| Brihadratha Ikshvaku |
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Brihadratha, belonging to theIkshvaku race, was a king of the Vedic era (there are several kings of this name in Hindu tradition).[1] This nameBrihadratha of a warrior king who was a Maharatha is found in theRig Veda. The word, Brihadratha, means the Mighty Warrior. He appears at the beginning of theMaitri Upanishad after he had renounced his kingdom in favour of his son, seeking for himself relief from the endless cycle of birth and rebirth. No other information about him or his period is available in this text or in any other text. Maitri Upanishad belongs to the Maitrayaniya branch of KrishnaYajur Veda, which upanishad was taught to Sakayana by Maitri or Maitreya, the son of Mitra.[2] Brihadratha chose the knowledge of the Self when he was offered a boon. He gave up his home and possessions and thereafter assisted bySakayanya even renounced the “I-ness” of his body.[3]
Anti-Hedonism, evident in theKatha Upanishad in the refusal ofNachiketa to be seduced by the life of pleasure offered to him by Yama, degenerates into utter pessimism when Nachiketa tells Yama
This pessimism surpasses all bounds in the lament of Brihadratha before Sage Sakayana, as he asks
and, he entreats the son of Sakayana, who appeared before him in the forest, to save himas one might save a frog from a waterless well.[4]
Sakayanya then taught Brihadratha how to suppress his own mind because only when the mind is suppressed does one see the brilliant Self glowing everywhere in all Its glory and by seeing whom one freed from own thoughts becomes selfless. In selflessness one attains absolute unity.[5]
