Why maaya is delusive and illusive?

The word 'mAyA' refers to 'illusion'. Also spelt as 'maayA'. 'A' is long. Illusions lead to delusions. Illusions and Delusions exist in nature, and they hamper us in our human lives. Some illusions and delusions are self-created and self-inflicted. Some illusions and delusions are imposed on us by the environment.

Maya is pronounced "Maaya" ('a' is long).

Maaya has several meanings in several contexts.

1. VISHNU MAYA (pronounced Vishn`u maaya): The illusions created by the God Vishnu.

Examples: a) Disguising as a beautiful damsel "Mohini", Vishnu deluded S`iva. This delusion has led to the story of a son being born to their Union: Swami Ayyappa.

b) Vishnu converted Sage Narada into a woman, got her married and made her to live a worldly life. When Narada's sufferings reached to an unbearable stage, Vishnu appears himself before Narada and told him that everything was Vishnu Maaya.

2. Shakti Maaya : Also called Yoga Maaya. The Mother Goddess in Hinduism is called Shakti and the illusion/delusion created by her is Shakti Maaya. She is also called Maaya. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Vivekananda believed in this.

3. Other Gods may also have their own Maayas (delusions/illusions created by them). There is no bar.

4. Maaya in Advaita philosophy. : Often used in the meaning of ignorance and nescience . Here there are two branches.

a) Jagan Mithya - This world is unreal. Whatever we see is born (ja) and dead/going away (gan/gat). Mithya and Maaya are used synonymously in the phrase. Sankaracharya loved this phrase.

b) Avidya - Ignorance. It is our ignorance which forms a "mist" . We cannot recognise that this world is unreal because of the veil of ignorance. We have to remove this veil by "Nityaanitya vicaaram" (Eternal-Ephemeral analysis). We should contemplate and develop a capability to distinguish between what is real and unreal, permanent and transient. Removal of this ignorance is gnaana (or jnaana) - Knowledge and awareness. The process of this realisation is Gnaana Yoga.

There is no haziness on the above terms. They are very clear.

The God persons (Swamijis and Gurus who claim to be spiritual teachers) sometimes use the term Maaya quite loosely, often in conjunction with Karma, which in turn has several meanings.

This particularly happens whenver they are not in a position to provide any satisfactory explanation for a certain thing/situation/action, they take shelter under the terms of "maaya (illusion/delusion) and karma (consequences of actions of past birth).

Q: Can Maaya be distinguished from Supreme GodHead?

Ans: We are a part of the environment, nature, this world. Delusions and illusions exist. First time when we enter a place where there is some maaya, we may not understand the true position. Science can help us to get rid of this maaya. Eg. For a long time, people in India believed that there were "burning-ghosts". When science revealed that they were nothing but burning phosophorous released from bones of dead bodies, at least now some persons understand the phenomenon better.

There can be self-made delusions also. Example: A person may wear sarees and for the time being believe that he is a lady. Or a God person (guru) may believe that he is God. Some say that even our families, properties, jobs etc. are all delusions and illusions. This is partly true.

REFERENCES (Given for information of readers. I have not written anything above from the references. I or the readers need not agree with what is contained in the references.
Good work available on the net.
1. http://books.google.com/books?id=v-yRJrJUCT4C&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=vivekananda+maya&source=web&ots=21TzmW2KLq&sig=nFLEi-ppNtJieBiZw2-Gm55B3dw Author: Basant Kumar Lal. Publisher: Motilal Banarsidas.