of the Veda) in ancient Sanskrit literature. In the Rigveda about ten hymns are attributed to Maitreyi. As per the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Maitreyi studied metaphysics and engaged in theological dialogues with Yajnavalkya in addition to 'making self-inquiries of introspection'. Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue 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 Samvaada, 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 (Monism) . This dialogue appears in several Hindu texts; the earliest is in chapter 4.5 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the principal and oldest Upanishads, dating from approximately 700 BCE. 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. In the dialogue 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. Karen Pechelis, American Indologist and a professor of Comparative Religion states that Maitreyi is portrayed as theologically minded, as she challenges Yajnavalkya in this dialogue and asks the right questions. 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 and challenges Yajnavalkya's theory of Atman. Yajnavalkya acknowledges her motivations, and that her questions are evidence she is a seeker of ultimate knowledge and a lover of the Atman. The Maitreyi dialogue in the Upanishad is significant beyond being a gage of gender relations. Adi Shankara, a scholar of the influential Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, wrote in his Brihadaranyakopanishad interpretation that the purpose of the Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is to highlight the importance of the knowledge of Atman and Brahman, and to understand their oneness. According to Shankara, the dialogue suggests renunciation is prescribed in the Sruti (vedic texts of Hinduism) , as a means to knowledge of the Brahman and Atman. He adds, that the pursuit of self-knowledge is considered important in the Sruti because the Maitreyi dialogue is repeated as a 'logical finale' to the discussion of Brahman in the Upanishad. Nature of Love: The Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue includes a discussion of love. 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. 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. Concluding his dialogue on the 'inner self', or soul, Yajnavalkaya tells Maitreyi: "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." Legacy: 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. Maitreyi is regarded as one of the most learned and virtuous women of ancient India and symbolizes intellectual women in India. A college in New Delhi is named after her, as is the Matreyi Vedic Village, a retreat location in Tamil Nadu.