A Peek Into The Lives And Teachings Of India’s Most Illustrious Spiritual Masters

India's Greatest Minds by Mukunda Rao is a compendium that brings to readers the lives and teachings of India’s greatest thinkers in the fields of religion, spirituality and philosophy across the centuries. An excerpt from the section on Women Savants in Ancient Times.

During the early Vedic period (1500–500 BCE), the large number of women mentioned in the Vedas were ordinary women, not necessarily truth seekers; rather, only a few among them were known as brahmavadinis, expounders of Brahman or the Vedas. They were so called for three probable reasons: like men, they underwent the sacrament of upanayana, ritual of initiation restricted to the three upper castes, and studied the Vedas, though lived under their father or husband; they could recite the Vedas; and they participated in debates and discussions on Brahman, the ultimate reality underlying all phenomena.

Some of the notable women of this period were Gargi Vachaknavi, Vadava Pratitheyi, Sulabha Maitreyi, Romasa and Lopamudra, but,
going by the texts, it appears that only Gargi and Maitreyi were brahmavadinis.

Sulabha Maitreyi
(c. 700 BCE)

It is said Maitreyi was the daughter of Sage Maitri, who was a minister in the court of King Janaka of the Videhas, Mithila. She was married to Yagnavalkya, a seer and teacher who makes a powerful presence not only in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad but also in the Mahabharata
and Puranas as a philosopher of Advaita, non-dualism. Interestingly, in the Mahabharata, Maitreyi is portrayed as unmarried, as an ascetic
and a teacher who explains the non-dual philosophy to King Janaka.

However, it is in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad that we see her as a person of substance and perceptiveness. Having completed the grihasth ashrama, the phase of life spent as a householder, Yajnavalkya decides to become a renunciant. He seeks Maitreyi’s permission and
tells her he wants to divide his property between her and his other wife, Katyayani.

‘Maitreyi,’ said Yajnavalkya, ‘I am going to renounce this life. Let me make a fi nal settlement between you and Katyayani.’

Maitreyi said: ‘Sir, if indeed the whole earth, full of wealth, belonged to me, would I be immortal through that?’

‘No,’ replied Yajnavalkya, ‘your life would be just like that of people who have plenty. Of Immortality, however, there is no hope
through wealth.’

Then Maitreyi said: ‘What should I do with that which would not make me immortal? Tell me, venerable Sir, of that alone which
you know to be the only means of attaining Immortality.’

Yajnavalkya replied: ‘My dear, come, sit down; I will explain it to you. Verily, not for the sake of the husband, my dear, is the husband loved, but he is loved for the sake of the self which, in its true nature, is one with the Supreme Self.

‘As a lump of salt dropped into water becomes dissolved in water and cannot be taken out again, but wherever we taste the water it tastes salt, even so, my dear, this great, endless, infinite Reality is Pure Intelligence alone. This self comes out as a separate entity from these elements and with their destruction this separate existence also is destroyed. After attaining oneness it has no more consciousness.’

Then Maitreyi said: ‘Just here you have bewildered me, Sir, by saying that after attaining oneness the self has no more
consciousness.’

Yajnavalkya replied: ‘Certainly I am not saying anything bewildering my dear. For when there is duality, then one smells another, one sees another, one hears another, one knows another. But when everything has become the Self, then what should one smell and through what, what should one see and through what, what should one know and through what? Through what should one know That owing to which all this is known? Through what, my dear, should one know the Knower?’

Suggested Reading:

Know More About Traditional Indian Games Which You Can Play Right Where You Live

The dialogue continues, with Maitreyi at many points asking Yajnavalkya the right questions, seeking clarification on many a complex issue. The couple together explore the nature of Atman and Brahman, and their essential oneness. What is of significance here is that Maitreyi is not merely a part of the Upanishadic story but has character, refuses wealth, participates in the dialogue both as a student and as a truth seeker in her own right, exhibiting her intellectual growth and maturity. It is a remarkable 2700 years old story, especially considering the status or condition of women the world over at that time.

Excerpted with permission from India's Greatest Minds by Mukunda Rao.

You can also join SheThePeople's Book club on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.