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
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.
