Maya
An endeavour at soul-searching led me to these excerpts from the ubiquitous entity we call the Internet...
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In Devi Bhagwata Purana, it is mentioned that once Narada asked Vishnu about the secret nature of Maya (Illusion).
“What is Maya?” asked Narada.
“The world is my Maya. He who accepts this, realizes me,” said Vishnu.
“Before I explain, will you fetch me some water?” requested the Lord pointing to a river.
Narada did as he was told. But on his way back, he saw a beautiful woman. Smitten by her beauty, he begged the woman to marry him. She agreed.
Narada built a house for his wife on the banks of the river. She bore him many children. Loved by his wife, adored by his sons and daughters, Narada forgot all about his mission to fetch water for Vishnu.
In time, Narada’s children had children of their own. Surrounded by his grandchildren, Narada felt happy and secure. Nothing could go wrong.
Suddenly, dark clouds enveloped the sky. There was thunder, lightning, and rain. The river overflowed, broke its banks and washed away Narada’s house, drowning everyone he loved, everything he possessed. Narada himself was swept away by the river.
“Help, help. Somebody please help me,” he cried. Vishnu immediately stretched out his hand and pulled Narada out of the water.
Back in Vaikuntha, Vishnu asked, “Where is my water?”
“How can you be so remorseless? How can you ask me for water when I have lost my entire family?”
Vishnu smiled. “Calm down, Narada. Tell me, where did your family come from? From Me. I am the only reality, the only entity in the cosmos that is eternal and unchanging. Everything else is an illusion – a mirage, constantly slipping out of one’s grasp.”
“You, my greatest devotee, knew that. Yet, enchanted by the pleasures of worldly life, you forgot all about me. You deluded yourself into believing that your world and your life were all that mattered and nothing else was of any consequence. As per your perspective, the material world was infallible, invulnerable, perfect. That is Maya.”
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The Supreme Self (or Ultimate Reality) who is Pure Consciousness perceived Himself by Selfhood (i.e. Existence with "I"-Conciousness). He became endowed with the name "I". From that arose the basis of difference.
Bhagavad Gita, Ch.13, verse 26: "Wherever a being is born, whether unmoving or moving, know thou Arjuna, that it is from the union between the field and the knower of the field".
(Purusha or Shiva or Spirit is the knower of the field, Prakriti or Shakti (Maya) or Matter is the field)
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Fuck. I guess this is this what I am. An Illusion arising from a fluctuation in the unison of a field and it's knower.
Notwithstanding the above, I still hate illusions.
---
In Devi Bhagwata Purana, it is mentioned that once Narada asked Vishnu about the secret nature of Maya (Illusion).
“What is Maya?” asked Narada.
“The world is my Maya. He who accepts this, realizes me,” said Vishnu.
“Before I explain, will you fetch me some water?” requested the Lord pointing to a river.
Narada did as he was told. But on his way back, he saw a beautiful woman. Smitten by her beauty, he begged the woman to marry him. She agreed.
Narada built a house for his wife on the banks of the river. She bore him many children. Loved by his wife, adored by his sons and daughters, Narada forgot all about his mission to fetch water for Vishnu.
In time, Narada’s children had children of their own. Surrounded by his grandchildren, Narada felt happy and secure. Nothing could go wrong.
Suddenly, dark clouds enveloped the sky. There was thunder, lightning, and rain. The river overflowed, broke its banks and washed away Narada’s house, drowning everyone he loved, everything he possessed. Narada himself was swept away by the river.
“Help, help. Somebody please help me,” he cried. Vishnu immediately stretched out his hand and pulled Narada out of the water.
Back in Vaikuntha, Vishnu asked, “Where is my water?”
“How can you be so remorseless? How can you ask me for water when I have lost my entire family?”
Vishnu smiled. “Calm down, Narada. Tell me, where did your family come from? From Me. I am the only reality, the only entity in the cosmos that is eternal and unchanging. Everything else is an illusion – a mirage, constantly slipping out of one’s grasp.”
“You, my greatest devotee, knew that. Yet, enchanted by the pleasures of worldly life, you forgot all about me. You deluded yourself into believing that your world and your life were all that mattered and nothing else was of any consequence. As per your perspective, the material world was infallible, invulnerable, perfect. That is Maya.”
---
The Supreme Self (or Ultimate Reality) who is Pure Consciousness perceived Himself by Selfhood (i.e. Existence with "I"-Conciousness). He became endowed with the name "I". From that arose the basis of difference.
Bhagavad Gita, Ch.13, verse 26: "Wherever a being is born, whether unmoving or moving, know thou Arjuna, that it is from the union between the field and the knower of the field".
(Purusha or Shiva or Spirit is the knower of the field, Prakriti or Shakti (Maya) or Matter is the field)
---
Fuck. I guess this is this what I am. An Illusion arising from a fluctuation in the unison of a field and it's knower.
Notwithstanding the above, I still hate illusions.
12 comments:
what is maya nahin who is maya...and if she's hot can I have her number?
She is...
the Veil.
the Illusion.
kya karen yeh sab is duniya ki maya hai
PS: I'm sure Maya will be happy you looking up her name and all:)
Good one bud! One more conclusion... what you want to become is like the request of Vishnu. But along the way... we loose track of the goal(water!) and end up somewhere else... all of us need a reminder(like the storm!!) of our purpose!
Haha, but what is the original purpose/goal? Finding that itself may be the goal.
@Australo : Maya... The essence of everything. But the Maya you want... Yes, she is hot! Her number is KA05-EZ-4495.
@Misty : :-)
@Devil : Absolutely! Thanks for the reminder and the visit. Next time, we'll make it more interesting... Hehe.. ;-)
Ahhhh buddy no heartbreak and shite..just some insights into life..and yup it does call for beer:) Maybe another Java city conversation bout the prakruthi and purusha would also be cool!!
Long live the WEB;)
Prakriti being maya, need to check that up, where did you find this? on the net?
and according to which school is this so? just curious.
Yeh maya jaal hai,
ya mayaji ki chaal hai?
@Iyer : Yes indeed... :-)
@Chamki : The first part is essentially Vaishnavite philosophy and it can be easily traced as such. The second part is advocated by Advaita philosophy. Please do check it up and let me know... :-)
@Nikhil :
Yeh maya jaal hai,
ya mayaji ki chaal hai!
Aur tu, dost,
Laude ka baal hai!!
Sorry, just couldn't resist it. ROTFL!!!
i have covered these topics in college, both Nyaya Vaisheshika which is the theory of evolution with Prakriti and Purush and Advaita philosophy which talks about the Maya bit, havent found the link you made between the two philosophies anywhere thats why i asked you.
Interesting how you linked them up.
That is what it is, according to shankaracharya, everything is Brahman, and MAya is the creative power of Brahman that makes illusions and stops us from realising that we are also merely Brahman. Everything is finally Brahman according to him.Maya is like the magician's skill and hence the world is just an illusion a product of maya whereas what actually exists is only Brahman.
Brahman is the almighty type character which cannot be explained within postive terms as in... Brahman is...
According to Shankaracharya, Brahman is all that can't be explained. So yes its beyond illusion because Brahman is the sole ultimate Reality
@Misty : It's up. :-)
@Chamki : So does that mean all that we've discussed about Maya in itself is Maya? LOL. :-)
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