Maya in Viśiṣṭādvaita
Māyā (Sanskrit: माया — often etymologized as 'that which is not' or 'magic, illusion'; also: 'that by which one is measured/known') has dramatically different meanings in different Vedānta schools:
- In Advaita (Śaṅkara): māyā is cosmic illusion — the appearance of a world superimposed on the one, undivided Brahman. The world is ultimately unreal (mithyā). This is the most famous use of the term.
- In Viśiṣṭādvaita (Rāmānuja): māyā is the Lord's śakti (power, creative capacity) — specifically His power of prakṛti (material nature). The world created through māyā is entirely real — not illusory. Rāmānuja argues extensively in Śrī Bhāṣyam against Advaita's māyā doctrine.
Māyā as Divine Creative Power
In the Bhagavad Gīṭā (7.14), the Lord says: 'This divine māyā of Mine, made of the three guṇas, is difficult to transcend; those who take refuge in Me alone cross beyond it.' Rāmānuja interprets: 'My māyā' = Brahman's own prakṛti (material nature) as His body; 'difficult to transcend' = the guṇas of prakṛti bind those who don't take refuge; 'take refuge' = prapatti.
Māyā as Avidyā
In the context of individual souls in bondage, māyā also refers to avidyā — the ignorance/false identification that makes the soul mistake the body for itself and the world for its home. This is not 'cosmic illusion' but the actual confusion of the individual mind that can be removed through jñāna and the Lord's grace.