Maitreyi and the Question Asked While Dividing the Property
Yajnavalkya was dividing his estate before leaving for the forest. One of his wives asked for something that was not in it.
Yajnavalkya decided to renounce the household life. Before leaving for the forest he called his two wives, Katyayani and Maitreyi, and said he wished to divide everything he owned between them.
Katyayani accepted her share.
Maitreyi asked a question.
"If this whole earth were filled with wealth and all of it were mine — would I become immortal through it?"
Yajnavalkya said, "No. Your life would be like the life of people who have means. There is no hope of immortality through wealth."
Maitreyi said, "Then what use is it to me, if it cannot make me immortal? Give me instead what you know."
Pleased, Yajnavalkya gave her the teaching that is considered the heart of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:
"A husband is dear — not for the husband's sake, but for the sake of the Self. A wife is dear, a son is dear, wealth is dear — none of them for their own sake, but for the sake of the Self. Therefore, Maitreyi, the Self is what should be seen, heard, reflected on and meditated upon — for by knowing the Self, all this is known."
He gave her an image: a lump of salt thrown into water cannot be picked out again, yet the water tastes of salt wherever you taste it. So too is that reality — not findable as one thing among others, and present throughout.
Having said this, Yajnavalkya left for the forest.
The spirit of it: Maitreyi was being handed half an estate, and she asked a larger question instead. Asking "and what will this actually get me?" is not greed — it is discernment.
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