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";
In the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, , "appearance", In this nondualist school, at the individual level appears as the lack of knowledge () of the real Self, Atman-Brahman, mistakenly identifying with the body-mind complex and its entanglements.
In Hindu pantheon, the goddess Durga is seen as the embodiment of maya, as well as goddess Lakshmi. Māyā was also the name of Gautama Buddha's mother.
Etymology and terminology
Māyā (Sanskrit: ), a word with unclear etymology, probably comes from the root mā which means "to measure".
According to Monier 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".
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, states Mahony, the term implies "the wondrous and mysterious power to turn an idea into a physical reality".
Franklin Southworth states that 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", and Adrian Snodgrass,
A similar word is also found in the Avestan māyā, with the meaning of "magic power".
Maya can refer to one or more types of illusion:
- Illusion of the permanence of this world. Everything, including cells, humans, and stars, follow their own cycle of death and rebirth.
- Illusion that each individual is independent from the world/ecosystem. Reality as a living being is a facet of God experiencing other facets (living beings). This ecosystem includes farmers, bus/train drivers, shopkeepers, software engineers, etc. who are all inter-dependent.
- Illusion that our ever-evolving desires can be satisfied. We desire something and feel that we will be happy if that desire is fulfilled. But, when it is fulfilled, we desire something else.
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, and the battle which unfolds between good and evil is 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. 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. Varuna's supernatural power is called Maya. In the Aitareya Brahmana Maya is also referred to as Dirghajihvi, hostile to gods and sacrifices. 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. 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.
The Upanishads
thumb|upright|[[M. C. Escher paintings such as the Waterfall – redrawn in this sketch – demonstrates the Hindu concept of Maya, states Jeffrey Brodd. The impression of water-world the sketch gives, in reality is not what it seems.]]
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). Lynn Foulston states, "The world is both real and unreal because it exists but is 'not what it appears to be'."
Māyā pre-exists and co-exists with Brahman – the Ultimate Principle, Consciousness. 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. Gaudapada in his Karika on Mandukya Upanishad explains the interplay of Atman and Maya as follows,