Eknathi Bhagwat

Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj

Videhi Janaka (Janaka was an ancient king; videhi means he was without a body while having a body) asked, "What is this Maya which is so fearsome? Please tell how we can be free of this." At that time, the Sage Antariksha said, "Your question is futile, because you are asking about that which is not. That which is not, has made all the world mad. All this is Illusion. The entire world is merged in this Illusion. The time, sign of Zodiac, the name of the son of the barren woman is futile to ask about." Similarly, you are asking this. Illusion is like that. Is it possible to crush the head of your shadow? The daughter in law of a barren woman has delivered a son. The wife of Bheeshma (who never married) is having breast milk. The wind is being put into a mill and pulverized. The grandchildren of a eunuch went to hide in the house of a sun. Those who take these things to be true consider Illusion as real. Illusion means that whatever activities we do, whatever we experience, all active happenings, and even we ourselves, are meaningless. To prove that all experience in duality is false is the meaning of the word Maya. 

What Maya is, is told by the Vedas and the Guru. It is up to you to accept or not to accept what is told. In short, Maya means, "That which is not existing." Maya, which says, "I," is a very great Illusion. Not to understand is Maya. Maya simply means Ignorance, or misunderstanding. Misunderstanding leads to misleading results. You like to feed the body because you say that "I am the body." Accordingly, Maya appears to be real but is only Ignorance. What else is Maya? The individual, or jiva, who is a monkey, is not ready to drop his limited existence as jiva unless he is subjected to some great upheaval or change. Only after suffering great misery and calamity, does he feel that all is false. Then he knows that there is no happiness as such in worldly things. He then comes to know what Maya is. Maya herself says that she does not exist at any time. Maya means wrong knowledge.

The cause of Maya is delusion, and by the water of delusion, the tree of Maya grows. Foolishness is its branches, and sense-enjoyments are its fruits. Brahman and Bhrama have a very small difference in spelling. It is Bra or Bhra. Bhrama is Illusion. People say, "I realize the Self," or "I did not realize Brahman." It is only on the "Reality" of Brahman, the all of these innumerable offspring has been born. Objects of the senses are tied like rope by desire which has its youth in the sense of "I." Pearls from the waters of the mirage are taken to knit nets to ensnare. Maya has given birth to ego, her first-born son. "Mine" and "attachment" are her other children. "Moha," or the identification with the body, is the son-in-law resident in her own home. The son-in-law is the one who goes "waya," or useless.