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The Maitreya Upanishad (Sanskrit: मैत्रेय उपनिषत्, IAST: Maitreya Upaniṣad) is one of the minor Upanishads of Hinduism. Composed in Sanskrit,[2] it is one of the 16 Upanishads that belongs to the Samaveda, is classified as one of the 20 Sannyasa (Renunciation) Upanishads,[3] and is one of the Vedanta Upanishads.[4] The text is listed at 29 in the serial order in the Muktika enumerated by Rama to Hanuman in the modern era anthology of 108 Upanishads.

The Upanishad states that renunciation and self-knowledge is the path to moksha (liberation and spiritual freedom).[6] According to Maitreya, "the Lord is within the heart of each person, he is the witness of the reason's dance, and the object of the utmost love".[7] One must renounce the world, to achieve the rapture of the Self and become one with Brahman.[8][9] The best renunciation is one, states Maitreya, where one abandons pride, wealth, delusion and lust; when delusion dies in a person, enlightenment is born.

In chapters 2 and 3 of the Upanishad, Lord Shiva preaches sage Maitreya the secret of highest reality (Brahman).[11] The text states that Atman (soul, self), Brahman and Shiva are the same, one must understand one's true essence that is soul, and one must worship with the thought, "I am he".

The Maitreya Upanishad, states Patrick Olivelle, is a record of Sandhya rituals and rites that were abandoned in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism, along with the rationale for this development.

Etymology

The word "Maitreya" means "benevolent" or "friendly".[14] The text is also known as Maitreyopanishad.

Chronology

Patrick Olivelle states that six Sannyasa Upanishads – Aruni, Laghu-Sannyasa, Kathasruti Paramahamsa, Jabala and Brahma Upanishads – were completed in the last few centuries of the 1st-millennium BCE, followed by Ashrama Upanishad which was completed around 300 CE. The Maitreya Upanishad is one of the younger Upanishads that likely followed the Ashrama in medieval period of the 1st millennium CE.

Manuscripts

Two versions of Maitreya Upanishad manuscripts have survived into the modern times, one from north India and one from south. These differ primarily in chapter 2, but the message is essentially the same. The south Indian manuscript is part of 108 Upanishads collection, and is typically the oft translated version.

The Maitreya Upanishad is also named as Maitreyi Upanishad in two anthologies. xlviii Schrader states this is an error, but one which has spread to many manuscript collections.

Structure

The Upanishad is structured in three chapters. The first chapter has four sections, the first three of which are prose, and the last section has a prose prologue and fourteen verses, all structured as a dialogue between ascetic king Brhadratha and Sakayanya.[16] The second chapter starts with a prose prologue, has three sections with a total of thirty verses, structured as knowledge from god Shiva to Maitreya.[17] Chapter three has no separated sections and consists of 24 verses, further elaborating Shiva's wisdom on the Brahman, Atman and unity of the two.

Courtesy – Wikipedia
- Maitreya Upanishad

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