{"id":3180,"date":"2013-07-13T01:46:30","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3180"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:46:30","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:46:30","slug":"26-maya-vol-writings-in-bengali-translation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-other-editions\/writings-in-bengali-translation\/26-maya-vol-writings-in-bengali-translation","title":{"rendered":"-26_Maya.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n
\nMaya1<\/sup><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nOur ancient philosophers in their search for the fundamentals of the universe came to discover the existence of an
\neternal and all-pervading principle at the base of the phenomenal world. The present-day Western scientists have on
\ntheir part, at the end of long researches, become convinced
\nof the existence of an abiding universal unity even in the
\nphysical world. They have concluded that ākāśa<\/i> or ether is
\n( the essential principle of physical phenomena. The ancient
\nphilosophers of India too came to this very conclusion
\nthousands of years ago that ākāśa<\/i> is the basis of the world of
\nphysical phenomena and that all other physical states emerge
\nfrom it through the process of natural transformation. But
\nthey did not stop short with this conclusion which to them
\nwas not the ultimate one. They entered the subtle world
\nthrough yoga-power and thus came to know that behind the
\ngross physical world of appearances there exists a subtle
\nI world and that a subtle ākāśa <\/i>there is the substratum of  this phenomenal world? Ever this
\nākāśa <\/i> does not represent
\nthe ultimate stuff; they named the ultimate stuff as pradhāna<\/i> Prakriti or the cosmic Executrix after having created
\nthis pradhāna<\/i> in the rhythm of her universal movement,
\nfashions out of it millions and millions of anus<\/i> or infinitesimals, and the subtle physical gets built up with these anus.<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n‘ Translator’s note: The word Maya comes from the Sanskrit root mā,<\/i> to
\nmeasure, to delimit. In its original Vedic sense, it meant the power of the
\ninfinite consciousness of the absolute to form nāma-rāpa,<\/i> the Name and
\nShape, out of the illimitable indivisible Truth of infinite Existence. But in
\ncourse of time the word came to acquire a pejorative sense and Maya was
\nregarded as an Illusive Power. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-194<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nPrakriti or the dynamic force does nothing for herself; the
\ncreation and then the varied motion of this world of phenomena is solely for the pleasure of Him of whom she is the
\nPower. The Self or Purusha is the overseer and witness in \\
\n<\/i>this play of Prakriti. The Self or Purusha is the overseer and
\nwitness in the play of Prakriti. The ineffable supreme
\nBrahman of whom Purusha and Prakriti are the self-being
\nand the dynamic action is the unique and eternal essential
\ntruth of the universe. The principal Upanishads affirm these
\ndoctrines of Brahman and of Purusha and Prakriti which
\nform the core of the truths the Aryan Rishis discovered in
\ntheir quest for the fundamentals. Out of these basic truths
\nthe philosophers erected different systems of thought-structures through debate and discussion. The protagonists of the 
\ndoctrine of Brahman started the Vedanta philosophy: the
\npartisans of the doctrine of Prakriti propounded the Sankhya
\nphilosophy. Apart from these, many others followed a
\ndifferent path stating that the paramānus<\/i> or the infinite simals represent the primordial principle of the world of
\nphysical pehenomena. After these different approaches were
\nchalked out, Sri Krishna established in the Gita a harmonising synthesis of all the various systems of thought and
\nrestated the truths of the Upanishads through the mouth of
\nVyasadeva. The authors of the Puranas on their part accepted as the source-book the Purana composed by Vyasa
\nand introduced to the general public the same truths in the
\ngarb of anecdotes and allegories. This could not of course
\narrest the polemics of the scholars; they went on stating their
\nown individual views and sought to ratify the conclusions of
\nvarious branches of philosophy by means of elaborate reasoning. The actual state of our six systems of philosophy has
\ngrown out of this later speculation. At last Shankaracharya
\nformed a unique and abiding organisation for the propagation of Vedanta throughout the length and breadth of the <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-195<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nland and thus established the sway of Vedanta in
\nthe minds of the general public. After that the dominance and the influence of
\nthe other five systems of philosophy almost vanished from the field of thought
\neven though they remained established amongst a handful of scholars. Then schism developed in the universally accepted Vedanta philosophy which branched into three main offshoots and many
\nmore secondary ones. The quarrel between Monism with its
\nemphasis on Knowledge and the devotional Dualism^ and
\nqualified Monism continues even today in the bosom of the
\nHind religion The follower of the Path of Knowledge
\nexplains away as symptoms of dementia the turbulent
\noutbursts of love and passion in the devotee: the devotee on
\nhis part disdains as dry debate the urge for spiritual knowledge exhibited by the former. Both the views are fallacious
\nand narrow. Knowledge without devotion feeds the ego and
\nthus obstructs the way towards liberation; devotion divorced
\nfrom knowledge gives rise to superstitions and a blundering
\ntamasic mood. The genuine spiritual path as preconized by
\nthe Upanishads ensures the synthesis and mutual support of
\nknowledge, devotion and works. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIf we would like to spread the universal Aryan
\ndharma suited to all men, we would have to found it on genuine Aryan lore.
\nPhilosophy has ever been partial and incomplete. Any attempt to constrict the entire world through
\nlogical argument to fit into the tenets of a narrow view-point
\nmight perhaps lead to the adequate explanation of one side
\nof the Truth but only to the detriment of all others. The
\ndoctrine of Maya or illusionism as propounded by the
\nMonists is a case in point. Brahman is real and the world is (
\nan illusion: this is the keynote of the doctrine of Maya. The 
\nnation that accepts this formula as the cornerstone of its
\nthought grows in the yearning for knowledge, the spirit of
\ndetachment and the love for renunciation; but the power of <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-196<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nrajas’ gets annulled while sattwa2<\/sup> and tamas3<\/sup> predominate so
\nthat while on the one hand the enlightened sannyasins, the
\npeace-loving vairagis, and the lovers and devotees of God
\nfull of distaste for the world, increase in numbers, on the
\nother, a miserable destiny befalls the common run of men
\nwho become tamasic, ignorant, besotted with passivity and
\nabsolutely useless. This is what has happened in India due to
\nthe spread of the doctrine of Maya. If the world happens to
\nbe an illusion, then all other enterprises excepting the thirst
\nfor knowledge must be deemed otiose and pernicious. But
\napart from this thirst after knowledge many other powerful
\nand beneficial urges are at play in the life of man; no nation
\ncan survive the neglect of these. In order to avoid this
\npossible catastrophe Shankaracharya distinguished two sides \\
\n<\/i>of knowledge, spiritual and pragmatic, and prescribed either!
\nknowledge or works for different individuals according to the
\nnature of each. But the result has been quite the contrary
\nbecause of his vehement denunciation of the then ceremonial v
\nPath of Works. That Path of Works became almost extinct
\nand the Vedic ceremonies vanished, thanks to the influence
\nof Shankara; but notions such as these: ‘the world is created
\nby the power of Illusion, ‘works arise out of ignorance and
\nhinder liberation’, ‘fate is the dispenser of our joys and
\nsorrows’ and other kindred notions conducive to the growth
\nof tamas got so much settled in the minds of people that it
\nbecame impossible for the power of rajas to manifest again. ,
\nTo save the Aryan race the Divine brought about resistance
\nto the doctrine of Maya through the propagation of the
\nteachings of the Puranas and the-Tantras. Various aspects of
\nthe Aryan culture originating in the Upanishads were some-
\nwhat preserved in the Puranas, while the Tantras impelled <\/font><\/p>\n

\n1,2,3 Translator’s note: Rajas<\/i> is the force of kinesis while sattwa and tamas
\n<\/i>represent respectively the force of equilibrium and the force of inertia.
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-197<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nmen to action for the attainment of the dual fruits of mukti
\nand  bhūkti , liberation and enjoyment, through the worship
\nof the Shakti. Almost all those who fought to maintain the
\nintegrity of the nation, such as Pratap Singh, Shivaji,
\nPratapaditya, Chand Rai, etc., were either worshippers of
\nthe Shakti or disciples of Tantric yogis. To prevent the harm
\nemanating from tamas, Sri Krishna preached against the
\nrenunciation of works in the Gita. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe doctrine of Maya is indeed founded upon truth. The
\nUpanishads too have declared that the Lord (Iśvara)<\/i> is the
\ngreat Magician {Paramo. Māyavi)<\/i> who has brought forth this
\ntangible world through His Maya-Power. Sri Krishna also
\nhas said in the Gita that Maya manifesting her triple gunas<\/i> or
\nmodes pervades the whole of the universe. The one and
\nunique ineffable Brahman is the essential Truth of the
\nUniverse; all the phenomenal world is nothing but Hisself-
\nmanifestation, itself being mutable and impermanent. But if
\nBrahman happens to be the sole reality, questions necessarily arise: Wherefrom and how do the division and
\nmultiplicity arise? and wherein are they established? To
\nthese questions the Upanishads reply: If Brahman is the sole
\nReality, division and multiplicity must have arisen from
\nBrahman alone, they must be established in Brahman
\nHimself and must have been occasioned by some inscrutable
\npower of Brahman. That Power has been variously designated as the Maya of the Magician, Prakriti governed by
\nPurusha, or the Will-Power of the Ishwara\u2014a Power both of
\nKnowledge and Ignorance. The logician’s mind could not be
\nsatisfied with such statements; it could not find there explanations as to how the One becomes the Many or how division
\nappears in the Indivisible. At last it hit upon an easy
\nsolution: The One can never become Many, division can
\nnever appear in the eternal Unity, multiplicity is an untruth,
\ndivision is false, they are but may a<\/i> or illusions floating as <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-198<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ndreams in the eternal Self who is One without a second. But
\nconfusion does not cease even with this; for the questions
\narise: What is after all Maya? whence and how does it
\noriginate? and wherein is it established? Shankara replied one cannot say what Maya is, for it is ineffable; Maya does
\nnot originate, Maya ever is and yet is not. Thus the confusion
\ncould not be cleared and no satisfactory solution was forth
\ncoming. Only, as a result of this debate a second eternal and
\nineffable principle secured its place in the one and the unique
\nBrahman; unity could thus not be maintained. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe explanation offered by the Upanishads is far better
\nthan that of Shankara. The Divine’s own Nature is the
\ncreatrix of the world; that Nature is Shakti, the Chit-Shakti
\nor the blissful Consciousness-Force of Sachchidananda (or
\nthe triune Unity of Existence absolute, Consciousness absolute and Bliss absolute). The Divine is the Super-self for the
\nindividual Self, so is Parameshwara for the world. The Will
\nof the Parameshwara is imbued with creative potency; it is
\nthrough that Will that the Many come out of the One and
\ndivision appears in the Indivisible. Looked at from the point’
\nof view of the supernal, Brahman is real and the world is an
\nappearance brought forth by the divine Maya (Pardmaya)\\
\n<\/i>for it issues forth from Brahman and disappears into Brahman. The phenomenal universe exists in Time and Space, it
\ndoes not exist in the transcendent status of the Brahman.
\nBrahman is the continent of the phenomenal Time and
\nSpace; He cannot be circumscribed by Space and Time. The
\nworld has come out of Brahman and exists in Brahman; the <\/font><\/p>\n

\n     ‘ Cf. "It
\nis by Maya that static truth of essential being becomes ordered truth of active
\nbeing,\u2014or, to put it in more metaphysical language, out of the supreme being in
\nwhich all is all without barrier of separative consciousness emerges the
\nphenomenal being in which all is in each and each is in all for the play of
\nexistence with existence, consciousness with consciousness, force with force, delight with delight." (Sri Aurobindo: The Life
\nDivine,<\/i> p. 108).<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-199<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ncosmos with a beginning and an end is established in the
\neternal inscrutable Brahman, it exists there after being
\ncreated by the Power of vidyā and avidyā (the knowledge
\nand the ignorance of_0neness) of Brahman. Just as man
\npossesses in himself the power to conceive unreal objects
\nthrough the exercise of imagination apart from the power to
\nrealise the actual truth, so in Brahman exist the powers of
\nknowledge and ignorance (<\/i>vidyā and avidyā),<\/i> as also the real
\nand the unreal appearances (rta<\/i> and anrta).<\/i> But the appearances are the creations of Time and Space. Just as the
\nimaginations of man get translated into reality in course of
\ntime and space, so too what we term as unreal is not
\naltogether unreal, for it represents but the as yet unrealised
\naspect of the Truth. As a matter of fact, all without exception
\nis real; the world is unreal in the transcendent status, but we who are not beyond Time and Space
\nhave no right to call the
\nworld false. In the bosom of Time and Space the world is by
\nno means unreal, it is a reality. When the time will come and
\nwe will acquire the necessary strength to transcend Time and
\nSpace and merge in the Brahman, then and then alone we
\nwill be entitled to call the world an unreality; but if it comes
\nfrom the mouth of one who has not got the right to say so it
\nmeans a falsehood and a reversal of the course of dharma.
\nInstead of declaring that Brahman is real and the world an
\nillusion it would be better for us to state that Brahman is the \\
\n<\/i>Reality and the world too is Brahman. Such is the teaching of I the
\nUpanishads; the Aryan dharma is founded upon the truth sarvam <\/u> khalvidam brahma<\/i> ‘everything is indeed
\nBrahman’. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-200<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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