Guest guest Posted February 23, 2000 Report Share Posted February 23, 2000 Vivekacudamani by Adi Shankara Verses on Maya. Translated by Swami Turiyananda There is one - undifferentiated and undivided. Nobody can define what it is, but it has the power of God. Beginningless and, yet, also called ignorance, it has three qualities: sattva, rajas & tamas. It cannot be understood except by its action, and that, only by the illumined ones. It has created all this universe - produced it all. It is Maya. - 108 If you ask of its form, it cannot be stated. It is beyond description. It is neither real nor unreal; neither is it the mixture of the two. Is it separate from the Atman? It is nether separate, nor yet non-separate; not part of the Atman, yet neither can you say it is not part. It is not the body. It is most wonderful and beyond all description. - 109 It is real and unreal; unreal because it changes, and not unreal because it is. It is not separate, because you see Atman (if separate, there must be two), and you cannot say not separate (as you cannot say that snake is not separate from the rope). Knowledge of Brahman - the One, pure, without a second - destroys it, as the illusion of the snake in the rope is destroyed when the nature of the rope is known. - 110 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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