Now,
we move on to the 2nd line of the first verse
(Although the play is
happening within in ‘Me’, the Atman. Yet, due to Maya’s power, it is seen to be
produced outside ‘me’, the Jiva, just as it appears in a dream)
When
we look at a mirror, what do we see? Ourselves, of course. That means, the
Atman within is seeing Itself as the Jagat outside.
The
real “I” is being equated to the world seen in the mirror. What makes the ‘Me’
within appear as the ‘world’ outside?
The
text says that this is due to a cosmic illusory Power called Maya. That which makes the internal ‘Me’
appear as an external ‘world’ is Maya.
It
means the mirror is Maya. If Maya were not there, there would be no
world out there. That means there will also be no “me” as Jiva, but only ‘Me’ as the Atman.
Actually,
the world is not an illusion. But our experience is illusion.
For
example, when you watch a movie, you are seeing various lights on the silver
screen. But your perception is entirely different. You watch still pictures in
a succession every second. But you have a perfect illusion of seeing action.
This illusion is due to Maya.
You
think, what you perceive is REAL. But it is complicated illusion of all things
brought in by your senses and projected on your mind, creating a sense of real
experience. This illusion is due to maya.
Swami Sivananda writes,
“Maya is cunning and deceptive. She is the
illusory power of Ishvara. It is the finitising principle that creates finite
forms in Infinite Brahman. She has got 2 powers, Avarna Sakti and Vikshepa
Sakti.
She hides the Truth through Avarana Sakti
(veiling power). She projects this universe, creates false names and forms
through Vikshepa Sakti (projecting power).
Avarana Sakti conceals the Atman and veils the
Jiva. Through the force of this Sakti, he is not able to separate himself from
the five sheaths.”
Maya has different meanings
in different context. In this context, it means the capacity to delude you from
recognizing the true experience (ignorance).
This
immediately throws out a challenge to our intellect and we think, My current
experience is that the world appears real to me; I consider myself to be a real
entity. But I am told that this world is not real, but is a reflection of ‘Me’,
reflected outside by Maya, like the
sun being reflected outside itself in a mirror. All the other Jivas like me are equally reflections of
the one Atman in various mirrors; I
as an individual am one of them.
So,
each Jiva must surely have its own
unique mirror, constituted of varying proportions of Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas, producing its own world.
This
fact of Jivas experiencing different
worlds unique to each Jiva, is
compared to the appearance of dream.
Each
Jiva produces its own dream which no
other Jiva has any access to.
Similarly, due to having different mirrors, each Jiva produces its own ‘world’, which is different from the worlds
seen by other Jivas.
When
you dream, your dream world seems external.
You
see so many things happening and you may even see yourself as a part, as one of
the characters in your dream.
You
are there and the dream is happening outside you. This is what you think, till
you get up next day morning.
Next
day you realize that the dream existed within your mind.
This
dream world seems as though exists outside, but it is seen within oneself.
Everything that is experienced in dream exists within.
This
dream experience brought in by Sankara in this verse clearly explains to a
sadhaka, one truth.
The
creation, as though appearing outside you (like the dream appeared to have been
happening outside you), in reality, it is only the play of your mind due to the
power of maya/avidya.
There is no creation outside you and there is no you the
jiva other than you the atman, to perceive any creation outside you.
It is futile to keep struggling to find out how maya is
causing me to look at the creation outside me, even myself as a jiva outside me
(the SELF).
It is beneficial to realize SELF and upon the realization,
maya shakti gets away from you, unable to bear the fire of your Brahma
anubhuti!!
Love.
