Maya or Illusion according to Sanatana Dharma

 

kṛṣṇa—sūrya-sama; māyā haya andhakāra
yāhāṅ kṛṣṇa, tāhāṅ nāhi māyāra adhikāra

Translation: Kṛṣṇa is compared to sunshine, and māyā is compared to darkness. Wherever there is sunshine, there cannot be darkness. As soon as one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the darkness of illusion (the influence of the external energy) will immediately vanish. (CC Madhya 22.3)


Krishna is like sun. When sun is there we can see the things as they are. Sunlight enables us to see rope as a rope, snake as a snake. Maya is like darkness. In darkness we can not see properly. In darkness we may consider a rope as a snake or vice versa. This confusion is very obvious. This is the nature of darkness to create confusion. But as soon as there is light, immediately truth becomes prominent. Under the influence of light there is no scope of illusion or confusion. There is no scope for guess and speculation. Truth manifests automatically as soon as light is there.

Now let’s dive deep to understand how similar darkness is with in us also which inhibits us to see the things as they are. All our senses takes input from outside and because of this we start identifying our-self with external world. There is no internal connectivity. Eyes looks in the mirror and find a body made up of five gross matters and we starts identifying our-self with this body. This is maya. Body is not maya. Body is there. But your identification with the body is Maya.

We take birth in a country, in a family and we start identifying ourself with that. So family, relatives, country is not maya. They exist. But as a soul when you consider yourself part of some country or some community that is maya. This relative identity when overpowers and dominates your actual/eternal identity then it is maya.

If knowledge is light, then Krishna is the sun. So when you have Krishna, you automatically have knowledge. When we identify our-self in relation with absolute truth then all the relative truths becomes like a toy of that small boy who is an adult now. Similarly when we become spiritually mature, we automatically loose taste for relative truths and become focused on absolute reality. It’s like a dream. We can not realize a dream as a dream as long as we are in the dream. Dream must break to get the understanding that it was dream. Similarly we all are currently getting haunted by dream like misconceptions, wrong identifications, misunderstandings. But as soon as we wake up, we will realize the futility of dream.

Waking up from the dream is not very easy but a hard struggle. Because Krishna is like Sun you need to open the curtains and windows of your heart. Let the love and mercy of Krishna fall upon the barren land of your heart. Let the breeze of his holy name sanctify the passage of your mind. Let the nectar of his sweet pastimes enter into the hole of your ears. You just have to allow yourself to freely fall in love with Krishna. Rest of the job will be done by him. Have you seen a cat holding her kitten? Kitten is fearless because kitten knows that mother will take care. This is the situation of a devotee of Krishna.

Let the river of your love wash the lotus feet of Krishna and you will see that like Gangajal (Water of Ganges) it will not only purify you of all the illusions but also it will purify to everything that comes in your contact.