Vivekachudamani 18 What is Maya? - By Swami Tattwamayananda

The entire text is built around answering seven questions from the student in the 51st verse. The seven questions are: (1) What is this bondage? (2) How does it come about? (3) How does it exist and what sustains it? (4) How do we come out of it? (5) What is anatman? (6) What is the supreme Atman? (7) How do we differentiate between atman and anatman?The teacher starts by answering the 5th question first: “What is anatman”, by discussing different sarira (body). There are three sariras: Sthula sarira (gross body), sukhshma sarira (subtle body, the personality behind the gross body) and karana sarira (lack of understanding of our true nature).If we analyze the nature of this world, it is subject to change. It does not have permanent existence. It is called anatman in Vedanta.Karana-sarira is the actual cause of bondage. We forget our true nature (ignorant) and mistakenly identify ourselves with the physical body. It is called Avidya or Maya.This ignorance is not absence of knowledge at an intellectual level. It refers to the state in which we live (at an emotional level) without awareness of our true nature.110th verse describes Maya.It is avyakta. It does not have a verifiable dimension, such as name and form. Greed, anger and jealousy exist because of a lack of awareness of our true nature.It is paramesa-sakti. It is God’s power.It is Anadi – it does not have an origin, but it does have an end. It comes to an end when we realize our true nature.When awakening happens, we feel inner serenity and contentment, and we also become a source of serenity to those around us. Christ and Buddha had this contentment at their last moments.It is trigunatmika. It manifests through the three gunas: sattva (serenity), rajas (activity) and tamas (laziness).This world of name and form is a creation of Maya. It is a strange, mysterious reality. We understand it when we get out of it.Maya is composed of two sounds: “Ma”, which negates and “Ya” which is a pronoun and refers to something real. “Ya” refers to something “real”, but “Ma” negates it (not Real). It is only real in a relative sense.The idea of relative cannot be conceived with the idea of Absolute. The Absolute seen through the prism of time, space and causation is the relative.Maya can only be inferred. It does not have a visible form. It can be inferred when we reach a higher level of spiritual evolution. The unevolved only see the relative. The enlightened see both the Absolute and the relative. Ramana Maharshi saw this world as non-distinct from the Absolute.The 111th verse is a very celebrated verse, one that has been translated by Swami Vivekananda in many of his Vedanta lectures.Maya is a great mystery that cannot be defined. It is beyond "shabda pravirti nimittani" means it is beyond the five conditions necessary for us to be able to explain anything by words.