Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya 238

Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya

Chapter-7 Adhyātma Yogaḥ

daivī hyeṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā | māmeva ye prapadyante māyāmetāṃ taranti te || 14 || 14. For this divine Māya of Mine consisting of the three Gunas is hard to overcome. But those who take refuge in Me alone, shall be able to transcend this Māya. Commentary “This Māya [deluding potency of the cosmos] originates from Me, for the purpose of recreation, it is by nature divine and therefore difficult to overcome.” The word Māya is used to describe the effects of the three Gunas, because it has the power to generate amazing effects like the magical tricks of Asuras and Rakshasas. Take for example the passage: — ‘Then the excellent discus, the flaming Sudarshana, was despatched by the Lord to defend the boy [Prahlada]. The thousand Māyas or wonderfully created weapons of the evilminded Sambara were foiled one after another, by that quickly moving discus, for protecting the body of the boy’ Here the term Māya does not convey the sense of ‘false’. Even in the case of magicians, who are called Māyavin (those who possess Māya). With the aid of certain incantations, drugs etc., they can produce illusory objects but the perceptions of those objects are actually real. The term ‘Māya’ refers to the incantations, drugs etc. which have the power of creating real impressions. Because [grammatically speaking] the meaning of a word, should be the same in all contexts – the term ‘Māya’ can be applied to the illusory objects that are produced, only in a secondary sense. Its primary sense is in regard to the ‘real impressions’ created in the mind. It is just like in the statement ‘The platform groans.’ (a figurative expression having reference to the sound that is produced) The Māya of the Lord consisting of the three Gunas is existentially real and is specifically taught in texts like:— ‘Know then Māya to be the Prakṛti and the possessor of the Māya to be the great Lord’ . Māya not only obscures the essential nature of the Lord but also creates the condition of the mind that sees the created objects as enjoyable. Therefore, the entire universe, deluded by the Lord’s Māya, does not know the Lord of boundless bliss. Sri Krishna teaches the way of deliverance from Māya is to take refuge in Him. Why then, does everyone not take recourse to seeking refuge in the Lord which leads to devotion?