Today, I somehow recalled these few lines from the writings of the famous saint Kabir:
माया महा ठगनी हम जानी।
तिरगुन फाँसि लिये कर डोलै, बोलै मधुरी बानी।
केसव के कमला होइ बैठी, सिव के भवन भवानी।
पंडा के मूरत होइ बैठी तीरथहू में पानी।
जोगी के जोगिन होइ बैठी, काहू के कौड़ी कानी।
भक्तन के भक्तिन होइ बैठी, ब्रह्मा के ब्रह्मानी।
कहैं कबीर सुनो भाई साधो, यह सब अकथ कहानी॥
Kabir says the following at a different place:
माया मुई न मन मुवा, मरि-मरि गया सरीर।
आसा त्रिष्णाँ नाँ मुई, यौं कहै दास कबीर॥
Maya is a very interesting concept in Indian spiritual texts. This entire world is a product of 3 Gunas: Satva, Rajas, and Tamas. These three Gunas have the same source: consciousness. However, when consciousness manifests itself in three different forms, due to the effect of Maya or illusion, we are not able to see the reality behind different forms. We develop attraction towards one or the other form of Maya and repulsion towards the other form and live our lives pursuing what we like and running away from what we dislike. That is why we keep living life after life. Asha (Hope) and Trishna (Desire) do not die and keep coming in different forms.
The most interesting thing that I notice, especially in India, is that almost everybody is brought up in India reading all these texts. Kabir has been a part of our syllabus in the 11th and 12th standards. Even otherwise, we keep listening to his words in the movies, plays, social functions, and in regular social interactions. So much so that we keep recalling these words. At the core of our heart, we do understand the reality. However, when it comes to daily living, we also get cheated by Maya. We also develop a lot of desires, justify them as necessary for our existence, and keep making efforts to earn money and power to get the desired things. What is more interesting is that we realize their futility after getting the same, however, we develop new desires in the process and keep running after these new desires equally convinced that these new desires will give us happiness.
Getting good marks in the annual tests, getting the first position in the class, 99% in the Boars, getting admission to a good college, getting a placement in a reputed company, a fat pay package, early promotion, pay hikes, a like-minded partner, 7 digit bank balance, appreciation of the shares, buying a property and many more properties, name, and fame in the society, intellectually stimulating assignment, tasty food, travel to different tourist places and different countries, branded clothes, having luxury cars, intelligent kids, admission to the best colleges for the kids, lavish marriage ceremony, and so on. The list is endless. And the funny part is that even if we tick 9 out of 10 in the list, that one unticked item becomes the pain point. The pain or suffering of one unticked item is sufficient to overcome the pleasure of the 9 ticked items.
Why Maya has been called Mahathigini or the biggest cheat by Kabira is probably because we all understand this and yet keep creating new wishlists. Every moment the world is displaying new products and services. Nowadays, we don't even need to go to the market. All these products and services are available on the mobile screen. Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, newspapers, TVs, and OTT platforms have an endless list of products and services: all offering more and more comforts and pleasures. Leave aside other things, even water is available in a range from free to around a lakh of rupees per liter.
The list of products and services will always remain endless and will keep expanding. Any average intelligent person can understand that he or she is not going to get everything on the list. Leave aside the resources, the body can't consume all these products and services. Yet, why do we keep running after Maya? Probably because we have never made efforts to connect to the source, the consciousness. We always remain dissatisfied in the absence of that connection. We keep searching for that contentment in different products, services, and at times relationships. However, the fact of the matter is that unless we connect to the source, any object of pleasure can never make us complete and happy.
I don't know how this post is going to be useful to anybody while the writings of the great saints such as Kabira, are already available freely and easily. However, I feel that we need constant reminders about the nature of Maya. In the life of almost everybody, there come some moments when one is fed up with the race. In those moments, if he gets a reminder of the eternal truth, there is a possibility that such a person may taste the fruit of truth. Once a person tastes the truth, even if he again gets tempted towards Maya, the taste of the fruit does remain and when there is another occasion of being fed up with the race, that taste of the fruit reminds that person to make efforts to connect internally. I have this hope and do recognize very well that this hope may itself be Maya which keeps me engaged in this world of Maya.
Comments