Māyā: Origin, Power, Nature, and the Means to Master It
Māyā: Origin, Power, Nature, and the Means to Master It
(A Theoretical Study in the Light of Tartam-Vāṇī and Śrī Rās-Grantha)
Abstract
This paper presents a comprehensive philosophical and practical analysis of the concept of Māyā based on the Śrī Kuljam Svarūp, with special reference to the Śrī Rās-Grantha, Sanand-Grantha, and Mārifat Sāgar. The study aims to clarify Māyā's origin, its operative power, its characteristic nature, and the disciplines through which it may be mastered. The central claim is that Māyā is neither an independent nor an ultimate reality; rather, it is a divinely designed field of experience—an orchestrated "play"—whose functional governance operates under Kṣar Puruṣ (Ādinārāyaṇ), not under Akṣarātīt Parabrahm. Māyā's purpose is not to imprison souls, but to lead them—through experience itself—toward self-awakening (ātma-jāgṛti). Without Tartam-jñān, Māyā cannot be correctly recognized; and without correct recognition of Māyā, neither self-awakening nor the authentic "rasa" of Śrī Rās-līlā becomes possible.
Keywords
Māyā; Dajjāl; Tartam-jñān; Kṣar Puruṣ; Akṣar Brahm; Akṣarātīt; Self-awakening (Ātma-jāgṛti); Rās-līlā; Moha; Vivek
1. Introduction: Māyā as the Central Problem
The first three sections of the Śrī Rās-Grantha take Māyā as their core theme, and this concern continues to unfold throughout the entire sequence of the Kuljam Svarūp—from the Rās-Grantha up to Qayāmatnāmā. This internal structure itself indicates that without understanding Māyā, one cannot conduct a faithful inquiry into Tartam-jñān, nor can one taste the deeper "rasa" of Rās-līlā. In Mārifat Sāgar, the seven signs of self-awakening (qayāmat) are also arranged in a revealing pattern: the first four highlight Māyā's grip on the human condition, while the last three point to the manifestation of Parabrahm's powers. Thus, reflection on Māyā becomes an essential prerequisite for any serious reading of Tartam-Vāṇī.
2. Conceptualizing Māyā: Unreal Yet Operatively Powerful
Māyā is the force that diverts the soul from recognizing its original identity and from knowing Parabrahm's form, realm, and līlā. It is described through many names—moha (delusion), ajñān (ignorance), nidrā (sleep), bhram (confusion), śūnya (void), and even through shifting metaphysical labels such as sākār/nirguṇ. Etymologically, the term is often read as mā ("not") + yā ("that which is"), indicating "that which is not." Classical texts illustrate its non-substantiality through metaphors like "the horn of a hare," "the son of a barren woman," or "flowers in the sky." Yet at the level of lived experience Māyā is intensely effective. What the Bible and Qur'an describe as Satan/Dajjāl, Śrī Mukhvāṇī expresses as play, dream, and drama—a language shift that preserves the same experiential claim: Māyā is not final reality, but it powerfully shapes perception and attachment.
3. Māyā and Ignorance: The Absence of Tartam-Jñān
In the absence of Tartam-jñān, seekers often mistake the gross, the merely form-based, or even deep sleep-like states for the "formless" or for ultimate truth. Consequently, the Kṣar-world—defined by the five elements, three guṇas, and the fourteen lokas—is treated as final reality. Śrī Mukhvāṇī asserts that only the one who has crossed Māyā can engage in true Tartam-vicār (authentic discernment); otherwise, the seeker unconsciously identifies Māyā's various appearances as Parabrahm and then seeks "completion" within Māyā's own field.
4. The Origin of Māyā: A Causal Process
While classical traditions often call Māyā the "prakṛti of God," the Tartam perspective emphasizes that in the creation-process it is Māyā that functions as the actual formative agency, whereas Brahm is the instrumental occasion. In the unmanifest mind of Akṣar Brahm, the Sumangalā power—holding the impulse toward countless universes—joins with the power of Cidānand-laharī, and from that convergence the root prakṛti manifests. When disturbance arises within this root prakṛti, the moha-principle (moha-tattva / moha-sāgar) unfolds, and from that the world-structure emerges. The cycle of formation and dissolution continues without beginning as a process. Within this flow, the individualized appearance of "jīva" and "īśvar" also becomes intelligible; they seem beginningless because the stream is beginningless, while the truly beginningless and unbroken reality is that which stands beyond even mahāpralaya.
5. The Lordship of Māyā: Kṣar Puruṣ, Not Akṣarātīt
Tartam-jñān clarifies that Māyā's operative governance belongs to Kṣar Puruṣ (Ādinārāyaṇ). Akṣarātīt Parabrahm and the Paradhām are beyond the three guṇas, non-dual, and indivisible; Māyā has no entry there. A frequent confusion arises from the statement that Māyā is "born from the Mūl Dhani." Tartam interpretation rejects the idea that this makes Akṣarātīt the direct causal source of Māyā. Here "Mūl Dhani" signifies a special divine resolve and command—not direct ontological causation in the ordinary sense.
6. The Special Cosmos and the Resolve of Ishq
This present cosmos is not understood as a mere product of the generic Māyā-stream; it is linked to a particular divine purpose. For the sake of experiential unveiling, Dhāmdhaṇī issues a special command to Akṣar Brahm. The root of this design is described as the resolve of Ishq taken in Paradhām. Souls remain, in truth, situated in Paradhām, yet through two veils—body (piṇḍ) and cosmos (jagat)—they undergo Māyā's dream-like field of experience. The "play" is thus not accidental; it is structured as an arena in which remembrance and awakening can occur.
7. Nature of Māyā and Its All-Pervasive Influence
Māyā's fundamental trait is enchantment. It binds through kāma, krodha, lobha, mada, matsar, and dveṣa, drawing the being into karmic entanglement. Its reach appears so extensive that even exalted lokas—svarga, vaikunṭh, kailāś, satyalok—are not outside its influence in the Kṣar-field. Historical and purāṇic narratives repeatedly illustrate that Māyā cannot be conquered by Māyā-born intelligence; the instruments produced within the dream cannot finally dismantle the dream.
8. Māyā Within and Without: Escapism vs Responsibility
Māyā operates both at the individual (local/vaṣṭi) and collective (nonlocal/samaṣṭi) levels. If one treats Māyā as only external, the person becomes escapist and avoids responsibility; if one treats it as only internal, one denies the reality of social and systemic conditioning. Tartam-dṛṣṭi holds both together. This balanced acknowledgment becomes an essential condition for self-awakening.
9. Māyā's Weapons and Human Suffering
Māyā burns the being through three forms of suffering—ādhyātmik (of body-mind), ādhibhautik (arising from material and worldly interactions), and ādhidaivik (arising from larger forces or "divine/natural" causes). It presents pleasures as nectar, entangles the senses in consumption, generates contradictions between speech and action, and constantly reshapes its masks. Its defining character is thus multiform, subtle, and strategically intelligent.
10. Victory Over Māyā: Divine Instruments and Discipline
Against Māyā, Dhāmdhaṇī provides the infallible weapon of Tartam-Vāṇī. The Sadguru identifies three primary divine weapons:
Shukr (gratitude),
Gharībī (humility), and
Sabr (patience/inner steadiness).
Alongside these, five essential restraints are prescribed: commitment to truth and non-violence, renunciation of intoxicants, renunciation of meat, renunciation of sexual immorality, and disciplined distance from obscenity and stimuli that inflame lust. When the seeker lives these disciplines steadily, Māyā gradually stops functioning as an obstruction and begins to serve as an instrument of awakening.
Conclusion
This study argues that Māyā is not an independent ultimate reality but a divinely structured field of experience. Its aim is not to bind souls as a final prison, but to awaken them through discernment and transformation. Without understanding Māyā, Tartam-jñān remains incomplete; and without Tartam-jñān, victory over Māyā is not possible. True victory occurs when Māyā no longer blocks the path but becomes a means of awakening—and it is this transformation that opens the doorway to the authentic "rasa" of Śrī Rās-līlā.
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