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Wellsprings
hindu-selffeatured in 2 works

Māyā

The power by which the One looks like the many — illusion to dispel, or God's real art?

Māyā names the mysterious power by which the single reality shows up as the endless variety of the world. The word is often translated 'illusion,' but that is only one school's reading. For some it is a beguiling appearance to be seen through; for others it is the genuine, marvelous creative power of God or of consciousness. How a school understands māyā tells you almost everything about how it understands the world.

How it traveled

  1. Bhagavad-gītā
    Kuru-Pañcāla region · -150
    explains
  2. Upadeśasāhasrī
    Kālaḍi (Kaladi) · 710
    explains

Key passages(19)

Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)

Very high

Aṣṭāvakra-gītā · Aṣṭāvakra

Very high

Bhagavad-gītā · Vyāsa (Yoga-bhāṣya commentator)

Very high

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Very high

Paramārthasāra · Abhinavagupta

Very high

Upadeśasāhasrī · Ādi Śaṅkara

Very high

Bhagavad-gītā · Vyāsa (Yoga-bhāṣya commentator)

High

Upadeśasāhasrī · Ādi Śaṅkara

High

Vijñāna-bhairava · Anonymous (Bhairava Āgama / Tantra)

High

Gheraṇḍa-saṃhitā · (attributed to Gheraṇḍa)

High

Tantrasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Tantrasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Śiva-stotrāvalī · Utpaladeva

High

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Īśā Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Śiva-stotrāvalī · Utpaladeva

High

Stotraratna · Yāmunācārya (Ālavandār)

High

Brahma-sūtra · Bādarāyaṇa

Moderate

Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā · Svātmārāma

Moderate