Vedanta philosophy refers to the term “Maya” as the cosmic illusion on account of which the one appears as many, the Absolute as the Relative. Adi Sankara in the hymn Bhaja Govinda, also known as Moha Mudgara, cautions people about the power of Maya by which this entire creation is constituted, pointed out Sri B. Sundarkumar in a lecture.
‘The world is only as real as the image that is seen in a mirror,’ says the acharya in the Dakshinamurthy Stotra. When this image of the world is seen within oneself, it is similar to what is seen by one due to an illusion.
In the state of sleep, one sees many scenes that appear real. One might have reacted to a fearful dream and cried out aloud while still in the dream state.
So the dream is true to the one who has seen it. This reality of the dream state is shattered when one switches to the reality of the waking state.
So is the dream state true or not? If the dream state is true, what happens to the dream when one wakes up? If the dream state is untrue, then what happens to the experiences felt in the dream state?
In the Advaita viewpoint, the illusory world is known as Mithya. What is seen, what is heard, what is thought by the mind and felt by the heart are all because of Maya. All this appears as Truth, but it is not the truth.
As long as one avoids the question ‘Who am I,’ one lives in this world thinking it is real. Confronting this question in earnest opens the path for the search for the Absolute Truth which a jnani is able to realise, while the ignorant are yet to transcend the veil of Maya.
Published - December 20, 2015 09:00 pm IST
