Maitreyi Brāhmaṇa

E550685

Maitreyi Brāhmaṇa is a celebrated philosophical section of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad that records the dialogue between the sage Yājñavalkya and his wife Maitreyi on the nature of the Self and immortality.

Jump to: Statements Referenced by

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Upanishadic text section
philosophical section
associatedWithPhilosophicalSchool Advaita Vedānta NERFINISHED
belongsTo Upaniṣads NERFINISHED
Śruti literature
centralQuestion Can wealth grant immortality?
concerns relationship between knowledge and immortality
value of household life versus renunciation
emphasizes Self-knowledge as means to liberation (mokṣa)
supremacy of spiritual knowledge over material wealth
features Maitreyi as a questioning philosophical interlocutor
featuresDialogueBetween Yājñavalkya and Maitreyi NERFINISHED
focusesOn immortality
nature of the Self
renunciation
true knowledge (vidyā)
Ātman (Self) NERFINISHED
genre philosophical dialogue
hasKeyLine “By wealth one cannot become immortal” (paraphrase)
“Not for the sake of the husband is the husband dear, but for the sake of the Self he is dear” (paraphrase)
hasMainCharacters Maitreyi NERFINISHED
Yājñavalkya NERFINISHED
influenced concept of the philosophically learned woman in Hindu tradition
later Vedāntic exegesis of renunciation
language Sanskrit
locatedInText Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4 NERFINISHED
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.5 NERFINISHED
mentionsCharacter Kātyāyanī NERFINISHED
narrativeContext Yājñavalkya’s decision to renounce household life
originalScript Vedic Sanskrit oral tradition
partOf Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad NERFINISHED
philosophicalTheme identity of Ātman and Brahman (in later interpretations)
preservedIn various recensions of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad
recognizedAs one of the most famous dialogues of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad
regionOfOrigin ancient India NERFINISHED
religiousTradition Hinduism
scripturalCollection Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa tradition context
scripturalStatus canonical Upanishadic passage
studiedIn Indian philosophy
Indology
comparative religion
teaches immortality is attained through knowledge of the Self
the Self is to be realized for true immortality
textType prose
timePeriod composed in late Vedic period
usedAsSourceBy Śaṅkara NERFINISHED

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad containsSection Maitreyi Brāhmaṇa