[Advaita-l] Define MAYA ?

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"That which is Not" is the technical literal translation from Sanskrit where a feminine noun (ya) is used. 
 
  - Avidya is clearly understood as the ignorance of Jiva. The locus of
  avidya is in the jiva's mind. But what about Maya ? Could we say that the
  Maya is the ignorance of Ishwara ?

It is a trick that makes us believe what is unreal as reality. I think it is similar to the rope and snaky analogy, where snake does not exist but we believe it does. When maya is removed the rope appears but it was always there.
I am not sure what purpose the concept of Maya serves in advaita.
Soma








On Monday, June 8, 2020, 10:33:13 AM EDT, Sudhakar Kabra via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote: 





Shri Mahadevan Iyer ji,

You yourself have already given all different definitions of Maya.

There cannot be any best definition of Maya. 
Depending on the context the definition is used. 
One such is "That which is Not"
Regards
S.Kabra



    On Monday, June 8, 2020, 02:16:49 PM GMT+5:30, Mahadevan Iyer via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:  

Pranams Atman,
I came across many definitions & descriptions of Maya.

1. As per Wikipedia (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_(religion)#Advaita_Vedanta)

> *Māyā is the empirical reality that entangles consciousness.* *Māyā has
> the power to create a bondage to the empirical world, preventing the
> unveiling of the true, unitary Self—the Cosmic Spirit also known as
> Brahman.*


2. *MAYA – The seed-state as POTENTIAL ENERGY. *

> Due to the connection between the PURE CONSCIOUSNESS (BRAHMAN) and MAYA,
> the phenomenon called ISHWARA as CREATOR naturally transpires.

( *Brahman with Maya = Ishwara* )



> Due to the connection between the PURE CONSCIOUSNESS (BRAHMAN) and AVIDYA
> (IGNORANCE), the phenomenon called the individual (JIVA) naturally
> transpires.

( *Brahman with Avidya = Jiva* )


3. MAYA - That which is *wielded by ( attribute of ) Ishwara to create Jiva
& Jagat*.
4. Maya is *Brahman with apparent Avidya*, which causes Ishwara.
6. Maya is the *Cosmic dream of Brahman.* ( but brahman is nirguna )
7. Maya is *Ignorance from Ishwara perspective* ( like avidya is ignorance
from Jeeva perspective )
8. *Maya is Anadi*, hence it has no inception. But *has an end through
Moksham*.

  - Is Maya a noun or a verb ?


  - Avidya is clearly understood as the ignorance of Jiva. The locus of
  avidya is in the jiva's mind. But what about Maya ? Could we say that the
  Maya is the ignorance of Ishwara ?


  - Kindly convey the best definition for MAYA ?

*Hari Om,*
Mahadevan Iyer
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