The credo ‘Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya’ epitomises the entire Advaita teaching of Adi Sankara. It states that Brahman alone is Satyam, the only Reality; all else, including the entire jagat, is Mithya, that is ‘non real.’ In Brahman, which is of the essence of Sat, Existence, Chit, Consciousness and Ananda, Bliss, all else is subsumed. In a discourse, Nannilam Sri Rajagopala Ganapadigal drew attention to the Dakshinamurthy Stotra that teaches and inspires one to analyse the reality behind all human experience. This exercise can make one realise the true essence of the immortal self as the only everlasting consciousness and hence the only Reality. Like a magician or a great yogi the Lord is able to bring into existence the entire creation when He casts the spell of Maya. Like a sprout within a seed, the entire universe appears as manifold within the concepts of Time and Space that lend it extraordinary credibility.
What an infinite variety in the form of colour, shape, guna, etc is there to keep us engrossed in this world? Such is the power of Maya that what is not real is made to appear as real and what is real is well hidden behind this seemingly authentic display. It can make a single object appear as two or many. This is the greatest catch that is the cause of delusion. Then we think the experience of joy and sorrow is also real. A jnani knows that the universe is equal to a city perceived in a mirror where the images projected are not true and that worldly experience has only a dream like existence. When one wakes up, the dream is no more. The Lord’s Maya is the most difficult to cross and keeps us tied to the world. Viveka jnana that can sift the real from the unreal alone can overpower Maya and this is gained only through God’s grace.