Story from Upanishad
There is a story from Upanishad. Sage Yagyavalkya (Son of Brahma) was in an assembly where many philosophers had gathered. He was being bombarded with questions. Among the questioners were Gargi and her 18-year-old niece, Maitreyi. As Maitreyi watched Yagyavalkya demolish every philosopher’s misconception and answer every question with erudition and wisdom, she fell in love with him. Maitreyi, who was Gargi’s brother Mitra’s daughter, was already sensitive to and interested in philosophical discourse as she grew up hearing philosophy from her aunt.
Now having heard and seen Yagyavalkya, the young girl wished to learn from him. However, there was a problem: How could she learn from a man? Would that not set tongues wagging? Worse, she found Yagyavalkya was already married and that too to a wonderful lady called Katyayani. Maitreyi confided in her aunt and her parents and eventually the celebrated aunt and father reached Yagyavalkya’s doorstep to tell him of Maitreyi’s resolve. Yagyavalkya said his body already belonged to another and he could not answer or accede to their request.
They then approached Katyayani and she consented. Maitreyi lived a happy life, learning all wisdom from her husband. Then one day Yagyavalkya decided he would renounce the world and become an ascetic. He divided his property into two parts; he was not worried about Katyayani – she would accept his decision and her share and live happily. The problem came with Maitreyi. Would she accept? As Yagyavalkya had feared, Maitreyi did not accept his decision. She asked him if his wealth would get her immortality.
No, said her husband. “Nothing can buy immortality”. In another discussion he had likened the tree to man and said while a tree regenerates even after being cut, man does not appear to do so. It is the soul, the Brahmn or Atman that is born again. This he explains with different examples to Maitreyi. “But,” asks Maitreyi, “When the visible world disappears, how does Brahmn remain?” Yagyavalkya gives the example of a grain of salt, which is the same from within and without and dissolves without any sign in water.
That he says is how the Brahmn functions. Salt has the same taste – as a solid and after it is immersed in any liquid. Such is Brahmn, the all-pervasive oneness. Yagyavalkya, however, recognises that to appreciate that everything is Brahmn, one ought to first develop detachment with the world. Or else how does one view it objectively? So he begins by saying that the love for the husband or the son or for anything for that matter is not for them but more for one’s own sake. “We are husband and wife Maitreyi; why do you love me? Do you love me for my sake? I don’t think so. Something within you draws satisfaction through your love for me. That something in you is the soul. Because your own Atman is dear to you, caused by contact with that Atman, objects considered as your own also become dear. However, the Atman itself is entirely free from all relationships.”
We love mainly for the satisfaction and comfort it gives us. We love because we want to love. To realise this truth is to realise the importance of the people around you. They give you some satisfaction; you need to love them. So one can draw comfort from the fact that even the attachment for the other is rooted in the beauty of one’s own soul…and in that beauty every soul is one.
There is a story from Upanishad. Sage Yagyavalkya (Son of Brahma) was in an assembly where many philosophers had gathered. He was being bombarded with questions. Among the questioners were Gargi and her 18-year-old niece, Maitreyi. As Maitreyi watched Yagyavalkya demolish every philosopher’s misconception and answer every question with erudition and wisdom, she fell in love with him. Maitreyi, who was Gargi’s brother Mitra’s daughter, was already sensitive to and interested in philosophical discourse as she grew up hearing philosophy from her aunt.
Now having heard and seen Yagyavalkya, the young girl wished to learn from him. However, there was a problem: How could she learn from a man? Would that not set tongues wagging? Worse, she found Yagyavalkya was already married and that too to a wonderful lady called Katyayani. Maitreyi confided in her aunt and her parents and eventually the celebrated aunt and father reached Yagyavalkya’s doorstep to tell him of Maitreyi’s resolve. Yagyavalkya said his body already belonged to another and he could not answer or accede to their request.
They then approached Katyayani and she consented. Maitreyi lived a happy life, learning all wisdom from her husband. Then one day Yagyavalkya decided he would renounce the world and become an ascetic. He divided his property into two parts; he was not worried about Katyayani – she would accept his decision and her share and live happily. The problem came with Maitreyi. Would she accept? As Yagyavalkya had feared, Maitreyi did not accept his decision. She asked him if his wealth would get her immortality.
No, said her husband. “Nothing can buy immortality”. In another discussion he had likened the tree to man and said while a tree regenerates even after being cut, man does not appear to do so. It is the soul, the Brahmn or Atman that is born again. This he explains with different examples to Maitreyi. “But,” asks Maitreyi, “When the visible world disappears, how does Brahmn remain?” Yagyavalkya gives the example of a grain of salt, which is the same from within and without and dissolves without any sign in water.
That he says is how the Brahmn functions. Salt has the same taste – as a solid and after it is immersed in any liquid. Such is Brahmn, the all-pervasive oneness. Yagyavalkya, however, recognises that to appreciate that everything is Brahmn, one ought to first develop detachment with the world. Or else how does one view it objectively? So he begins by saying that the love for the husband or the son or for anything for that matter is not for them but more for one’s own sake. “We are husband and wife Maitreyi; why do you love me? Do you love me for my sake? I don’t think so. Something within you draws satisfaction through your love for me. That something in you is the soul. Because your own Atman is dear to you, caused by contact with that Atman, objects considered as your own also become dear. However, the Atman itself is entirely free from all relationships.”
We love mainly for the satisfaction and comfort it gives us. We love because we want to love. To realise this truth is to realise the importance of the people around you. They give you some satisfaction; you need to love them. So one can draw comfort from the fact that even the attachment for the other is rooted in the beauty of one’s own soul…and in that beauty every soul is one.
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