Editing Maya (religion) (section)

===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,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z3ksBrWoZm0C|title=Vedic Civilization|last=Pruthi|first=Raj|publisher=Discovery Publishing House|year=2004|isbn=9788171418756|pages=222–223|language=en}}</ref> 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 [[Mayabheda|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:<ref name=lauriepatton/>

{{quote|<poem lang="sa">
पतंगमक्तमसुरस्य '''माय'''या हृदा पश्यन्ति मनसा विपश्चितः ।
समुद्रे अन्तः कवयो वि चक्षते मरीचीनां पदमिच्छन्ति वेधसः ॥१॥
पतंगो वाचं मनसा बिभर्ति तां गन्धर्वोऽवदद्गर्भे अन्तः ।
तां द्योतमानां स्वर्यं मनीषामृतस्य पदे कवयो नि पान्ति ॥२॥
अपश्यं गोपामनिपद्यमानमा च परा च पथिभिश्चरन्तम् ।
स सध्रीचीः स विषूचीर्वसान आ वरीवर्ति भुवनेष्वन्तः ॥३॥
</poem>

<poem>
The wise behold with their mind in their heart the Sun, made manifest by the illusion of the [[Asura]];
The sages look into the solar orb, the ordainers desire the region of his rays.
The Sun bears the word in his mind; the Gandharva has spoken it within the wombs;
sages cherish it in the place of sacrifice, brilliant, heavenly, ruling the mind.
I beheld the protector, never descending, going by his paths to the east and the west;
clothing the quarters of the heaven and the intermediate spaces. He constantly revolves in the midst of the worlds.
</poem>
|[[Rigveda|Rig veda]] X.177.1-3, Translated by Laurie Patton<ref name=lauriepatton>{{cite book|title=Bringing the Gods to Mind:Mantra and Ritual in Early Indian Sacrifice|author=Laurie L. Patton|publisher=University of California Press|page=132|date=2005}};<br>Sanskrit Original: [http://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_१०.१७७ ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं १०.१७७] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503210229/http://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%8B%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A6:_%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%82_%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%A6.%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%AD%E0%A5%AD |date=3 May 2015 }} Wikisource</ref>}}

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.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bringing the Gods to Mind:Mantra and Ritual in Early Indian Sacrifice|author=Laurie L. Patton|publisher=University of California Press|pages=137, 187|date=2005}}</ref> 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.<ref name=beamsc>Ben-Ami Scharfstein (1998), A Comparative History of World Philosophy: From the Upanishads to Kant, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791436844}}, page 376</ref> 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.<ref>Sri Aurobindo (1917, Reprinted 1998), The Secret of the Veda, Volume 15, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, page 399, also see pages 225, 76, 89, 97, 512</ref>

Elsewhere in Vedic mythology, [[Indra]] uses Maya to conquer [[Vritra]].<ref name="williams">Williams, George M., (2008). Handbook of Hindu Mythology, p.214. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|9780195332612}}</ref> [[Varuna]]'s supernatural power is called Maya.<ref name="sb"/> ''Māyā'', in such examples, connotes powerful magic, which both ''devas'' (gods) and ''asuras'' (demons) use against each other.<ref name="sb"/> In the [[Yajurveda]], ''māyā'' is an unfathomable plan.<ref>Desai, Gandabhai Girijashanker (1967). Thinking with the Yajurveda, p.16. Asia Publishing House.</ref> In the [[Aitareya Brahmana]] Maya is also referred to as Dirghajihvi, hostile to gods and sacrifices.<ref name="agrawala">Agrawala, Prithvi Kumar (1984). Goddessess in Ancient India, p.121-123. Abhinav Publications, {{ISBN|0391029606}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=8BmDIbNuD0gC&dq=maya+asura+goddess&pg=PA122]</ref> The hymns in Book 8, Chapter 10 of Atharvaveda describe the primordial woman ''Virāj'' ({{lang|sa|विराज्}}, 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,

{{quote|
<poem>
She rose. The Asuras saw her. They called her. Their cry was, "Come, O Māyā, come thou hither" !!
Her cow was Virochana Prahradi. Her milking vessel was a pan of iron.
Dvimurdha Artvya milked this Māyā.
The Asuras depend for life on Māyā for their sustenance.
One who knows this, becomes a fit supporter [of gods].
</poem>
|[[Atharvaveda|Atharva veda]] VIII.10.22 <ref>Original Sanskrit: [http://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/अथर्ववेदः/अथर्ववेद:_काण्डं_8 अथर्ववेद: काण्डं 8] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606112653/http://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A5%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%83/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A5%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A6:_%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A1%E0%A4%82_8 |date=6 June 2015 }} Wikisource;<br>English Translation: [https://archive.org/stream/hymnsatharvaved03unkngoog#page/n186/mode/2up Atharva Veda] Ralph Griffith (Translator), verse 22 (page 423), pages 421-426</ref>}}

The contextual meaning of Maya in Atharva Veda is "power of creation", not illusion.<ref name=beamsc/> [[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".<ref name=teun>Teun Goudriaan (2008), Maya: Divine And Human, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120823891}}, page 1, and 2-17</ref><ref>J. Gonda (1952), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40879558 Maya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909110317/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40879558 |date=9 September 2021 }}, Tijdschrift voor Philosophie, 14de Jaarg., Nr. 1 (MAART 1952), pages 3-62;<br>English excerpted version: J. Gonda (1962), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1062054 Some Notes on the Study of Ancient-Indian Religious Terminology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909110321/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1062054 |date=9 September 2021 }}, History of Religions, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Winter, 1962), pages 243-273; Gonda's interpretation of Maya in Vedic texts is on page 248</ref> 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.<ref name=teun/> 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&nbsp;– like a ''[[Fata Morgana (mirage)|fata morgana]]''&nbsp;– of animals to trick a person.<ref>Teun Goudriaan (2008), Maya: Divine And Human, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120823891}}, page 4</ref>

====The Upanishads====
[[File:Waterfall.svg|thumb|upright|[[M. C. Escher]] paintings such as the [[Waterfall (M. C. Escher)|Waterfall]]&nbsp;– redrawn in this sketch&nbsp;– demonstrates the Hindu concept of Maya, states Jeffrey Brodd.<ref>J Brodd, World Religions: A Voyage of Discovery, 3rd Edition, Saint Mary's Press, {{ISBN|978-0884899976}}, page 55</ref> 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).<ref>[[Paul Deussen]], {{Google books|2h0YAAAAYAAJ|The Philosophy of the Upanishads|page=161}}, pages 161, 240-254</ref> The former manifests itself as [[Ātman (Hinduism)|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).<ref name=beamsc/> [[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".<ref name=beamsc/> 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."<ref>H.M. Vroom (1996), No Other Gods, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, {{ISBN|978-0802840974}}, page 57</ref> Lynn Foulston states, "The world is both real and unreal because it exists but is 'not what it appears to be'."<ref name=lynnfoulston/> 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."<ref>Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (1986), Dreams, Illusion, and Other Realities, University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|978-0226618555}}, page 119</ref>

Māyā pre-exists and co-exists with [[Brahman]]&nbsp;– the Ultimate Principle, Consciousness.<ref name=aegough>Archibald Edward Gough (2001), The Philosophy of the Upanishads and Ancient Indian Metaphysics, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415245227}}, pages 47-48</ref> 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''&nbsp;– the principle, the cause.<ref name=aegough/> 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.<ref name=aegough/>

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.<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814684}}, pages 316-317</ref> Gaudapada in his Karika on [[Mandukya Upanishad]] explains the interplay of Atman and Maya as follows,<ref name=pauldvol2>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814691}}, page 618</ref>

{{quote|
<poem>
The Soul is imagined first, then the particularity of objects,
External and internal, as one knows so one remembers.
As a rope, not perceived distinctly in dark, is erroneously imagined,
As snake, as a streak of water, so is the Soul (Atman) erroneously imagined.
As when the rope is distinctly perceived, and the erroneous imagination withdrawn,
Only the rope remains, without a second, so when distinctly perceived, the Atman.
When he as Pranas (living beings), as all the diverse objects appears to us,
Then it is all mere Maya, with which the Brahman (Supreme Soul) deceives himself.
</poem>
|[[Gaudapada]], Māṇḍukya Kārikā 2.16-19 <ref name=pauldvol2/>}}

Sarvasara Upanishad refers to two concepts: ''Mithya'' and ''Maya''.<ref name=knaiyar/> 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]]s.<ref name=knaiyar/> In the human search for Self-knowledge, Maya is that which obscures, confuses and distracts an individual.<ref name=knaiyar>KN Aiyar (Translator, 1914), Sarvasara Upanishad, in Thirty Minor Upanishads, page 17, {{oclc|6347863}}</ref>

====The Puranas and Tamil texts====
[[File:Kamchipuram 4015.jpg|thumb|upright|Markandeya sees Vishnu as an infant on a fig leaf in the deluge]]
In [[Puranas]] and Vaishnava theology, ''māyā'' is described as one of the nine shaktis of [[Vishnu]].<ref name="sb1">Bhattacharji, Sukumari (1970). ''The Indian Theogony: A Comparative Study of Indian Mythology from the Vedas to the Puraṇas'', pp. 312-345. CUP Archive.</ref>  ''Māyā'' became associated with sleep; and Vishnu's ''māyā'' is sleep which envelopes the world when he awakes to destroy evil. Vishnu, like Indra, is the master of ''māyā''; and ''māyā'' envelopes Vishnu's body.<ref name="sb1"/> The ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' narrates that the sage [[Markandeya]] requests Vishnu to experience his ''māyā''. Vishnu appears as an infant floating on a fig leaf in a deluge and then swallows the sage, the sole survivor of the cosmic flood. The sage sees various worlds of the universe, gods etc. and his own hermitage in the infant's belly. Then the infant breathes out the sage, who tries to embrace the infant, but everything disappears and the sage realizes that he was in his hermitage the whole time and was given a flavor of Vishnu's ''māyā''.<ref name="Brown1990">{{cite book|author=Cheever Mackenzie Brown|title=The Triumph of the Goddess: The Canonical Models and Theological Visions of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana|year=1990|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-0363-1|chapter=The two Bhagavatas|pages=27–8}}</ref> The magic creative power, ''Māyā'' was always a monopoly of the central Solar God; and was also associated with the early solar prototype of Vishnu in the early Aditya phase.<ref name="sb1"/>

The basic grammar of the third and final [[Tamil Sangam]] is ''[[Tholkappiyam]]'' composed by ''Tholkappiyar'', who according to critics is referred as Rishi [[Jamadagni]]'s brother ''Sthiranadumagni'' and uncle of [[Parshurama]]. He categorically uses a [[Prakrit]] (Tamil:Pagatham) [[Tadbhava]] ''Mayakkam'', which is the root of the word Maya(m). He says that the entire creation is a blurred flow between [[State of matter]] or ''[[Pancha Bhoota|Pancha Bhutas]]''. This concept of Maya is of the school of [[Agastya]], who was the first Tamil grammarian and the [[guru]] of Tholkappiyar.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tamilvu.org/slet/l0100/l0100pd1.jsp?bookid=1&auth_pub_id=10&pno=635|title=:: TVU ::|website=www.tamilvu.org}}</ref>

In Sangam period Tamil literature as well as the later hymns of the Tamil Alvars, Krishna and Narayana are found as ''Māyon'';<ref>Bryant, Edwin Francis (ed.) (2007). ''Krishna: A Sourcebook'', pp.7-8. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0198034008}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=0z02cZe8PU8C&dq=mayon+krishna&pg=PA7]</ref> with other attributed names are such as Mal, Tirumal, Perumal and Mayavan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/hindu/ascetic/mal.html|title=Devotion to Mal (Mayon)|website=www.philtar.ac.uk}}</ref> In the Tamil classics, Durga is referred to by the feminine form of the word, viz., ''māyol'';<ref name="rao">Saligrama Krishna Ramachandra Rao (2003). ''Encyclopedia of Indian Iconography: Hinduism&nbsp;— Buddhism&nbsp;— Jainism'', Vol. 2, p. 1178. Sri Satguru Publications. {{ISBN|8170307635}}.</ref> wherein she is endowed with unlimited creative energy and the great powers of Vishnu, and is hence ''Vishnu-Maya''.<ref name="rao"/>

Maya, to Shaiva Siddhanta sub-school of Hinduism, states Hilko Schomerus, is reality and truly existent, and one that exists to "provide Souls with ''Bhuvana'' (a world), ''Bhoga'' (objects of enjoyment), ''Tanu'' (a body) and ''Karana'' (organs)".<ref>Hilko Schomerus (2000), Śaiva Siddhānta: An Indian School of Mystical Thought, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120815698}}, page 118</ref>