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

[Viktor]

To me, the greatest descriptors of the Ultimate Reality of Brahman, are the
Upanishads, Yoga Vasistha, Avadhut Gita and Ashtavakra Gita.

On Tue, Oct 14, 2025 at 7:00 AM V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> 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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