NATURE OF MAYA

A man was going through the woods. On his way he was caught by a band of three robbers. They robbed him of everything he had. Then the first robber asked, ' What is the use of letting this man alive ? " And drawing his sword, he was about to kill him, when the second robber stopped him, saying, " What is the good of killing him ? Tie his hands and feet, and throw him aside. So they bound him hand and foot, and went away leaving him there. After they had gone some distance, the third robber returned and said to him, "Ah! are you hurt? Come, let me untie the cords and release you? Then when he had removed the cords, he said, " Now come with me. I will show you the road. After walking a long distance, they found the road, and then the robber said, 44 Look, there is your home. Follow the road and you will soon reach it. The man thanked him and said, " Sir, you have done me a great service, I am greatly obliged to you. Will you not come with me to my house ? The robber answered, " No, I cannot go there, the police will find me out."

This world is the wilderness. The three robbers are the three Gunas (constituents) of Nature—Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Jiva or the individual soul is the traveller. Self-knowledge is his treasure. Tamas binds him with the fetters of the world, but Sattva protects him from the action of Rajas and Tamas. By taking refuge in Sattva, the Jiva becomes free from lust, anger and delusion which are the effects of Tamas ; thus the Sattva quality emancipates the Jiva from the bondage of the world. But the Sattva quality itself is also a robber. It leads one, however, up to the path of the Supreme Abode and then it says, ' Behold, there is your home ! " Then it disappears. Even the Sattva quality cannot go into the region of the Absolute.

A priest was once going to the village of a disciple of his. He had no servant with him. Seeing a cobbler on the way, he addressed him, saying, " Holloa ! good man, will you accompany me as a servant ? You will be fed well and taken good care of if you come with me." The cobbler replied, Sir, 1 am of the lowest caste. How can I come as your servant ? " The priest said, ' Never mind. Do not tell anybody what you are. Do not also speak to anyone, or make anybody s acquaintance. The cobbler agreed. At twilight, while the priest was sitting at prayers in the house of his disciple, another Brahmin came and said to the priests servant, "Go and bring my shoes from there. True to the behest of his master, he made no response. The Brahmin repeated his order a second time, but even then the servant remained silent. The Brahmin repeated it again and again, but the cobbler did not move an inch. At last, getting annoyed, the Brahmin angrily said, " Sirrah ! how dare you disobey a Brahmins command? What is your name? Are you indeed a cobbler? The cobbler, hearing this, began to tremble with fear, and looking piteously at the priest, said, O venerable Sir ! I am found out. I dare not stay here any longer. Let me flee." So saying, he took to his heels. Just so, as soon as Maya is recognised, she flies away.

Maya is unknowable. Once Narada besought the Lord of the universe, " Lord, show me that Maya of Thine which can make the impossible possible. The Lord nodded assent. Subsequently the Lord one day set out on a travel with Narada. After going some distance, He felt very thirsty and fatigued. So He sat down and told Narada, " Narada, I feel much thirsty; please get me a little water from somewhere." Narada at once ran in search of water. Finding no water near by, he went far from the place and saw a river at a great distance. When he approached the river, he saw a most charming young lady sitting there, and was at once captivated by her beauty. As soon as Narada went near her, she began to address him in sweet words, and ere long, both fell in love with each other. Narada then married her, and settled down as a householder. In-course of time he had a number of children by her. And while he was thus living happily with his wife and children, there came a pestilence in the country. Death began to collect its toll from every place. Then Narada proposed to abandon the place and go away somewhere else. His wife acceded to it, and they both came out of their house leading their children by the hand. But no sooner did they come to the bridge to cross the river than there came a terrible flood, and in the rush of water, all their children were swept away one after another, and at last the wife too was drowned. Overwhelmed with grief at his bereavement, Narada sat down on the bank and began to weep piteously. Just then the Lord appeared before him, saying, " O Narada, where is the water ? and why are you weeping ? ' The sight of the Lord startled the sage, and then he understood everything. He exclaimed, " Lord, my obeisance to Thee, and my obeisance also to Thy wonderful Maya ! :

Once a tigress attacked a flock of sheep. She was with child, and so when she jumped on the flock, she gave birth to a cub and died. But the cub survived and grew up among the flock of sheep. The sheep grazed in the field and the cub too did accordingly. They bleated and it also tried to imitate them. In course of time it became a full-grown tiger. By chance, one day, another tiger came and attacked the flock, but he was surprised to see the sheep-tiger in the flock. Then he chased it and caught it by the neck. But it began to bleat in fear like the sheep. The old tiger, however, dragged it to a pond and showing it the reflection of both of them in the water, said, " Look, your form is similar to mine. You are also a tiger like myself. Now eat this piece of flesh.' And so saying, he forced the flesh into its mouth. But at first the sheep-tiger would eat it by no means. It bleated and said that it was a sheep. But as soon as it got a little taste of blood, its dormant instinct was quickened and it began to eat the flesh. Then the old tiger said, Now have you understood that you are the same as myself? So come along with me into the forest.' In the same way if one has the grace of the Guru, there is no fear. The Guru will open your eyes and tell you who you are and what your real self is.

In the course of self-analysis, when the mind reaches the state of perfect peace, there comes the revelation of Supreme Brahman.

Once a man wanted to see the king. The king lived in the inner apartment of the palace beyond seven gates. The man came to the palace and saw at the first gate a person sitting in a great pomp surrounded by a retinue. Seeing him, the man who was going to the king asked his friend. " Is that the king? " The friend said with a smile, " No." Next he passed through the other gates one after another and in each successive gate he saw persons sitting surrounded with greater and greater pomp and show. The more he advanced into the interior of the palace the more was the grandeur of the people whom he saw. And at every succeeding stage he thought that he beheld the king and so questioned his friend. But when he crossed the seventh gate, and came face to face with the king himself, he felt no necessity of asking his friend whether the man was the king. For he was dumbfounded by the very sight of the immense grandeur of the king, and felt sure that he was standing in the augtfst presence of royalty.