Introduction:
My project deals with the concept of Maya in Hindu philosophy and
religion. Maya means "illusion" and refers to the belief that what one
considers reality may in fact be an illusion. The project is
meant to explore how the concept of maya is used as a plot
device in The Ramayana and Mahabharata. I chose this topic because it
is one of the fundamental differences between Eastern and Western
worldviews. Because of this, I knew very little about the concept of
maya. Through this project, I gained a better understanding of
it. From doing further research, the translation of maya meaning
"illusion" doesn't seem to be completely correct. The website
www.mythandculture.com has a quote from a man named Heinrich Zimmer
that says "Therefore, in the symbolism of the myths, to dive into the
water means to delve into the mystery of Maya; to quest after the
ultimate secret of life." If the translation only meant "illusion",
then it wouldn't have the power Zimmer gives it. Maya is also how
Brahma created the universe, but with this creation comes what Zimmer
described as a "veil" that makes people think that the universe is
somehow separate from Brahma. The author goes on to describe the root
of maya being "ma", which means "to measure," coming to this
conclusion: "When we believe in maya we measure off what is ourselves
and what is the rest of the universe. Creating a separation from the
oneness, we fall into maya’s trap. We become attached to the world of
maya, attached to outcome and ego. We become attached to illusion and
delusion, which is not maya but the outcome of our belief in maya."
My first
story was about Indrajit temporarily defeating Rama and much of his
army. To see Rama defeated in battle is shocking and hard to
believe, since he has been characterized in the Ramayana as being nearly
invincible. Rama is defeated because Indrajit is able to use the
power of maya to his advantage. This shows the great power maya
contains.
My second
story was about Narada being turned into a woman. Narada asks
Vishnu to teach him about maya, and this is how Narada learns.
The story deals with many basic human fears, like losing one's memory
and radical physical changes to the body. Since both of these
fears arise because the veil of maya separates people from the unity of
Brahma, it illustrates a very philosophical aspect of maya not dealt
with in the previous story.
My third
story was of Duryodhana complaining about Indraprastha.
Because the God Maya built the palace for the Pandavas, it is more
beautiful than anything Duryodhana has seen. This evokes his
jealous and greedy nature. The main point of the story, however,
was to show the beauty that has been attributed to the powers of maya.
My fourth
story was of the statue of Bhima Krishna puts in the place of the
real Bhima. It seems to be one of the most concrete instances of
maya, making it easy to comprehend. I also intended it to be a
little humorous, since in the original story, although the king would
have killed Bhima had it not been for the powers of maya, nobody seems
to take great offense to it. Without the humor, I think the story
would have come off as being much more intense than it was originally.
My fifth
story was of Duryodhana sitting at the bottom of the lake after
having been injured. I thought it was an interesting use of maya
because of the passive nature of Duryodhana's intentions. In most
instances, maya has been used to bring about some sort of change, but
here, Duryodhana invokes maya's powers just to keep what little of his
life he has left. This is especially significant since Duryodhana
seems to be the most aggressive character in the story.
"Mahabharata"
Joe Puma
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