[ramakrishna] Digest Number 817

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>

> greetings,

>

> >

> > Vedic Verse

> >

> > All the sacred books, all holy sacrifice and

ritual

> > and prayers, all the

> > words of the Vedas, and the whole past and present

> > and future, come from

> > the Spirit. With maya, His power of wonder, He

made

> > all things, and by

> > maya the human soul is bound. Know, therefore,

that

> > nature is maya, but

> > that God is the ruler of maya, and that all beings

> > in our universe are

> > parts of His infinite splendor.

> >

> > Krishna Yajur Veda, Svetasvatara Upanishads 4.9

> >

> >

> >

>

>

> I have a doubt here, Is the maya described in this

> vedic verse is same as what Shanakara describes. In

Dr

> C.S shah's mail we see, Shankara explains maya as

> " avidya-kalpita or fashioned by avidya " , one which

> comes out of ignorance. ie illusion like in the case

> of rope and snake analogy.

>

> Where as maya described here is power of God, and

even

> in Bagavadgita we see, God explains his avatara as

>

> " Though I am birthless, undecaying by nature, and

the

> Lord of beings, (still) by subjugating My Prakriti,

I

> take birth by means of My own Maya. 4.6 "

>

> Any inputs are welcome,

>

> sarvam vAsudevamayam jagath

> Prashanth

>

 

 

>Let me attempt an answer:

 

>Maya is Maya hence every illustration used to convey

>its meaning

>is really going to fail in a serious way..

>The idea of snake in the rope ..... it is a very

>limited approach and does not do justice to the

>subject.

>

>Maya as defined by Vivekananda as

>'The world as it is --the state of affairs as they

>stand' is a very

>unique

>and

>different approach. Here greater room is given to

>come to terms with Maya.

>This second definition would go well towards the

?>question

>asked by Prashantha ---- the power that makes the

>unmanifest(Brahman) 'appear as manifested' (the

>world)

>then becomes a definition of maya.

>(it can also be used to explain the rope and snake

>example

>in the same terms --it makes the Rope (unmanifested)

?>appear as

>something else (snake).....

>

>We have not really grasped what Maya is even when we

>say

>'the state of affairs as it stands' -- because the

>next question

>would be 'what is the state of affairs'? -- and we

>are back

>to the drawing board.....how to come to grips with

>'The world as it is .....the state of affairs as they

>stand'?

 

>If we can understand Maya we have then indirectly

>caught on to Brahman because the field of operation

?>of Maya

>is its ability to interact with Brahman - ('making it

>appear as the

>universe')

>If we succeed in understanding one we catch on to the

>other.

>And Brahman does not like that.. : )

>This is not mere mental gymnastics but a process that

>exhibits limitations of our faculties to overstep

>their own boundaries.

 

>jay

 

 

Jay,

 

Thanks for the input. You are right. Maya is really

tough to understand. And I see in Bagavadgita many

places word Maya being used in different way than the

way Shanakara has defined.

 

sarvam vasudevamayam jagath

Prashanth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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