Stories from Upanishads retold by Arghya Goswami
Episode 28 Story of King Brihad Ratha and Part 2 Moksha Chapter
one Maitre Upanishad Dear friends, I'm back with another
new story from Maitre Upanishad. This Upanishad is one of the
minor repetition which was composed in Sanskrit.
It belongs to one of the 16 Upanishads from Samved and falls
under Sanyas Upanishad which talks about renunciation.
If you remember in Muktika Upanishad this was mentioned as
29th in serial order of 108 Upanishads.
Primarily this Upanishad state that renunciation or sanyasa and
self knowledge is the part to salvation or moksha.
The name Maitreya is derived from the word Mitra, who is the
Rig Vedic deity. Most probably this Upanishad was
written by an ancient Indian scholar by the name Maitre and
hence it is named as Maitreya Upanishad.
According to Patrick Olively, this Upanishad was perhaps
written in the medieval period of first Millennium CE.
It was composed at a time when Buddhism was at his peak.
Currently, 2 versions of this book survive.
Although the thoughts and the messages are essentially the
same in both the versions. However, they differ primarily
in Chapter 2. The South Indian version of the
Maitreya position is considered to be part of 108 opposition.
This opposition has three chapters and each one deals on a
specific topic. The first chapter has four
sections, the first three of them are processed and the last
section has a prose prologue and 14 verses.
This chapter describes the dialogue between the great
aesthetic King Brihadratha from Ishq Waku Dynasty or Solar
Dynasty and Sage Sakayana. Before I begin today's story, a
little more on these two principal characters that is
King Brihadratha and Sage Sakayana.
King Breed Ratta was from Ishq Waku dynasty or Solar dynasty
which we popularly call as Surya Vangshis.
He has been referred to as a Maharata and has been mentioned.
Repeat he has been referred as a Maharata and is mentioned in Rig
VED. I tried to research about this
great king as my passion is connecting mythology with
historical facts and writings. If you try to search by his name
in Ishq Waku dynasty family tree, most probably you will not
find. Then the question will arise is
this name of fictitious character.
So I tried to read through many blogs and articles and research
papers and finally found an interesting article written by
Miss Rupa Bhati who is an architect and adjunct Assistant
professor at School of Indict Studies, Institute of Advanced
Sciences, Massachusetts, USA. According to her article which
is published in Medium, she tries to find ancientness of
King Brihadratha in Metro Punishat the 4th slope from
chapter One state. Some of the names of the kings
such as Marutha and Bharatha, Shatapata, Brahmana Sloke 13.5
point 4.6 also mentioned the name of the king Marutha as
Marutha Aviksitha or descendant of Aviksit.
As per chronology of ancient kings of India, Aviksita and
Maruta were descendants of King Rishtu who was brother of
Ishqvaku. As for the research, these kings
belong to last glacial Maximus or LGM.
The LGM is the peak glacial condition of the most recent
glacial interval in the geological past, and
colloquially this is called the Last Ice Age and this may have
occurred around 26,000 to 19,000 years ago.
Breed Ratha is also mentioned in rig weather as Nava Vastva Breed
Ratha in 10th, 6th and 1st Mandalas and by the astronomical
and ecstatic evidence of Meth reopenition, the timing of the
event was sought upon as 34,500 BCE.
So it is assumed that Breed Ratha lived around 34500 BC.
Another point to note is that most of the Ishquaku kings went
by some epitate for a long time. Most of these are lost due to
deep antiquity. Some epithets emerge which
appears to be of Ishqvakus. Among them is Trashya Dasu
breed, Ratha, Trisky Tristu, Try Aruna, Dasaratha Ratha and
Ashwar were the common suffixes in Ishqvaku kings names.
Friends, an interesting point to understand this try Aruna Tassir
Dassu is an important figure in rig VED.
According to Shatapata Brahmana. A connection between Trassir
Dassu and Ishqvaku is confirmed by the fact that King Purukustha
was an egg shelf that means belonging to Ishq Waku.
Thus we can assume that Ishq Waku's line was originally the
line of Purus. According to Zimmer, they were
located in the upper Indus area and may have spread further E
later on they were connected to Ayodhya.
We find an astronomical pointer to specify King Briher Ratha in
rig VED Arjuni is the name of the Nakshatra which is called
Palguni. Elsewhere also Agha is written
as Magha in Maitriya Panishad. So King Bhridratha is a very
ancient Aishwak king and we must understand that in Dopanisha
this incident of Bhratha is mentioned as an old memory.
So Bhratha mentioned in the 10th mandala of Rig VED and Arjuni
Nakshatra provides us the timing of 34500 BCE.
Friends, please don't get confused here between
Brihadratha of Magad dynasty, he is a completely different person
from a different time period. In this podcast I will restrict
to the tale of King Brihadratha from Ishq Vaku dynasty only.
I would like to thank Miss Rupa Bhati for the research she did
and published an article in Medium.
It is a great example of how there are many works those are
in progress where researchers are trying to connect the
ancient text with historical facts.
In fact, my friends, I'm also involved in a similar topic from
Rig VED and trying to join the bridge between ancient text and
historical facts. Now let's quickly learn about
said Sakayana, who is also known as Jata Sakayana.
He was descendant of Saka who was ritual authority and
contemporary of Shankar in Kataka Samitha or Charaka
Samitha, he was disciple of Rishi's maid, Three friends.
So let's start today's story. Today I will retail chapter one
from micropanition, in which the great Ishuaku king Breedrata
renounced his Kingdom in favor of his son and seeks relief from
himself from the endless cycle of birth and rebirth.
King Breedrata thought his body to be impermanent and acquired
indifference to the objects around him.
Therefore he gave his Kingdom to his eldest son and took one of
Prasta and retired to the forest.
With hands uplifted and eyes fixed on the sun, he began to
perform a severe meditation or tapasya At the end of 1000.
Days of such severe meditation, said Sakayana, approached the
meditating king, the sage who was radiating lustre like a
scorching fire with his stages and radiance, and was a knower
of Athman. He told the king, Rise O king
and choose a boon. The king board before the great
sage and with folded hands said, oh Lord, I'm not Atma with or no
or a Brahman. I know that you are.
Please enlighten me about sattva and state of Sat or Brahman, the
say smiled and replied OK from the great trace of Ishquaku your
question is difficult to explain.
Please do not question me. Ask any other thing you desire.
The king touched the feet of the sage and recited.
What is the use of these to me? Anything or anything other.
Oceans dry up, mountains sink down, position of
Dhruvanakshatra or pollster change.
Earth drowns, Suras or devas run away from the respective places.
This body which is a result of a sexual intercourse is without
wisdom. What is the use of this body
which smells foul with bones, skin, muscles, flesh, marrow,
blood, cement, mucus, urine, stool, bad wind, bile, phlegm
and such basic and illborn impurities.
Further this body is subject to the inborn enemies of karma or
lust, crother or anger, lobor, greed, more, Infatuation, mother
or ignorance, Bhaiya or fear, Vishadha or sorrows, Irsha or
jealousy, Viyoga or separation, Anishta or unsteadfastness,
Kushta or leprosy, Pipasa or thirst, Jarrah or old age, ritu
or death, Roger or diseases show or grief, and so on.
Is such life worthwhile? And what avail of that type of
mundane existence? Im drowned like a frog in the
dry. Well, you are my refuge.
On hearing this the sage was pleased and address the king Oh
Maharaja Bijedaratha bearing the flag of the Ishqwaa Kurase.
You are an Aatma Gyani. You have done your duty or
descendant of great king Marut, to which the king replied, Oh
Lord, in what way you can describe aatman, to which the
sage replied, sound touch. Others which seems to be earth
or wealth are in fact unearth or evil.
The lower self or bhutatma, clinging to this never remembers
the supreme seat. Through tapas or meditation, one
of the three gunas or quality sattva or righteousness is
awkward. Through sattva a pure mind is
awkward. Through pure mind, Aatman or
higher self is awkward. Once Aatman or higher self is
reached, one gets liberation or moksha.
The King's eye glittered on hearing this, the sage
continued. O King, remember that just as
fire without fuel is absorbed into his own womb or source, so
is Chitta or mind, through the destruction of his modification,
is absorbed into his own source. To a mind that has attained
coincence and truth, and which is not affected by sense
objects, the events that occur to it through the bondage of
karma is merely unreal. It is chitta alone that is
samsara. It should be cleansed with
effort. Whatever Chitta thinks of that
nature the person becomes. This is an archaic mystery.
With purifying of chitta, one makes both good and bad karmas.
One whose mind is thus cleansed, attains the indestructible bliss
through his own Self. Just as Chitra becomes united
with an object that comes across it, so why should one not be
released from the bondage when one is united with Brahman?
One should meditate in the middle of the Lotus of the
heart. Permission.
The Highest Lord, who is the witness to play of Buddhi, who
is the objects of supreme love, Who is beyond the reach of mind
and speech, who has no beginning or end, who is set alone, being
the nature of light only, Who is beyond meditation?
Who can neither be given up nor grasped by the mind?
Who is without equal or superior?
Who is the permanent? Who is of unshaken depth?
Who is light for darkness? Who is all pervading,
changeless, vehicleless, and who is wisdom of the nature of
moksha or salvation? The sage paused for a bit and
continued. I am he that Parmatma, who is
the eternal, the pure, the liberated, the nature of wisdom,
the true, the subtle, and all pervading, the second less the
ocean of bliss, and the one that is superior to Pratyaghatma, or
the individual soul. There is no doubt about it.
How will any calamity or bondage approach me, when I am depending
on my own bliss in my heart, who have put to shame the ghost of
desires, who look upon this universe, but as a jugglery, and
who am not associated with anything.
The ignorant, with their observance of the cast and
orders of life, obtain their fruits according to their
karmas. Men who have given up all the
duties of caste, etcetera, rest contained in the bliss on their
own distinctions of caste and orders of life, have divisions
among them and have beginning and end and are very painful.
Therefore, having given up all the identification with sons and
as well as the body, one should dwell in that endless and more
supreme bliss. This is how King Breed Ratta
attained the knowledge of Aatman from the sage Sakayana.
Friends, we will continue chapter 2 in my next episode
from Maitre Upanishad in which I will tell you about how Sage
Maitreya went up to Kailash and asked Mahadev about the
mysteries of Highest Tatva. Please do like, share, subscribe
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I look forward from hearing from you until then.
Source content collected from various books on Open Shirts,
such as Messages of the Open Shirts by Swami Ranganathananda.
Brioda Aranyak Upanishad by Swami Madhavananda, 8 Upanishads
from advaitaashramaupanishads.org
Vedas and Upanishads for children by Ru Papai and several
other write ups and thoughts on Upanishads.
Background music is sourced. From various royalty free music
sources, Apple. Loops Internet Archives with non
commercial 4.0 International license.
Om Shanti chants are from YouTube source Gaya Sanskrit.
This podcast was. Conceptualized, scripted,
narrated and audio designed by Arghya Goswami.