THE LIVING ARCHIVE
About Maitreya
He is named as Vyasa’s friend and well-wisher when he arrives where Krishna is resting. His relationship to Parashara is one of discipleship, explicitly recalled when he describes the transmission of sacred teaching.
This Maitreya is the Hindu sage identified through his relationships with Parashara, Krishna and Vidura. The same name occurs in other religious traditions with different figures and teaching settings.
He also remembers Sankhyayana teaching Parashara and Brihaspati, placing his own learning within a further chain of listeners and teachers.
AT A GLANCE
Identity & Context
- Identity
- Rishi
- Form
- Rishi / teacher / narrator
- Tradition
- Puranic · Mahabharata
- World & Associations
- Sage teaching setting
Maitreya Rishi — Sage interlocutor in the Vishnu Purana and other Puranic teachings.
Family & Relationships
Family Context
The available reference record does not establish a complete family genealogy. No parents, consorts, or descendants are inferred from the name alone.
THE STORY
Life & Stories
Story Connections
- Dialogue with Parashara
ROLE & ESSENCE
Attributes & Significance
Maitreya connects major teaching lineages without replacing the voices within them. He is a learner before Parashara and a guide before Vidura, showing that the same sage can receive and transmit knowledge in different relationships.
Role
Sage interlocutor in the Vishnu Purana and other Puranic teachings.
Attributes & Abilities
- Spiritual inquiry
TRADITION & MEANING
Traditions & Interpretations
Maitreya asks Parashara about the world’s origin, families, cosmic periods and duties, then answers Vidura’s questions about devotion and divine manifestations. The two conversations give him different roles in the transmission of sacred knowledge: he is both an attentive student and a teacher responding to another seeker.
The Buddhist future Buddha Maitreya and the Hindu sage in these Puranic conversations are different religious identities sharing a name. Their narrative roles, teachers and settings are distinct.
From the Sacred Texts
Explore the sacred texts behind these stories in the Suvarnaveda library.
Artwork & Archive Notes
Objects & Emblems
No named weapon or artifact is specified in this profile’s reference record. This does not establish that the figure never used one.
Visual Identity
Where artwork is shown, it is a contemporary illustrative interpretation. This reference record does not establish a fixed portrait, colour scheme, or complete set of iconographic attributes for this figure.
Tradition Note
The accounts belong to Puranic / Mahabharata. Genealogy, theological interpretation, and portrayal can differ between texts and regional retellings.
FOLLOW THE THREADS
Connected Cards
6 connected profiles. Every path leads to an original record.
The Sacred Library3
Maitreya initiates the Purana’s wide inquiry.
Characters & Cosmic Entities3
Maitreya names Parashara as his teacher.
Vidura approaches Maitreya for instruction.
Maitreya is Vyasa’s friend and well-wisher.