What Is Maya?

In philosophy the origin of the word maya is derived from the Sanskrit roots 'ma' ("not") and 'ya', meaning "that". So the meaning of Maya is "that is not" but which appears to be real.

Bhagavad Gita 18

TEXT 61

isvarah sarva-bhutanam 
hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati 
bhramayan sarva-bhutani 
yantrarudhani mayaya

 ईश्वरः सर्वभूतानां हृद्देशेऽर्जुन तिष्ठति ।
भ्रामयन्सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारुढानि मायया

SYNONYMS
isvarah--the Supreme Lord; sarva-bhutanam--of all living entities;hrt-dese--in the location of the heart; arjuna--O Arjuna; tisthati--resides;bhramayan--causing to travel; sarva-bhutani--all living entities; yantra--machine; arudhani--being so placed; mayaya--under the spell of material energy.

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.



We do not realize that we are being directed by this material energy. Thus getting attached to the material world and getting caught by the clutches of maya. The only way out is to fix our mind in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna.