Maya (illusion)

''Maya'' (; Devanagari: , IAST: ), literally "illusion" or "magic", has multiple meanings in Indian philosophies depending on the context. In later Vedic texts, connotes a "magic show, an illusion where things appear to be present but are not what they seem"; the principle which shows "attributeless Absolute" as having "attributes". also connotes that which "is constantly changing and thus is spiritually unreal" (in opposition to an unchanging Absolute, or Brahman), and therefore "conceals the true character of spiritual reality".Lynn Foulston and Stuart Abbott (2009), ''Hindu Goddesses: Beliefs and Practices'', Sussex Academic Press, , pp. 14-16.

In the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, , "appearance", is "the powerful force that creates the cosmic illusion that the phenomenal world is real." In this nondualist school, at the individual level appears as the lack of knowledge () of the real Self, ''Atman-Brahman'', mistakingly identifying with the body-mind complex and its entanglements.

In Hinduism, is also an epithet for goddess Lakshmi, and the name of a manifestation of Lakshmi, the goddess of "wealth, prosperity and love".

In Buddhist philosophy, is invoked as one of twenty subsidiary unwholesome mental factors, responsible for deceit or concealment about the nature of things.Guenther (1975), Kindle Locations 900–901.Kunsang (2004), p. 25. Maya is also the name of Gautama Buddha's mother.

Etymology and terminology

''Māyā'' (Sanskrit: ), a word with unclear etymology, probably comes from the root ''mā''Jan Gonda, ''Four studies in the language of the Veda'', Disputationes Rheno-Traiectinae (1959), pages 119-188 which means "to measure".

According to Monier Williams, ''māyā'' meant "wisdom and extraordinary power" in an earlier older language, but from the Vedic period onwards, the word came to mean "illusion, unreality, deception, fraud, trick, sorcery, witchcraft and magic".Bhattacharji, Sukumari (1970)
The Indian Theogony: A Comparative Study of Indian Mythology from the Vedas to the Puraṇas
pages 35-37, Cambridge University Press Archive However, P. D. Shastri states that the Monier Williams' list is a "loose definition, misleading generalization", and not accurate in interpreting ancient Vedic and medieval era Sanskrit texts; instead, he suggests a more accurate meaning of ''māyā'' is "appearance, not mere illusion".P. D. Shastri
The Doctrine of Maya
Luzac & Co, London, page 5 and ix

According to William Mahony, the root of the word may be ''man-'' or "to think", implying the role of imagination in the creation of the world. In early Vedic usage, the term implies, states Mahony, "the wondrous and mysterious power to turn an idea into a physical reality".William Mahony (1997), The Artful Universe: An Introduction to the Vedic Religious Imagination, State University of New York Press, , pages 32-33

Franklin Southworth states the word's origin is uncertain, and other possible roots of ''māyā'' include ''may-'' meaning mystify, confuse, intoxicate, delude, as well as ''māy-'' which means "disappear, be lost".

Jan Gonda considers the word related to ''mā'', which means "mother", as do Tracy Pintchman and Adrian Snodgrass, serving as an epithet for goddesses such as Lakshmi. Maya here implies art, is the maker's power, writes Zimmer, "a mother in all three worlds", a creatrix, her magic is the activity in the Will-spirit.

A similar word is also found in the Avestan ''māyā'' with the meaning of "magic power".

Hinduism

Literature

The Vedas

Words related to and containing ''Māyā'', such as ''Mayava'', occur many times in the Vedas. These words have various meanings, with interpretations that are contested, and some are names of deities that do not appear in texts of 1st millennium BCE and later. The use of word Māyā in Rig Veda, in the later era context of "magic, illusion, power", occurs in many hymns. One titled Māyā-bheda (मायाभेद:, Discerning Illusion) includes hymns 10.177.1 through 10.177.3, as the battle unfolds between the good and the evil, as follows,

The above Maya-bheda hymn discerns, using symbolic language, a contrast between mind influenced by light (sun) and magic (illusion of Asura). The hymn is a call to discern one's enemies, perceive artifice, and distinguish, using one's mind, between that which is perceived and that which is unperceived. Rig Veda does not connote the word Māyā as always good or always bad, it is simply a form of technique, mental power and means.Ben-Ami Scharfstein (1998), A Comparative History of World Philosophy: From the Upanishads to Kant, State University of New York Press, , page 376 Rig Veda uses the word in two contexts, implying that there are two kinds of Māyā: divine Māyā and undivine Māyā, the former being the foundation of truth, the latter of falsehood.

Elsewhere in Vedic mythology, Indra uses Maya to conquer Vritra.Williams, George M., (2008). Handbook of Hindu Mythology, p.214. Oxford University Press. Varuna's supernatural power is called Maya. ''Māyā'', in such examples, connotes powerful magic, which both ''devas'' (gods) and ''asuras'' (demons) use against each other. In the Yajurveda, ''māyā'' is an unfathomable plan. In the Aitareya Brahmana Maya is also referred to as Dirghajihvi, hostile to gods and sacrifices.Agrawala, Prithvi Kumar (1984). Goddessess in Ancient India, p.121-123. Abhinav Publications,

/ref> The hymns in Book 8, Chapter 10 of Atharvaveda describe the primordial woman ''Virāj'' (, chief queen) and how she willingly gave the knowledge of food, plants, agriculture, husbandry, water, prayer, knowledge, strength, inspiration, concealment, charm, virtue, vice to gods, demons, men and living creatures, despite all of them making her life miserable. In hymns of 8.10.22, ''Virāj'' is used by Asuras (demons) who call her as Māyā, as follows,

The contextual meaning of Maya in Atharva Veda is "power of creation", not illusion. Jan Gonda, Gonda suggests the central meaning of Maya in Vedic literature is, "wisdom and power enabling its possessor, or being able itself, to create, devise, contrive, effect, or do something".Teun Goudriaan (2008), Maya: Divine And Human, Motilal Banarsidass, , page 1, and 2-17 Maya stands for anything that has real, material form, human or non-human, but that does not reveal the hidden principles and implicit knowledge that creates it. An illustrative example of this in Rig Veda VII.104.24 and Atharva Veda VIII.4.24 where Indra is invoked against the Maya of sorcerers appearing in the illusory form – like a '' fata morgana'' – of animals to trick a person.

The Upanishads

The Upanishads describe the universe, and the human experience, as an interplay of Purusha (the eternal, unchanging principles, consciousness) and Prakṛti (the temporary, changing material world, nature). The former manifests itself as Ātman (Soul, Self), and the latter as Māyā. The Upanishads refer to the knowledge of Atman as "true knowledge" (''Vidya''), and the knowledge of Maya as "not true knowledge" (''Avidya'', Nescience, lack of awareness, lack of true knowledge). Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, states Ben-Ami Scharfstein, describes Maya as "the tendency to imagine something where it does not exist, for example, atman with the body". To the Upanishads, knowledge includes empirical knowledge and spiritual knowledge, complete knowing necessarily includes understanding the hidden principles that work, the realization of the soul of things.

Hendrick Vroom explains, "The term ''Maya'' has been translated as 'illusion,' but then it does not concern normal illusion. Here 'illusion' does not mean that the world is not real and simply a figment of the human imagination. ''Maya'' means that the world is not as it seems; the world that one experiences is misleading as far as its true nature is concerned." Lynn Foulston states, "The world is both real and unreal because it exists but is 'not what it appears to be'." According to Wendy Doniger, "to say that the universe is an illusion (māyā) is not to say that it is unreal; it is to say, instead, that it is not what it seems to be, that it is something constantly being made. Māyā not only deceives people about the things they think they know; more basically, it limits their knowledge."

Māyā pre-exists and co-exists with Brahman – the Ultimate Principle, Consciousness.Archibald Edward Gough (2001), The Philosophy of the Upanishads and Ancient Indian Metaphysics, Routledge, , pages 47-48 Maya is perceived reality, one that does not reveal the hidden principles, the true reality. Maya is unconscious, Atman is conscious. Maya is the literal, Brahman is the figurative ''Upādāna'' – the principle, the cause. Maya is born, changes, evolves, dies with time, from circumstances, due to invisible principles of nature, state the Upanishads. Atman-Brahman is eternal, unchanging, invisible principle, unaffected absolute and resplendent consciousness. Maya concept in the Upanishads, states Archibald Gough, is "the indifferent aggregate of all the possibilities of emanatory or derived existences, pre-existing with Brahman", just like the possibility of a future tree pre-exists in the seed of the tree.

The concept of Maya appears in numerous Upanishads. The verses 4.9 to 4.10 of Svetasvatara Upanishad, is the oldest explicit occurrence of the idea that Brahman (Supreme Soul) is the hidden reality, nature is magic, Brahman is the magician, human beings are infatuated with the magic and thus they create bondage to illusions and delusions, and for freedom and liberation one must seek true insights and correct knowledge of the principles behind the hidden magic. Gaudapada in his Karika on Mandukya Upanishad explains the interplay of Atman and Maya as follows,Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, , page 618

Sarvasara Upanishad refers to two concepts: ''Mithya'' and ''Maya''. It defines ''Mithya'' as illusion and calls it one of three kinds of substances, along with Sat (Be-ness, True) and Asat (not-Be-ness, False). ''Maya'', Sarvasara Upanishad defines as all what is not Atman. Maya has no beginning, but has an end. Maya, declares Sarvasara, is anything that can be studied and subjected to proof and disproof, anything with Guṇa