Finding the Lord: The teachings of Yājñavalkya before leaving family life (part 1)
Yājñavalkya, who is about to leave the house to accept the renounced life, teaches his wife Maitreyī about self-realization.
Vyasadeva left a total of 108 Upanisads with selected passages from the four Vedas, as well as other Vedic literature that speaks directly about self-realization. Crowding this literature is the Bhagavad-Gītā, which offers the conclusions of all Upanisads.
The Upanisads are full of interesting passages, but most of it is not easy to understand, due to the scarcity of good translations or a lack of explanations of what the passages mean.
Here is an interesting passage from the Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upanisad (2.4), where Yājñavalkya, who is about to leave the house to accept the renounced life, teaches his wife Maitreyī about self-realization.
Yājñavalkya had two wives: Maitreyī and Kātyāyanī. The second was just interested in regular household affairs, while Maitreyī was interested in spiritual knowledge. When later in life Yājñavalkya was preparing to accept the vānaprastha order and go to the forest, he called Maitreyī and proposed to make a settlement, dividing the properties between her and Kātyāyanī.
maitreyīti hovāca yājñavalkyaḥ, udyāsyan vā are ’ham asmāt sthānād asmi, hanta te ’nayā kātyāyanyāntaṁ karavāṇīti
"When Yājñavalkya was preparing to depart, he said to his wife Maitreyī: My dear wife, I am about to renounce household life. Therefore, let me make a final division of the properties between you and Kātyāyanī." (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upanisad 2.4.1)
To this, Maitreyī answered:
"sā hovāca maitreyī, yan nu ma iyaṁ bhagoḥ sarvā pṛthivī vittena pūrṇā syāt kathaṁ tenāmṛtā syām iti, neti hovāca yājñavalkyaḥ, yathaivopakaraṇavatāṁ jīvitaṁ tathaiva te jīvitaṁ syāt, amṛtatvasya tu nāśāsti vitteneti"
"Maitreyī answered: My lord, if this entire earth filled with riches were mine, could I attain immortality through it? Yājñavalkya replied: No. Your life would be like that of a wealthy person, but there is no hope of attaining immortality by possessing wealth." (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upanisad 2.4.2)
sā hovāca maitreyī, yenāhaṁ nāmṛtā syāṁ kim ahaṁ tena kuryām, yad eva bhagavān veda tad eva me brūhīti
"Maitreyī then said: If a thing cannot make me immortal, what need would I have for it? Teach me instead, O revered husband, what you know about the process to achieve immortality." (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upanisad 2.4.3)
Maitreyī is a very wise person, worthy of being the wife of a great sage. Having gone through family life, she already realized that material possessions can't bring anyone happiness, or even a permanent situation. She wants instead to use her last moments with her husband to inquire from him about transcendental knowledge. Let the other wife keep all properties.
sa hovāca yājñavalkyaḥ, priyā batāre naḥ satī priyaṁ bhāṣase, ehy āssva, vyākhyāsyāmi te, vyācakṣāṇasya tu me nididhyāsasveti, bravītu me bhagavān iti
"Yājñavalkya said: Ah, dear one, truly you are dear to me, and you speak what is precious. Come, sit down; I will explain it to you. But while I speak, you must listen attentively and consider it carefully. Maitreyī replied: Yes, O revered one, please instruct me." (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upanisad 2.4.4)
sa hovāca, na vā are patyuḥ kāmāya patiḥ priyo bhavaty ātmanas tu kāmāya patiḥ priyo bhavati, na vā are jāyāyai kāmāya jāyā priyā bhavaty ātmanas tu kāmāya jāyā priyā bhavati, na vā are putrāṇāṁ kāmāya putrāḥ priyā bhavanty ātmanas tu kāmāya putrāḥ priyā bhavanti, na vā are vittasya kāmāya vittaṁ priyaṁ bhavaty ātmanas tu kāmāya vittaṁ priyaṁ bhavati, na vā are brahmaṇaḥ kāmāya brahma priyaṁ bhavaty ātmanas tu kāmāya brahma priyaṁ bhavati, na vā are kṣatrasya kāmāya kṣatraṁ priyaṁ bhavaty ātmanas tu kāmāya kṣatraṁ priyaṁ bhavati, na vā are lokānāṁ kāmāya lokāḥ priyā bhavanty ātmanas tu kāmāya lokāḥ priyā bhavanti, na vā are devānāṁ kāmāya devāḥ priyā bhavanty ātmanas tu kāmāya devāḥ priyā bhavanti, na vā are bhūtānāṁ kāmāya bhūtāni priyāṇi bhavanty ātmanas tu kāmāya bhūtāni priyāṇi bhavanti, na vā are sarvasya kāmāya sarvaṁ priyaṁ bhavaty ātmanas tu kāmāya sarvaṁ priyaṁ bhavati
"It is not for the sake of the husband that the husband is dear; it is because of the Self (ātmā) that he becomes dear. It is not for the sake of the wife that the wife is dear; it is because of the Self that she becomes dear. It is not for the sake of the children that the children are dear; it is because of the Self that they become dear. It is not for the sake of wealth that wealth is dear; it is because of the Self that wealth becomes dear. It is not for the sake of the brāhmana that the brāhmana is dear; it is because of the Self that he becomes dear. It is not for the sake of the kṣatriya that the kṣatriya is dear; it is because of the Self that he becomes dear. It is not for the sake of the worlds themselves that the worlds are dear; it is because of the Self that the worlds become dear. It is not for the sake of the demigods that the demigods are dear; it is because of the Self that they become dear. It is not for the sake of the beings themselves that the different beings are dear; it is because of the Self that they become dear. Indeed, it is not because of anything that all things are dear; it is because of the Supreme Self that all becomes dear." (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upanisad 2.4.5)
The word "ātmā" (self) is commonly used to refer to the Lord in the scriptures. Sometimes ātmā is used in the sense of our personal self, being it the soul, or even the mind or body, according to the context, but the original meaning of the word ātmā is the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Self. The Lord should be our ultimate object of love, and by loving the Lord, everyone will automatically love us.
In this way, Yājñavalkya explained that all the people and things we consider dear in this world, like the husband, wife, children, wealth, brāhmanas, kings, planets, demigods, and in fact as other living entities, and everything that exists are not dear to us by their own sake but because of their connection to the Lord. When we love these persons and objects for their own sake, without realizing their connection with the Lord, we are rejected by them, or in other words, we lose them in due curse of time. This applies to even the Vedas, since the knowledge of the Vedas is precious because of its connection with the Lord. When one sees the passages of the Vedas as disconnected from the Lord, one gets only superficial, material knowledge, and his study becomes mundane and useless. One is thus abandoned by the Vedas, just as by everything else.
In this way, Yājñavalkya made a powerful statement that sent Maitreyī on the path of self-realization, expressing the illusory nature of this world and revealing the Lord as the underlying principle behind everything that exists, and the ultimate destination.
The key word in the instructions is kāmāya (desire): na vā are patyuḥ kāmāya patiḥ priyo bhavati, ātmanas tu kāmāya patiḥ priyo bhavati. It is not for the sake of the husband that the husband is dear, but for the sake of ātma, the Lord, that he becomes dear. The same is repeated for the wife, children, etc.
How does this attraction work? Lord Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu explains that: jīvera svarūpa haya — kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa, "It is the living entity’s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa". He also says: nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema 'sādhya' kabhu naya, "Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source."
Love for Krsna is the eternal characteristic of the soul and thus can't be separated from it, as much as liquidity can be separated from water. However, this love for Krsna can be covered, and when this happens, it manifests as lust, attraction to objects of sense enjoyment. At the same time, however, as Krsna explains in the Gītā, "Know that all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations spring from but a spark of My splendor."
Just like the light of the sun is just a faint reflection of the light of Krsna's effulgence, all beauty, power, strength, intelligence, knowledge, and renunciation, or in other words, all the qualities that we find attractive in different beings and objects, are just faint reflections of the opulence of Krsna. These different people and objects are just like mirrors, where the beauty, opulence, etc. of Krsna are reflected. However, due to the influence of illusion, we become attracted to the mirror instead of becoming attracted to the person being reflected. When we become attracted by the illusion instead of the real Self, we end up being abandoned by all these things, since this is the nature of the material illusion.
Yājñavalkya then proceeds with his explanation. This essence of everything, the true source of attraction and unifying principle of everything, this Supreme Lord should be our object of attraction. When we do that, everything is revealed.
ātmā vā are draṣṭavyaḥ śrotavyo mantavyo nididhyāsitavyo maitreyi, ātmano vā are darśanena śravaṇena matyā vijñānenedaṁ sarvaṁ viditam
O Maitreyī, the Supreme Lord, ātmā, should be sought, heard, contemplated, and always meditated upon. By seeing, hearing, worshiping, and understanding this Supreme Self, everything becomes known."
Why is that the Supreme Lord, the Supreme ātmā, should be investigated, heard, contemplated, and meditated upon? Because knowing the Lord is the only path to immortality, by reestablish our original nature as pure souls in our original relationship with the Lord. Even impersonal liberation does not achieve this goal, since one becomes free from material conditioning, but does not revive one's relationship with the Lord.
In this way, Yājñavalkya explained to Maitreyī how affection should be centered around the Lord, and not directly placed in the different objects of the senses. If a wife loves her husband and thinks that by her own power, she will make him love her, she will end up not being loved by her husband. Similarly, if one loves his children or his wife and thinks that by his own power, he will make them love him, he will, in the end, not be loved by them. If, however, he loves the Lord and from there loves the husband, children, and wife, seeing them in connection to the Lord, only then will the Lord make them love this devoted wife, husband, father, or mother.
Don’t forget to check the second part.
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