Maitreyī
Late Vedic age · Videha · Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad
Maitreyī was a wife of Yājñavalkya and a seeker of brahman. When the sage prepared to leave home for the forest and offered to divide his wealth between his two wives, Maitreyī asked: “If the whole earth full of wealth were mine, would it make me immortal?” Told it would not, she replied, “What should I do with that which will not make me immortal? Tell me what you know.”
Yājñavalkya then gave her the famous teaching that a husband, wife, children or wealth are dear not for their own sake but for the sake of the Self — and that the Self is to be seen, heard, reflected and meditated upon.
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4, 4.5 · Brahmavādinī · “Yenāhaṃ nāmṛtā syām…”