DOCTRINE OF MAYA & ITS PERCEPTION BY ACHARYAS

 

DOCTRINE OF MAYA  & ITS PERCEPTION BY ACHARYAS

[Compilation for a Discourse by N. R. Srinivasan from Different Schools of Thought & Authors-July 2021]

Vedas say “aham Brahmasmi” and “devo ekah” -- from first letter ‘aa’ to last letter ‘ha’(‘aa’ to ‘ha’ and ‘period’=a-ha-m)  it is all Brahman alone and God-head is one. Later Nasadiyasukta   said: This Brahman got bored and split itself into two, as Purusha and Prakriti and then to many.  Then Purushasukta said: ‘sahasraseersha purushahah saharaksahah sahasarapaat’-- it became manifold creation.  So one school of thought said Purusha is manifest Brahman and Prakriti is his illusion or Maya   as a result of his hidden energy or Power.  So, one school of thought indulged in Archana Moorthi worship, visible form for worship, brought out the concept of Ardhanareesvara, Sakti (energy) as equal partner or sahadharminee. Another group said, Purusha is potential energy and Prakriti is kinetic energy that came out from potential energy, though illusory most powerful and presented to us as Sakti form or in energetic form, for our worship. It also said Potential energy is waste unless realized as Kinetic and expressed that as Siva without Sakti is Sava (corpse). Yet another school said Purusha is Refuge and Prakriti is Refugee and showed Lakshmi at the feet of Narayana or in his chest as subservient, with its Saranagati concept, telling all Prakriti is subservient to Purusha coming out of him and merging back in him in its repeated cyclic operation, that is active kinetic energy is purely dependent on inactive potential energy. Thus Maya becomes real but of lower nature.  All these Vedic thoughts brought forth different Doctrines of Maya as Illusory and Non-Illusory.  With this background let us understand the Doctrines of Maya from various philosophers.

 Vedanta Concept of Maya

Vedanta declares that our real nature is divine: pure, perfect, eternally free. We do not have to become Brahman, we are Brahman. Our true Self, the Atman, is one with Brahman.

But if our real nature is divine, why then are we so appallingly unaware of it? The answer to this question lies in the concept of Maya, or ignorance. Maya is the veil that covers our real nature and the real nature of the world around us. Maya is fundamentally inscrutable: we don’t know why it exists and we don’t know when it began. What we do know is that, like any form of ignorance, Maya ceases to exist at the dawn of knowledge, the knowledge of our own divine nature.

Brahman is the real truth of our existence: in Brahman we live, move, and have our being. “All this is indeed Brahman,” the Upanishads—the scriptures that form Vedanta philosophy—declare. The changing world that we see around us can be compared to the moving images on a movie screen: without the unchanging screen in the background, there can be no movie. Similarly, it is the unchanging Brahman—the substratum of existence—in the background of this changing world that gives the world its reality.

Yet for us this reality is conditioned, like a warped mirror, by time, space, and causality—the law of cause and effect. Our vision of reality is further obscured by wrong identification: we identify ourselves with the body, mind, and ego rather than the Atman, the divine Self.

This original misperception creates more ignorance and pain in a domino effect: identifying ourselves with the body and mind, we fear disease, old age and death; identifying ourselves with the ego, we suffer from anger, hatred, and a hundred other miseries. Yet none of this affects our real nature, the Atman.

Maya can be compared to clouds which cover the sun: the sun remains in the sky but a dense cloud cover prevents us from seeing it. When the clouds disperse, we become aware that the sun has been there all the time. Our clouds—Maya appearing as egotism, selfishness, hatred, greed, lust, anger, ambition—are pushed away when we meditate upon our real nature, when we engage in unselfish action, and when we consistently act and think in ways that manifest our true nature: that is, through truthfulness, purity, contentment, self-restraint, and forbearance. This mental purification drives away the clouds of Maya and allows our divine nature to shine forth.

Shankara, the great philosopher-sage of seventh-century India, used the example of the rope and the snake to illustrate the concept of Maya. Walking down a darkened road, a man sees a snake; his heart pounds, his pulse quickens. On closer inspection the “snake” turns out to be a piece of coiled rope. Once the delusion breaks, the snake vanishes forever.

Similarly, walking down the darkened road of ignorance, we see ourselves as mortal creatures, and around us, the universe of name and form, the universe conditioned by time, space, and causation. We become aware of our limitations, bondage, and suffering. On “closer inspection” both the mortal creature as well as the universe turn out to be Brahman. Once the delusion breaks, our mortality as well as the universe disappear forever. We see Brahman existing everywhere and in everything.

--Vedanta Society of Southern California

Swami Vivekananda on the Doctrine of Maya

The concept of Maya is a cardinal concept of the Vedanta. Vivekananda too uses this concept to answer the queries left behind by the essential nature of man. As Vivekananda vehemently urged that essentially man is divine, the Atman, which is none other than Brahman himself, it could be asked why then divinity is not known to man? If nothing but Brahman exists in the universe, only he being the only truth, how come that the reality of this Brahman remains unnoticed? Vedic thinkers had answered these queries that this unawareness is due to the veil that Maya has created. It is because of Maya that has concealed the reality and makes us take those things as real which are mere illusions.

Later, Sankaracharya   had given the illusion of snake in rope to illustrate his point. A man sees a rope in dark and mistakes it to be snake. Only by inspecting a little closer that he realizes his mistake that it is not snake, but rope. Snake is superimposed on the rope and is only an illusion, and not reality. The world is similarly an illusion and Maya has created this illusion by concealing the true reality of the world which is none other than Brahman.

Ramanuja did not accept the existence of avidya, because if Brahman were omnipresent and non-dual then it would be impossible for an opposing force such as avidya to exist. Moreover, if the world and everything in it was truly an illusion, as Shankara contended, then all religious scriptures must also logically be illusionary, which contradicts Shankara's assertion that the Vedic scriptures resonate with truth (Vedokilam dharma moolam). For these and other reasons, Ramanuja rejected Shankara's doctrines of maya (illusion) and avidya (ignorance).

Vivekananda does not accept this denotation of Maya as illusion. He finds contradiction in admitting infinity and uniqueness of the ultimate reality on the one hand, and Maya’s concealing the same. If ultimate reality or Brahman is the only truth of this universe having infinite knowledge and power – omniscience and omnipresent, which is the underlying principle of everything that is existent, then how come Maya is able to conceal its identity? Maya which is admitted to be creative power of the Brahman, should logically be then under its control. How is it possible that Maya goes out of its control and get itself superimposed upon it and produce the illusion of the world? That would make Maya more powerful than Brahman itself. This is logically and metaphysically impossible.

If Brahman is the only single, unique reality, then Maya should have only relative existence, but subservient to it, not superimposed on it. Ignorance, caused by Maya, can veil only those things which are in the purview of knowledge, but as Vivekananda maintains, “Nothing can have worked on the Absolute. There was no cause. Not that we do not know, or that we are ignorant; but It is above knowledge, and cannot be brought down to the plane of knowledge.” 

Absolute is something which is beyond our very capacities to know. If we take knowledge in the sense of like knowing facts of the world, then Absolute is really unknowable. We can have knowledge about X-Rays, but how would we define Absolute. That is why, Vivekananda says that Absolute or the ultimate reality is indescribable or indeterminate – that which cannot be described in determinate terms. 

Maya as delusion is the Vedic concept, which nourished in the hands of Buddhists, and came down to the later thinkers by way of legacy. Like old sages of Vedas, Buddhists too do not believe in the reality of external world. But since this world exists very much before our eyes, Vedic thinkers conceived Maya – the creative power of Brahman, which creates the world, but simultaneously conceals the Brahman so that ultimate reality does not come before us. Maya, for Vivekananda, is a, “simple statement of facts – what we are and what we see around us.” to achieve things, and yet in the end see ourselves trounced by unknown contingencies. Still, we are taught that only that achieves something in life, who makes effort. So, still despite our best efforts, why do we fail to achieve at times? Vivekananda says this is Maya. This is a simple fact of our life which we experience in our daily life – a fact which just exists but which does not have any reason. Maya is no delusionary.

It is worth recalling here the following Mantra of MNU that refers to Maya as Power:Please go through the following Mantra in MNU: 

ye te sahasramayu pāśā mṛtyo martyāya hantave | tān yajñasya māyayā sarvān- avayajāmahe || 

O Death, those thousand and ten thousand snares which thou hast laid for slaying man, all of them we remove by the power of our deeds of worship! 

Śiva, the auspicious God, is described as the greatest yogi, for, he has overcome the army of Death. Therefore He, the Auspicious Lord, is called Antakāntaka. For the devotees of God, the way to escape from the meshes of Death, said above, lies in the power of worshipping Him (or worship of his Power aspect)—the performance of prescribed duties to God properly and in the right spirit. This is perhaps what is implied by the phrase yajñasya māyayā or by the power of worship, where maaya means power. The same Upanishad addresses  Sun whom we worship during Sandhyavandana as Power: "Tejas Ojas"--Energy; Splendor

This needs a little elucidation. We see all the time making effort to achieve things, and yet in the end see ourselves trounced by unknown contingencies. Still, we are taught that only that achieves something in life, who makes effort. So, still despite our best efforts, why do we fail to achieve at times? Vivekananda says this is Maya. This is a simple fact of our life which we experience in our daily life – a fact which just exists but which does not have any reason. Maya is no delusionary force that conceals any reality; rather it is the name of all the contradictions that we see around. It is a simple statement of fact about this universe. This world which ancient thinkers called Maya in terms of delusion is not so according to Vivekananda. True, that many a times we come to realize the hallucinations in our real life like when we sleep, we take dreams to be reality. And upon waking, we realize the delusion of our dreams. Similarly, the enlightened souls at times doubt even this waking world as to what if even this waking world is a dream? This whole world may be a dream which we have taken for granted. We talk to each other, do a lot of feats in our dreams, and upon waking we realize, that was but a dream. Who knows that all this business in life that we go about doing day in and day out may turn out to be dream in the end? The fact is that we know nothing about this world; we just take it for granted. No one can prove that one is not dreaming right now, after all we do sleep-talking and even sleep-walking. In that context, they call this world a Maya – a delusion.

Vivekananda rejects this conception of world as delusion, and maintains that it has no absolute existence, which only Brahman has. The world exists only in relation to our minds and, “It has, therefore no real existence; it has no unchangeable, immovable, infinite existence. Nor can it be called non-existence, seeing that it exists, and we have to work in and through it. It is a mixture of existence and non-existence.”  

This apparently seems a contradiction, and Maya is nothing but how this contradiction is existing. Our whole lives are replete with contradictions. We have to die someday, yet we think that we will live here always. All our projects on earth appear to bear the stamp of eternity. We glorify good, but have to face evil at every step. We assume and preach the monist view of reality (i.e. only one reality), yet we see two realities as if existing simultaneously – good and evil both. We day and night want a place to live in where everything would be good, and nothing evil, and yet Vivekananda says, such a desire itself is full of contradiction. This is because, there would never be a world which is absolutely good or absolutely bad, because even this goodness and badness are relative to our tastes, time and place. A thing which appears good to me now, may appear bad to me some other time. The fire that burns the child, cooks food for the people. The same nerves carrying sensation of misery carry sensation of pleasure. How would good separated from evil exist? There can’t be good without evil, pleasure without misery, life without death. We want and take ourselves to be as if we are here to stay on this earth forever, knowing well that this is not possible. This is the contradiction of our life, and this is called Maya by Vivekananda. The underlying thread running in all these contradictions is the optimist nature of a human being, which is highly dominant in childhood. Child has high hopes in things running according to his fancies.  

Child can see trees waving to him, nature talking to him in host of voices, but as he grows young, he starts seeing realities. More grows the child, more the ideals of his childhood recede and then death stops all this business. The contradiction is that even though this happens to every child, past or future, still as we grow old, we don’t cease to hope for good to happen to us. In this endless optimism, we plan our journeys. Many a times, our plans hopelessly fail, even though, our planning had been meticulous. The example of senseless failures of countless men may be before us, but still, we would press on to having our own experience. Vivekananda here gives an example of futility of sensual experiences which people are being taught for ages, but which we can’t learn because not only we do not learn from others’ experiences, but we don’t learn from our own experiences as well. “Like moths hurling themselves against the flame, we are hurling ourselves again and again into sense-pleasures, hoping to find satisfaction there. We return again and again with freshened energy; thus we go on, till crippled and cheated we die. And this is Maya.”  

This contradiction of life is called Maya by Vivekananda. Western man called it with the phrase – Man proposes, God disposes! Maya is a trap of this contradictory life from which it is impossible for us to get out of. The world which is interplay of light and dark, good and evil, an interplay which has neither beginning nor end is a big Maya in which we live day in and day out. We live in this Maya, think in it, born and die in it. Our hopes, desires, thoughts, fears, feats and defeats are surrounded by this Maya. Nothing can be out of it. 

Everything that can be named or have a form, Nama-Rupa, is essentially in Maya. Everything bound by time-space and causation is within Maya. Because, this contradictory co-existence of light and dark is the fact of life, a fact of this universe of which we cannot remain ignorant or skeptic for long. Thus, Maya is not something dreadful, but it is a plain fact of our lives which we should accept. Not just our personal, but our social lives are replete with Maya. Vivekananda compares the social lives of Indian and Western countries. In India, people get married early in their lives, their spouses chosen by their parents. Their marital misery is usually accounted for by their lack of liberty and decision in their marriages. But, Vivekananda asks, are Western people better off than with the huge amount of liberty that they possess? Their social life is marked with frequent marriages, but equally frequent divorces. Indians are unhappy because of lack of freedom, Westerns are also unhappy because they can choose and forego. So, what is the solution? Vivekananda says, there is no solution to this contradiction. Maya is not about explaining the causes of the world affairs; it is about stating the facts as they exist in it. It does not give causes, and hence no remedy is possible. It just states that that is how things are there.  

Though, we can’t step out of Maya, surely we can know its existence. Vivekananda here gives hope of optimism and says that yes that is possible by realization. “When one realizes Brahman, for him Maya exists no longer, just as once the identity of the rope is found out, and the illusion of the serpent comes no more.”  

All the apparent changes that we see around are mere reflections of one unchanging substance called Brahman which is the sole reality of this universe. It can be asked if the ultimate reality is Brahman, which is unchanging, then how come we see changes in the universe which are happening day in and day out. Vivekananda explains this with the help of clouds and sun.

Clouds assemble over the sun and give the appearance of sun being moving behind their fleeting fleece. In reality, it is the clouds that are moving, not the sun. Like, while journeying in a train, we see various landscapes moving, but in reality, it is not the landscapes, but train which is moving. The moving landscapes are mere illusions. Similarly, all the changes are mere illusions, the underlying substratum is unchanging. The fact that both change and permanence are co-existing is Maya. Maya is the name of not illusions then, but all the contradictions that we see around.

 It is there in beings indivisible and as if divided--Gita.

Brahman, the Truth, the Knowledge, the Infinite--Taittiriya Upanishad.

Know Purusha and Prakriti to be both eternal without beginning--Gita. 

One must know Maya as Prakriti and the Master of Maya as the great Lord of all--Svetaswatara Upanishad.

 It is the might of the Godhead in the world that turns the wheel of Brahman. Him one must know, the supreme Lord of all lords, the supreme Godhead above all godheads. Supreme too is his Shakti and manifold the natural working of her knowledge and her force. One Godhead, occult in all beings, the inner Self of all beings, the all-pervading, absolute without qualities, the overseer of all actions, the witness, the knower.

Maya is Divine Energy or Sakti

Bhagawad Gita states:

mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te |daivī hyeṣhā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā || 7-14 ||

My divine energy Maya, consisting of the three modes of nature, is very difficult to overcome. But those who surrender unto me cross over it easily.

Some people claim that Maya is mithyā (non-existent)--Brahma satyam jagat mithyam.  They say that the material energy Maya is a perception created due to our ignorance, but if someone attains spiritual knowledge, Maya will cease to exist. The soul itself is the Ultimate Reality, and once we understand that, all illusions shall dispel. However, this theory is negated by the Bhagavad Gita in this verse. Shree Krishna has already stated that Maya is an extension of His energy and not an illusion.

The Śhvetāśhvatar Upaniṣhad also states:

māyāṁ tu prakṛitiṁ vidyānmāyinaṁ tu maheśhvaram   (4.10)

“Maya is the energy (prakṛiti), while God is the Energetic.” 

 

The Ramayan states: 

so dāsī raghubīra ki samujheṅ mithyā sopi

“Some people think Maya is mithyā (non-existent), but factually it is an energy engaged in the service of God.” 

 Shree Krishna has mentioned here that because Maya is His energy, it is difficult to overcome. If someone claims they have defeated Maya that would mean they have defeated God. No one can conquer God; therefore, Maya is equally invincible. The human mind is made of Maya merely by self-effort no yogi, jñānī, ascetic, or karmī can successfully control the mind.

One could then ask, “Is it impossible to overcome Maya?” The second line of this verse has the answer to this question. Shree Krishna says, “Those who surrender themselves to Me, the Supreme Lord, then by My grace, they would smoothly cross the ocean of material existence. I will instruct Maya to leave this soul, now that it has become Mine.” On God’s instructions Maya, the material energy of God, simply releases the surrendered soul from its clutches. It says, “My job is to keep troubling the soul until it surrenders at the feet of God; once the soul reaches there, my job is complete.”

 Here is an example from everyday life. Assume that you visit a friend who has a large house, outside on the gate, a board says, “Beware of dog.” When you look inside, a trained guard dog is standing on the lawn. As soon as it spots you, it starts growling menacingly, scared; you decide to take the back gate. But even before you reach the back of the house, it is waiting there for you and snarls furiously, as if saying, “You dare step into this house.” You have no choice, and you shout your friend’s name aloud. Hearing all the commotion, your friend comes and finds you at the gate troubled by his dog. He sternly says to the dog, “No, Tommy, that is a friend, we need to let him in, come and sit down here.” Hearing his master’s command, the dog silently goes and sits near him. You can now open the gate and let yourself in without fear.

In the same way, we are in the clutches of Maya, the material energy. Although it is subservient to God, it keeps troubling us so that we keep moving towards God. By our own efforts, we cannot defeat Maya; only when we surrender completely to God, by His grace, we can cross the ocean of material existence.  

Shri Krishna says that Maaya is divine, which means that it is supported by Ishvara but it has reality on its own. In our lives, however, we still rely on Maaya for support. We rely on our savings, friends, family, job, education and so on as our refuge if times get tough. But all this is still the product of Maaya. Once we shift our thinking that Maaya cannot be a support, we will rely on the cause of Maaya for support instead of Maaya. And that cause is Ishvara. We can only enjoy bungee jumping when we have a strong rope and support. Similarly, we can enjoy the play of Maaya if we have tethered ourselves to Ishvara.

Maya is a Power of Brahman says Aurobindo

 Once we begin to recognize that there is this inherent contradiction involved in positing on the one side an all-Knowing, all-Pervading, sole and absolute Existence; and on the other an unreal, illusory consciousness imposed by the action of Maya, we recognize that our framing of the issue, and our understanding of the issue must be the cause of the contradiction. It becomes clear that what we have called “Maya” and considered to be an imposition, is actually a power and action of the Brahman.

 

Sri Aurobindo describes the result of this recognition as follows: “We begin to envisage the Reality as an eternal oneness, status, immutable essence of pure existence supporting an eternal dynamics, motion, infinite multiplicity and diversity of itself. The immutable status of oneness brings out of itself the dynamics, motion and multiplicity– the dynamics, motion and multiplicity not abrogating but bringing into relief the eternal and infinite oneness. If the consciousness of Brahman can be dual in status or action or even manifold, there seems to be no reason why Brahman should be incapable of a dual status or a manifold real self-experience of its being. The cosmic consciousness would then be, not a creative Illusion, but an experience of some truth of the Absolute.”

Whereas the concept of an imposed illusion leaves us with a lot of contradictions, the concept of the One Existence being able to manifest itself and sustain multiple standpoints and statuses of consciousness, preserves the essence of One, Absolute, All-Knowing, All-Powerful Timeless Existence.

In this context please go through the following Mantra in MNU:

ye te sahasramayu pāśā mṛtyo martyāya hantave | tān yajñasya māyayā sarvān- avayajāmahe ||

O Death, those thousand and ten thousand snares which thou hast laid for slaying man, all of them we remove by the power of our deeds of worship!

 Śiva, the auspicious God, is described as the greatest yogi, for, he has overcome the army of Death. Therefore He, the Auspicious Lord, is called Antakāntaka. For the devotees of God, the way to escape from the meshes of Death, said above, lies in the power of worshipping Him—the performance of prescribed duties to God properly and in the right spirit. This is perhaps what is implied by the phrase yajñasya māyayā or by the power of worship, where maaya means power.  

Bhagavad Gita

In the Bhagavadgita, Bhagavan Krishna explains that he is able to become immanent in the physical world through the power of Maya. He says ‘Though I am unborn and eternal by nature, and though I am the Lord of all beings, subjugating My Prakriti, I accept birth through my own Maya.’ (4.6)

Thus, Maya has a positive aspect in its ability to generate Bhagavan’s avatars who come to the aid of humankind for the protection of dharma.

However, the Bhagavad Gita also states that Maya is a negative concept, as its production of the physical world deprives human beings of insights into the true nature of the universe. The positive aspect of Maya is seen in the teachings and actions of Krishna and the negative aspect is seen in the delusion and grief of Arjuna in the Mahabharata.

The law of karma governs the birth of a human being while the Lord is not subject to the law of Karma. He assumes the human form (avatar) retaining His power over the inscrutable Maya by which other beings are bound. This Maya remains as a self-imposed limitation of the Lord as long as he chooses to dwell in a human form. On account of Maya He acts like a human being; but it does not affect His nature. After His mission in the world is over, He Himself withdraws Maya and regains His incorporeal nature. His activities in the world are for setting up an example to ordinary men.

The embodiment of the Lord is only an appearance. A created being is under the control of Maya while the Lord is the controller of Maya. The birth and death of the Lord depends on His own will but the birth and death of an embodied being are due to the law of Karma. This is the difference between the Lord and the embodied being.

The Bhagavad Gita starts with the melancholy of Arjuna, which demonstrates the negative effect of Maya. Arjuna, even though well known for his nobility and bravery lost his discriminating wisdom under the influence of sorrow and delusion which were caused by affection and attachment arising from such ideas as, ‘I am theirs and they are mine’ with regard to kingdom, teachers, friends, relatives, kinsmen and so on. As a result he desisted from the battle which was his duty as a Kshatriya and to which he himself came forward on his own accord but later started thinking of living like a mendicant depending on alms. Thereby, he sank into a great mental malevolence overpowered by the veil of Maya under its avarana and viksepa sakti.

“Delusion caused by ego and attachment, is the cause of samsara, the incessant round of birth and death in the relative world. Only by knowledge of Reality can it be destroyed.

After receiving such enlightening Knowledge from Krishna, Arjuna got rid of sorrow and delusion, regained his composure and engaged himself in winning the war which was his natural duty. This is the positive element of Maya.  We have seen that Maya consists of three gunas and going beyond Maya or the three gunas is liberation. Bhagavan tells us how we can cross over the three gunas.

He who worships Me with the Yoga of undeviating love rises above the gunas and becomes fit to be one with Brahman. (14.26)

Verily, this divine Maya of Mine, made up of the gunas is difficult to overcome; those who take refuge in Me alone, shall cross over this Maya. (7.14)

This divine Maya is inscrutable to human reason and it is hard to overcome by one’s own effort unaided by Divine Grace. Hence Bhagavan says abandoning all duties one should become devoted to Him alone who is the Lord of Maya and the innermost Self of every being and he shall be liberated from the bondage of Maya. If by worshipping the Lord anybody can get rid of Maya, why do not all worship Him?

Bhagavan answers ‘The evil-doers, the deluded, the lowest of men, do not seek Me, deprived of knowledge by Maya and following the way of the asuras.’ (7.15)

He continues ‘I am not revealed to all veiled by My Maya born of the Gunas. This deluded world knows Me not, the Unborn and eternal.’ (7.25) Ignorant persons do not recognize an incarnation of God on account of the veil of Maya and regard him as an ordinary mortal.

The Lord Himself, through His grace, gives right knowledge to those who worship him with love. He says ‘On those who are ever devoted to Me and worship Me with love, I bestow the Yoga of understanding, by which they come to Me.’ (10.10) Yoga of understanding means a superior and exalted condition of the mind produced by meditation on the Lord by which the aspirant realizes the real nature of the Lord, through His grace alone free from all limitations. This is the ultimate goal of all spiritual endeavors.

Bhagavan concludes his teaching with the clarion call to all of us by telling Arjuna: ‘The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, and by His Maya causes them to revolve as though mounted on a machine’ (18.61). As in a puppet show the strings controlling the dolls are manipulated by their master behind the scenes the created beings move and act on the stage of this relative world under the control of the Lord seated in the hearts of all.

‘Priority, under His guidance, gives birth to all things, moving and unmoving; and because of this, the world revolves.’ (9.10) and therefore, ‘abandoning all rites and duties take refuge in Me alone. I shall free you from all sin. Therefore do not grieve. (18.66)

Here religious rites and duties mean all actions, good or evil, which create bondage and therefore are incomparable with the supreme liberation taught by Bhagavan. Sri Krishna lays down renunciation of all actions and surrendering to Him as the means of ultimate liberation or moksha. According to Sankara liberation can be attained only by removing ignorance through knowledge of Brahman as darkness can be destroyed only by light.

Sri Krishna again and again tells “Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, sacrifice to Me, bow down to Me. Having thus disciplined yourself and regarding Me as the Supreme goal, you will come to Me.” (9.34). This advice is also repeated in Chapter 18 Verse 65 as “Fix your heart on Me, give your love to Me, worship Me, bow down to Me; so shall you come to Me. This is My pledge to you, for you are dear to Me.”

Bhagavan reiterates “O scion of Bharata dynasty, he who being free from delusion, knows Me thus as a Supreme Person (Purushottama), he is all knowing and adores Me with his whole being.” (15.19) and “Take refuge in Him alone with your whole being, O scion of Bharata dynasty. Through His grace, you will attain the supreme Peace and the eternal abode.”(18.65)

Thus Devotion and Knowledge destroy the illusion of the very existence of the relative universe and reveals the Reality which is the One without a second. This destruction of Maya is simultaneous with the revelation of the ever existing Reality.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa on Maya

 Kali and Maya: Sri Ramakrishna, on the other hand, though fully aware, like his guru, that the world is an illusory appearance, instead of slighting Maya, like an orthodox monist, acknowledged its power in the relative life. He was all love and reverence for Maya itself was God, for everything was God. It was one of the faces of Brahman. What he had realized on the heights of the transcendental plane, he also found here below, everywhere about him, under the mysterious garb of names and forms. And this garb was a perfectly transparent sheath, through which he recognized the glory of the Divine Immanence. Maya, the mighty weaver of the garb, is none other than Kali, the Divine Mother. She is the primordial Divine Energy, Sakti, and She can no more be distinguished from the Supreme Brahman than can the power of burning be distinguished from fire. She projects the world and again withdraws it. She spins it as the spider spins its web. She is the Mother of the Universe, identical with the Brahman of Vedanta, and with the Atman of Yoga. As eternal Lawgiver, She makes and unmakes laws; it is by Her imperious will that karma yields its fruit. She ensnares men with illusion and again releases them from bondage with a look of Her benign eyes. She is the supreme Mistress of the cosmic play, and all objects, animate and inanimate, dance by Her will. Even those who realize the Absolute in nirvikalpa samadhi are under Her jurisdiction as long as they still live on the relative plane.

Thus, after nirvikalpa samadhi, Sri Ramakrishna realized Maya in an altogether new role. The binding aspect of Kali vanished from before his vision. She no longer obscured his understanding. The world became the glorious manifestation of the Divine Mother. Maya became Brahman. The Transcendental Itself broke through the Immanent. Sri Ramakrishna discovered that maya operates in the relative world in two ways, and he termed these "avidyamaya" and "vidyamaya". Avidyamaya represents the dark forces of creation: sensuous desires, evil passions, greed, lust, cruelty, and so on. It sustains the world system on the lower planes. It is responsible for the round of man's birth and death. It must be fought and vanquished. But vidyamaya is the higher force of creation: the spiritual virtues, the enlightening qualities, kindness, purity, love, devotion. Vidyamaya elevates man to the higher planes of consciousness. With the help of vidyamaya the devotee rids himself of avidyamaya; he then becomes mayatita, free of maya. The two aspects of maya are the two forces of creation, the two powers of Kali; and She stands beyond them both. She is like the effulgent sun, bringing into existence and shining through and standing behind the clouds of different colors and shapes, conjuring up wonderful forms in the blue autumn heaven.

The Divine Mother asked Sri Ramakrishna not to be lost in the featureless Absolute but to remain, in bhavamukha, on the threshold of relative consciousness, the border line between the Absolute and the Relative. He was to keep himself at the "sixth center" of Tantra, from which he could see not only the glory of the seventh, but also the divine manifestations of the Kundalini in the lower centers. He gently oscillated back and forth across the dividing line. Ecstatic devotion to the Divine Mother alternated with serene absorption in the Ocean of Absolute Unity. He thus bridged the gulf between the Personal and the Impersonal, the immanent and the transcendent aspects of Reality. This is a unique experience in the recorded spiritual history of the world.

Sri Ramakrishna says “The universe is created by the Mahamaya of God. Mahamaya contains both Vidyamaya, the illusion of knowledge and Avidyamaya, the illusion of ignorance. Through the help of Vidyamaya one cultivates such virtues as the taste for the holy company, knowledge, devotion, meditation, love, and renunciation. It includes discrimination and dispassion (Viveka and Vairagya) - i.e. God is real and the world illusory.

‘Avidyamaya consists of the five elements and the objects of the five senses viz.. sound, touch, form, taste and smell (shabda, sparsha, roopa, rasa and gandha). These make one forget God.’ A question was raised if the power of Avidyamaya is the cause of ignorance, then why has God created it? The reply given by the sage was ‘That it is His play. The glory of light cannot be appreciated without darkness. Happiness cannot be understood without misery. Knowledge of good is possible because of knowledge of evil.’

‘He who has knowledge has ignorance also. Therefore go beyond knowledge and ignorance. Suppose a thorn has pierced a man’s foot. He picks another thorn to pull out the first one. After extracting the first thorn with the help of the second thorn he throws away both the thorns. Similarly, one should use the thorn of knowledge to pull out the thorn of ignorance. Then one throws away both the thorns – knowledge and ignorance and attains Vijnana.’

‘What is Vijnana? It is to know God distinctly by realizing His existence through an intuitive experience and to speak to Him intimately. In order to attain Vijnana one has to accept the help of Vidyamaya. That is why Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: Go beyond the three gunas.’--T.N. Sethumadhavan

 

All Schools of Thought agree Un-manifest Brahman (Nirguna Brahman) presents Itself in Manifest Form (Saguna Brahman) to make us at-ease for worship and appeal as a child approaching its parents. This is Purusha (God-Head Father) and Prakriti or Maya or Nature as Mother. Traditional Advaita School says, Maya is illusory and therefore go with single parenthood of Father. Sakti school says go with more desirable Mother alone as single parenthood. Neo Ramakrishna-Advaita says you need both with their care and share responsibilities living together where mother is easily approachable in an ideal family.  Lastly Visshishtadvaita says, you live in a family where full responsibility falls on Father, as the Hhead of the Family whom the Mother   approaches constantly for advice and help while taking care of the child. Gita says, to-day we have both-parent cred families as well as single-parent cared families whose requirements vary and are different. Hence, you need all that pleases modern Hindu Society and Culture. The Vedic Society of Vasudheka Kutumbakam got disturbed by Modern Religious cultures that has penetrated the Modern Hindu Society at home as well as in migrant countries and so we see all these Doctrines of Maya are vehemently spread by  Urban Monks to their followers that directly influences our complex  Temple Tradition Worships! Gita enables all philosophers to draw their strength from its quotes. Thus, it is thus a wonderful composition composed by Vedavysa, catering to the needs of all to support their honest devotional pursuit!

All agree on the Will of the Supreme and the Motive Force (Bmf) to create and sustain. But the perception as to this Bmf varies--illusory or real, supreme, equal are subservient to Brahman and strangely all are agreed on its veneration. they also agreed on its cyclic nature like  Brahman’s visual manifestation.

 Advaita Philosophy presents Prakriti as Maya and that is mithyam--brahma satyam jagan mithyam. Brahman alone is Realty; all the rest  are Illusion.

Visishtadvaita says ‘vidhartaram havamaheavamahe’ --Let us worship the creator of the Universe inspired by Lakshmi who is Jaganmata showing her subservience to Him, sitting at his feet who after creation relaxes on Adisesha.

Saktas address her as ‘Easvaree sarvabhootaanam’ and ‘sarvabhootanam mata’--Mother of all entities inclusive of gods and stationary entities and says without her there is no creation or sustenance of the Universe! It further says Sri Vidyā is Brahma or Dahara Vidyā. It is one of the Dasha Mahā Vidyās. In Sanātana Dharma there is a mārga called shākta dharma, in which one can call upon the sarva vyāpaka/all pervading 'Eshwara Chaitanya Shakti' as Mother Divine and hailed as ‘Easvareem sarvabhutanam’ and ‘Sarvabutanam maataa’

Ramakrishna Vedanta while agreeing with Saktas and paying obeisance to  Mahamaya as Jaganmata as Visishtadvaita says, and further elaborates,  the only qualification we need to call upon Her is to become childlike and stretch our hands towards Her with all devotion and She, out of great compassion, bends down and picks us up. If we are fortunate to get right guidance, this is the safest and surest way to attain Ᾱtma Vidyā. Hence Ᾱdi Shankara Bhagawat-pāda, though an Advaita Vedāntin, has validated, propagated and done pratishthā of Sri Vidyā in all his Peethas across the country and also glorified in Soundarya Lahari. She wishes to put aside all description of hers and just we need to be a humble child of Jagan-mātā. Adi Shankara precedes Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and so Ramakrishna Vedanta is guided by Sankara’s Advaita Philosophy leading to final spiritual goal and his practical love and veneration of Sakti aspect of Brahman as Mahamaya visualized as Parasakti.