Maitri (Maitrāyaṇīya) Upaniṣad 6.34

6.34

pṛthivīgārhapatyo'ntarikṣaṃ dakṣiṇāgnirdyaurāhavanīyaḥ tata eva pavamānapāvakaśucaya āviṣkṛtametenāsya yajñam yataḥ pavamānapāvakaśucisaṃghāto hi jāṭharaḥ tasmādagniryaṣṭavyaḥ cetavyaḥ stotavyo'bhidhyātavyaḥ yajamāno havirgṛhītvā devatābhidhyānamicchati hiraṇyavarṇaḥ śakuno hṛdyāditye pratiṣṭhitaḥ madgurhaṃsastejovṛṣaḥ so'sminnagnau yajāmahe iti cāpi mantrārthaṃ vicinoti | tatsaviturvareṇyaṃ bhargo'syābhidhyeyaṃ yo buddhyantastho dhyāyīha manaḥśāntipadamanusaratyātmanyeva dhatte'treme ślokā bhavanti 1 yathā nirindhano vahniḥ svayonāvupaśāmyate tathā vṛttikṣayāccittaṃ svayonāvupaśāmyate |
2 svayonāvupaśāntasya manasaḥ satyakāmataḥ indriyārthavimūḍhasyānṛtāḥ karmavaśānugāḥ |
3 cittameva hi saṃsāram tatprayatnena śodhayet yaccittastanmayo bhavati guhyametatsanātanam |
4 cittasya hi prasādena hanti karma śubhāśubham prasannātmātmani sthitvā sukhamavyayamaśnute |
5 samāsaktaṃ yathā cittaṃ jantorviṣayagocare yadyevaṃ brahmaṇi syāttatko na mucyeta bandhanāt |
6 mano hi dvividhaṃ proktaṃ śuddhaṃ cāśuddhameva ca aśuddhaṃ kāmasamparkāt śuddhaṃ kāmavivarjitam |
7 laya vikṣeparahitaṃ manaḥ kṛtvā suniścalam yadā yātyamanībhāvaṃ tadā tatparamaṃ padam |
8 tāvanmano niroddhavyaṃ hṛdi yāvatkṣayaṃ gatam etajjñānaṃ ca mokṣaṃ ca śeṣānye granthavistarāḥ |
9 samādhinirdhautamalasya cetaso niveśitasyātmani yatsukhaṃ bhavet na śakyate varṇayituṃ girā tadā svayaṃ tadantaḥkaraṇena gṛhyate |
10 apāmāpo'gniragnau vā vyomni vyoma na lakṣayet evamantargataṃ yasya manaḥ sa parimucyate |
11 mana eva manuṣyāṇaṃ kāraṇaṃ bandhamokṣayoḥ bandhāya viṣayāsaṃgiṃ mokṣo nirviṣayaṃ smṛtam |
ato'nagnihotryanagnicidajñānabhidhyāyināṃ brāhmaṇaḥ padavyomānusmaraṇaṃ viruddham tasmādagniryaṣṭavyaḥ cetavyaḥ stotavyo'bhidhyātavyaḥ ||

34. The Gārhapatya fire is the earth. The Dakshiṇa fire is the atmosphere. The Āhavanīya fire is the sky. Hence they are [called] 'Purifying' (pavamāna), 'Purifier' (pāvaka), and 'Pure' (śuci). Thereby one's sacrifice is made manifest.

Since the digestive fire also is a combination of 'Purifying,' 'Purifier,' and 'Pure,' therefore this fire should be worshiped with oblations, should be built up, should be praised, should be meditated upon.

The sacrificer, when he takes the sacrificial butter, seeks meditation upon divinity thus:—

‘Who is the bird of golden hue,
Who dwells in both the heart and sun,
Swan, diver-bird, surpassing bright—
Him let us worship in this fire!’

And thus too one discerns the meaning of the sacred verse (_mantra_). 'That desirable splendor of Savitṛi' should be meditated upon as [the desirable splendor] of Him who is the meditator abiding in the intellect. Here in the world one reaches the place of tranquillity for the mind; he places it in the Self (Ātman) indeed.

On this point there are these verses:— As fire, of fuel destitute, Becomes extinct in its own source, So thought by loss of activeness Becomes extinct in its own source. Becomes extinct in its own source, Because the mind the Real seeks! For one confused by things of sense, There follow action’s false controls. _Saṃsāra_ is just one’s own thought; With effort he should cleanse it then. What is one’s thought, that he becomes; This is the eternal mystery. For by tranquillity (_prasāda_) of thought, Deeds (_karman_), good and evil, one destroys. With soul serene, stayed on the Soul, Delight eternal one enjoys! As firmly as the thought of man Is fixed within the realm of sense— If thus on Brahma it were fixed, Who would not be released from bond? The mind is said to be twofold: The pure and also the impure; Impure—by union with desire; Pure—from desire completely free! By making mind all motionless, From sloth and from distraction freed, When unto mindlessness one comes, Then that is the supreme estate!

So long the mind should be confined, Till in the heart it meets its end. That is both knowledge and release! All else is but a string of words!

With mind’s stains washed away by concentration,
What may his joy be who has entered Ātman—
Impossible to picture then in language!
Oneself must grasp it with the inner organ.

In water, water; fire in fire;
In air, air one could not discern.
So he whose mind has entered in—
Released is he from everything!

The mind, in truth, is for mankind
The means of bondage and release:
For bondage, if to objects bound;
From objects free—that’s called release!

Hence, for those who do not perform the Agnihotra sacrifice, who do not build up the fire, who do not know, who do not meditate, the recollection of the heavenly abode of Brahma is obstructed. Therefore, the fire should be worshiped with oblations, should be built up, should be praised, should be meditated upon.