Shakti and Maya in Sanatana Dharma: The Power Behind Creation

Shakti and Maya: The Divine Power of Ishwara

The divine power, or Shakti–the will of Ishwara, His light sent forth and making “This” manifest, as says the Smriti–is called Maya. Maya is inseparable from Ishwara; their unity is like that of the moon and the moonlight, or that of fire and its power to burn. Thus we read:

“The will am I, O Daitya, of Him [the Supreme Purusha]; I send forth the whole universe. He beholds me, He the Universal Self, I His benign nature” (Devi Bhagavata 5.16, 36).

Maya as Knowledge and Ignorance: Vidya and Avidya

Nilakantha, commenting on the above, quotes one of the Shiva Sutras: “Will-power (is) Uma, the Virgin.” While inseparable from the Lord, when turned towards Him She is called Mahavidya, Supreme Knowledge.

She is also called, when turned away from Him, Avidya, Nescience, and emphatically Mahamaya, the Great Illusion, as She permeates mulaprakriti and becomes inseparable from it. These are Her two forms: “Maya manifests as a duality; these (are) ever vidya and avidya” (Adhyatma Ramayana 3.3.32).

Maya, Mulaprakriti, and the Twofold Prakriti

This identification of the shakti of the Lord with mulaprakriti often causes Maya to be called Mulaprakriti and Prakriti. So Sri Krishna, having defined prakriti as generally understood, said:

“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and ego-principle: these are the eight divisions of my prakriti. This is my lower prakriti,… Know my higher prakriti [as] consisting of all jivas (spirits), by which this world is sustained (supported; is the substratum)” (Bhagavad Gita 7:4-5).

This “other prakriti” is also spoken of by Him under the name of “the eternal Origin of beings” (Bhagavad Gita 9:13), His own Power, His Yogamaya, by which truly “this world is sustained.” As says the Shruti: “Let (the student) know Maya as prakriti; the possessor of Maya as the Great Lord” (Sveshavatara Upanishad 4:10).

In the Devi Bhagavata some very beautiful descriptions are given of this matter side of Nature, regarded as Maya, thus:

“She (is) Bhagavati, the Goddess, the Cause of us all, Mahavidya, Mahamaya, the Fullness, the Imperishable Prakriti.… The Will of the Supreme Self verily (is She), in Her nature (uniting) the Everlasting and the Ever-passing.… (Her) embryo the Veda, the long-eyed, the Primal Goddess of all. At the pralaya, having rolled up the universe, She sports, hiding within Her own body the types of all living beings.… Mulaprakriti is She indeed, ever united with Purusha. Having made the world-systems, She shows them to the Supreme Self.… The cause of it (is) She, the All, Maya, the benignant All-Ruler” (Devi Bhagavata 3:51-61).

This Maya is inseparable from Ishwara, the Saguna Brahman, as said above: “She, Maya, is ever in the Supreme Essence, whose nature is Consciousness, subordinate to Him, and by Him ever sent forth among jivas. Therefore should be worshipped that Consciousness, whose nature is Sat, Chit and Ananda, Lord of Maya, the Divine, with Maya, the Supreme Lady” (Devi Bhagavata 6:48-49).

Maya as the Cause of Bondage and the Path to Liberation

Being thus seen as the illusion-producing power of the Lord, She is known as the cause of bondage and also as the path to liberation. As Avidya She deludes; as Vidya She leads to Her Lord, and as She vanishes in Him the atman knows itself as free.

“This notion of separateness being present sends (the jiva) forth into samsara. This is avidya. O fortunate one! Vidya is the turning away from this. Vidya and avidya should be always known by the wise. Without sunshine how (should) the pleasure of shade be known? Without avidya how should vidya be known?” (Devi Bhagavata. 1.18, 42-44).

“The travelers on the pravritti-marga (the forth-going path) are under the power of avidya. The travelers on the nivritti marga (the returning path) ponder the teaching of the Vedanta” (Adhyatma Ramayana 3.3.32).

When the jiva goes forth, facing prakriti and looking at it, Maya envelops him as Avidya. When he turns his back on prakriti and turns towards the Lord, then She turns with him and becomes Vidya, and he is free. As Nilkantha says, quoting the Shaivagama: “The inward-facing shakti is Vidya.”

Then he realizes the mighty power of Maya, Her divine nature, and Her identity with the Supreme, and hymns Ishwara and Maya as One:

“Thou Sovereign of endless crores (tens of millions) of world-systems, we bow to Thee! Hail! (Thou that art) in the form of the rock-seated (the changeless and motionless Eternal), the form of Consciousness, we bow to thee! Hail! (Thou that) mayest be known by the Vedanta, the Ruler of the universe, we bow to Thee! Thou whom all the sacred books only describe by the words ‘Not this, not this.’ Goddess! the cause of all, with our whole nature we bow to thee!” (Devi Bhagavata 7:28, 31-32).

The One Ishwara Appearing as Many

The Supreme Ishwara, by His Maya, creates preserves and destroys the innumerable world-systems that form the ocean of samsara. He produces the many:

“That willed: May I be many, may I be born” (Chandogya Upanishad 6:2,3).

Then, He is given many names: “To what is One, the Wise give many names” (Rigveda 1.164.46). But whatever the names given, Ishwara is One. Thus has it ever been taught in the Shruti and Smriti, as we have seen, and this is repeated in the more popular teaching of which the Vishnu Purana may serve as example:

“Thus the One Only God, Janardana, takes the designation of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, accordingly as He creates, preserves or destroys.… He is the cause of creation, preservation, and destruction” (Vishnu Purana 1.2.62).