[Advaita-l] mithya and maya

[Bhaskar YR]

it is here that Shankaracharyaji excels bringing in the concept of maya
which
is not there yet to serve the purpose of explaining the cause of creation.

praNAms
Hare Krishna

Mysterious (and sometimes funny too) are the ways of definitions of mAya in
vedAnta...Sometimes we say it is Ishwara shakti (power of Ishwara),
sometimes we say it is anirvachanIya, sometimes we say it is
vyAkrutAvyAkruta or vyaktAvyaktAtmaka or parApara prakruti rUpa and at
other places we say mAya is kevala avidyA kalpita (fictiously imagined by
avidyA)...Lord says affectionately in gIta *mama mAya*, mama
yOnirmahadbrahma etc. Somewhere in sUtra bhAshya shankara says we have to
accept the existence of mAya, otherwise we cannot explain the creation &
the post 'creator' cannot be attributed brahman :-)) (na hi tayA vinA
paramEshwarasya sraShtutvaM siddhyati..shakti rahitasya tasya
pravuttyanupapateH..We write volumes & volumes & talk hours together on
mAya's vyaktAvyaktAtmaka rUpa but still at some places we safely assert it
is anirvachanIya!! Despite we believe shakti shaktimatOH ananyatvAt, we say
mAya is avyakta and it cannot be categorically said tattva or
otherwise..(tattvAnyatva nirUpaNasya ashakyaM)..And finally we say mAya
that term itself means that which does not have existence!! sA chA mAyA na
vidyate, mAyA iti avidyAmAnasya AkhyA!!

A new entrant to the woods of advaita, would definitely lost himself if
there is no proper guidance from the shrOtrIya brahmanishTa guru.

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar