[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Re: Māyā = Mithyā in the Prasthāna-traya

[V Subrahmanian]

On Tue, Oct 14, 2025 at 2:20 PM Kalyan Chakravarthy <
kalyanchakravarthy2021 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Bhaskarji, Namaste
>
> Indro mAyAbhiH....mAyA is tRtIyA vibhakti, bahu vachana.
>
> I wonder why bahu vachana is used for mAyA here.
>

Dear Kalyan ji,

This is a good question. Upon looking up the Anandagiri gloss and
Sureshwara's Vartika, I understand:

Brahman, with a view to enable itself to be known, entered into all bodies.
And all the inhabitants of the bodies are endowed with ignorance of their
true nature. And being outward turned, their sense organs perceive only the
outside objects. Since the ignorances are many and the perceptions are also
many, the plural in the perceptions is used: māyābhih.  Even though the
ultimate consciousness is one and indivisible, due to the ignorance, it is
seen as many like the one sun is seen as many reflections.  *Shankara
himself clarifies that it is not a real creation.*  So, it is a kind of
drishti srishti involving every jiva. We are reminded of: *सर्वाणि रूपाणि
विचित्य धीरः नामानि कृत्वा अभिवदन् यदास्ते*  of the Purusha Suktam. And the
Nrsimha Tapini says explicitly: That One Ishwara, though undeluded, appears
as though deluded, in the various bodies into which he has entered as
jivas. While commenting on the Purusha Suktam, Sayana cites the Nrsimha
tapini.

So, taking all these inputs, the plural in triteeyaa is explained as above:
Ishwara, *through the medium of many ignorant perceptions*, took on many
forms (of objects of the world). If you have the time you can look up the
Anandagiri for both Brih.up. bhashya and the Mandukya Karika bhashya. This
study reveals that the gloss is perfectly loyal to the Bhashya.

रूपं रूपं प्रति ह्येष प्रतिरूपो बभूव ह ।।
*देहं देहं प्रविष्टः* संस्तद्देहाकारतामगात् ।। १२६ ।।

*मायाभिः प्रत्यगज्ञानैर्यदि वाऽनृतबुद्धिभिः* ।।
गम्यते पुरुरूपो*ऽज्ञैरेकोऽपि जलसूर्यवत् ।*। १२७ ।।

warm regards
subbu

>
> Best Regards
> Kalyan
>
> On Tuesday, 14 October 2025 at 1:30:43 pm UTC+5:30 Bhaskar YR wrote:
>
>> praNAms
>>
>> Hare Krishna
>>
>> Here, mAyA is not the same as mithyA, though both are closely related.
>>
>>    - Yes in the above mAya is NOT mithya, shankara explained mAya as
>>    anirvachaneeya.  mAya is anirvachaneeya because it happens only when both
>>    the kAraNa and the kArya or shakti and shakta are simultaneously perceived
>>    either by pratyaksha or through the shAstra. Shankara gives the example of
>>    foam/water example for this.  OTOH, mithyA is related to the wrong
>>    perception of an object (mithyA sarpa dashana in the existing rajju). The
>>    difference between the two can be understood clearly from the cause-effect
>>    non-difference relation which has been highlighted by bhAshyakAra when
>>    driving home the point mruttiketyeva satyaM.  And it is also to be noted
>>    that  wherever the bhAshyakAra talks about anirvachaneeyatvam of nAma
>>    rUpaa, he is invariably referring only to this ambiguity in the description
>>    whether it is brahman only or different from it.
>>
>> Here, mAyA is the Shakti of Ishwara. mithyA is the result of mAyA. mAyA
>> produces the mithyA forms. It is a cause and effect relationship.
>>
>>    - Yes mAya is Ishwara shakti and Ishwara is shakta and these shakti
>>    and shakta is ananya ( shakti shaktimatOH ananyatvAt, .. One who
>>    knows nAma rUpa svarUpa, knows it only as the cause. Though it appears in a
>>    special form like pot, jar, pitcher etc., it is known to be the clay/cause
>>    in the light of the shAstra. This is anirvachaneeya aspect of mAya.  mAya
>>    kArya is the aashraya for perceiving the mithya nAma rUpa….like rope is the
>>    Ashraya for wrongly perceiving the snake.
>>
>> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
>>
>> bhaskar
>>
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