[Advaita-l] Jagadguru Speaks: Isvara, Maya and Man's Goal

[S Jayanarayanan]

(Around the beginning of the month, a nugget of Wisdom from the Jagadguru may be posted
on the Chaturamnaya list : http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/chaturamnaya )
 
 
https://www.tattvaloka.com/uploads/jagadguruSpeech/pdf/1571059885JSpeaks%20--%20Sept.%202022.pdf
 
 
Isvara is that supremely intelligent ultimate cause, who
through His sakti, termed maya, brings forth the universe.
It is in Him that the universe exists, and it is into Him the
universe ultimately dissolves (like the magic of a magician).
This is the real concept of Isvara. He is the source as well as
the goal. His formless, attribute-less reality is termed
Nirguna Brahman.
 
As mentioned, Isvara brings about origination, sustenance
and dissolution of the universe through maya. However,
from the standpoint of the absolute truth i.e. Brahman, maya
and the universe have no reality.
 
>From the standpoint of logic, maya cannot be described as
either real or unreal. It is not real because it is negated by
Atma Jnana, and yet it is not unreal because the world and
the activities therein conjured up by it are perceived and
interacted with. Its empirical utility is unquestionable.
 
  nAsatI dRRishyamAnA sA bAdhyamAnA na vA satI .
 
Maya just defies description, and the sastras call it as
anirvachanIya Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada lucidly explains in his
Bhashya -
 
  sarvavyavahAraANAmeva prAgbrahmAtmatAviGYAnAt.h satyatvopapatteH ,
  svapnavyavahArasyeva prAkprabodhAt.h ..
 
Prior to the realisation of Brahman, all activities can justly
be real, just as activities in a dream seem real before waking
up. This means that until Atma Jnana dawns, one is very
much within the ambit of the tentative reality of the world,
and all prescribed karmas have to be done and their results
also are reaped. It is said,
 
  nidrayA darshinAt.h arthAn.h na pashyati yathottitaH .
  samyagGYAnodayAdUrdhvaM tathA vishvaM na pashyati ..
 
Just as, when awake, a man sees not the things which
were presented to his view during sleep, so too
subsequent to the dawn of right knowledge, he sees not
the universe.
 
Our Sastras show us the way to reach the goal through
bhakti, (nishkama) karma yoga and vichara (enquiry and
analysis).
 
Hence, with firm faith in Isvara and with a firm resolve
to escape from the cycle of births and deaths, a sincere
seeker should assiduously perform all prescribed karmas,
in a spirit of dedication to God, achieve chitta suddhi, and
make oneself competent to revel in transcendental reality.
 
A realised Guru's blessings and guidance are very
important for such a quantum leap into the beyond.
 
We bless every seeker of truth to understand this and
reach the goal.