Maitreya Upanishad

Maitreya Upanishad
Shiva shares his wisdom on soul and Brahman in Maitreya Upanishad
Devanagari	मैत्रेय
IAST	Maitreya
Date	after 3rd-century CE[1]
Type	Sannyasa
Linked Veda	Samaveda
Chapters	3
Verses	73
Philosophy	Vedanta or Vedic teachings

The Maitreya Upanishad (Sanskrit: मैत्रेय उपनिषत्, IAST: Maitreya Upaniṣad) is one of the minor Upanishads of Hinduism. Composed in Sanskrit,^[2] it is one of the 16 Upanishads that belongs to the Samaveda, is classified as one of the 20 Sannyasa Upanishads (Renunciation),^[3] and is one of the Vedanta Upanishads.^[4] The text is listed at 29 in the serial order in the Muktika enumerated by Rama to Hanuman in the modern era anthology of 108 Upanishads.^[5]

The Upanishad states that renunciation and self-knowledge is the path to moksha (liberation and spiritual freedom).^[6] According to Maitreya, "the Lord is within the heart of each person, he is the witness of the reason's dance, and the object of the utmost love".^[7] One must renounce the world, to achieve the rapture of the Self and become one with Brahman.^[8][9] The best renunciation is one, states Maitreya, where one abandons pride, wealth, delusion and lust; when delusion dies in a person, enlightenment is born.^[10]

In chapters 2 and 3 of the Upanishad, Lord Shiva preaches sage Maitreya the secret of highest reality (Brahman).^[11] The text states that Atman (soul, self), Brahman and Shiva are the same, one must understand one's true essence that is soul, and one must worship with the thought, "I am he".^[12]

The Maitreya Upanishad, states Patrick Olivelle, is a record of Sandhya rituals and rites that were abandoned in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism, along with the rationale for this development.^[13]