According to the ancient Indian religious Granths, Maya is indicated to be tripple-qualitied or having three Guna. However, the SGGS (Sri Guru Granth Sahib), goes one step further. In addition to the Maya's three qualities (three modes of material nature), it also indicates three aspects of Maya as follows:
(1) Maya is as the daughter of the miser.
(2)
Maya is as the wife of the worldly
persons.
(3) Maya is as the slave of the Holy people.
Before attempting to reflect on these three aspects of Maya, let's briefly review the three Guna (or qualities) of Maya. These three qualities of Maya — three thought-conditions or states of the mind — have already been dealt with in a little detail in two separate Gurbani Reflections. In brief, these three Guna are Saatav, Raajas, and Taamas (Sat, Raj, Tam or Sato, Rajo, Tamo). In English, these can be called goodness, passion and ignorance, respectively. They are like intertwined strands of the winding cord or rope inherent in one's nature. Combination of these three Guna in various permutation, determines the individual personality, mind and intellect. In other words, different aspects in the character and the conduct of persons is regulated by the proportion in which these three constituents are mixed. This conditioning of the mind is responsible not only for the diversity in people, but also each Jeeva's (individual being) interpretation of God. That is, the Taamas person's faith is Tamo-Gunee; the Raajas person's faith is Rajo-Gunee; and the Saatav person's faith is Sato-Gunee. In nutshell, when Saatav predominates it gives inner joy while Raajas impels one to excessive activity and, Taamas clouds the intellect thereby making the person dull and mind-blind. Hence, every individual is unique and his nature is determined by the interplay of these three qualities, which are always in a state of flux in a person and are responsible not only for his faith but also for his thoughts, actions and response to situations.
The SGGS examines and analyses these three Guna as well as diagnoses its maladies. According to these three modes of material nature acquired by the embodied Soul, one's faith can be considered as Saatavic, Raajasic, and Taamasic. Abidance in Saatav is indicated to be essential to progress spiritually. As pointed out by the SGGS, Maya's delusive force covers the vision of the living entities and makes them forget the Self ("Hari Visrai"), it gives rise to the emotional attachment ("Moh Upjai"), and it creates relativism or duality ("Bhaau Doojaa"). Owing to its delusive nature, Maya can be defined as that which is not ("ma" means "not", "ya" means "that") — "what we deem a thing to be, in reality, it is not like that" (sggs 657). In other words, Maya is that illusion and mirage which produces the impossible. It's the principle of pluralism. When the Eternal living entity (Soul or the Self) comes in contact with the material nature, he becomes tainted or conditioned by these qualities and forgets that he is the part-and-parcel of God (Joti-Svaroopa) and that his True Nature is Pure Awareness and Bliss.
In short, whatever deludes a person away from his godly status (Joti-Svaroopa, Pure Consciousness etc.) is Maya for him. Having briefly discussed the three Guna of Maya, now lets's try to briefly reflect on the three aspects of Maya
(1) Maya is as the Daughter of the Miser
A miser person (Soom) is also called "Kripan" in the SGGS. As he serves only Maya, consequently, the "Kripan" is a repository of all Bikaars (negativities): lust, anger greed, attachment, pride, enviousness, stubborn mindedness, selfishness, unrighteousness, and other numerous variations of these negative tendencies. He dose not know giving; for giving or sharing is not his nature. As a result, he only knows taking, stealing, squandering, misappropriating, and so on. He is in love with wealth and "calls it his own". He is "full of sins".
Thus the miser person is said to be the lowest of the low. He is like that of the dog in the manger. Any society where misers are prevalent will suffer; for misers can only increase the suffering of others in the world. A miser cannot be the support of anybody. He is unaware of the truth that to gain real happiness one has to selflessly give (Vand Shaknaa). Hence, he creates hellish existence on this earth for himself as well as for others to live in.
Influenced by the money, we become greedy. In turn, greed gives rise to corruption, selfishness and stealing. Accordingly, the SGGS indicates that the greedy persons cannot be trusted. Such people are compared to the mad dog with rabies. "Their madness ruins everything", states the Gurbani.
The SGGS urges us to conquer relativist consciousness and fix the mind in the sameness. However, in selfishness, the miser does not follow this great doctrine of sameness — seeing the same One God in all beings.
(2) Maya is as the Wife of the Worldly Persons
Saints live in this world too. "Maya is the wife of the worldly persons" simply means a person (Sansaaree, Saakat etc.) living in Mayaic consciousness rooted in desires and attachments — materiality or Manmukhtaa. The SGGS calls such persons "foolish", "evil", "demons", "unconscious", sleeping in "egotism" or Haume, devoid of love for the "Name" and real "Understanding, "self-willed", and so on. The SGGS declares that to be friend with such people is nothing but friendship with Maya, which leads to ruin.
Full of sorrow, injustice, repeated suffering, evil, disease, death and other faults, the worldly consciousness (Manmukhtaa) is our own making. In Mayaic or worldly consciousness, the Soul is also tainted with limitations, ignorance, duality (Doojaa Bhaav) and other imperfections, Bikaars or negativities. Hence, the path of the worldliness is indicative of the Soul being engrossed in ignorance and fulfillment of instinctive and intellectual urges and fancies.
(3) Maya is as the Slave of the Holy People
The Gurbani indicates that, as the miser (and the Manmukh, Saakat etc.) serves Maya, they are Maya's slaves — they work for Maya. To the contrary, the Holy ones (Saadhoos, Saints, Mahaatamaans, Gurmukhs etc.) serve only God. Thereby, Maya is their slave (i.e., Maya works for them). As true spiritual beings (Persons of Perfection or Pooran Purakh), they are selfless and live for others. Their words are medicine: the Light in the darkness.
The Holy people remain unaffected by Maya because they do not live in the menacing body-consciousness. Here the SGGS is not talking about the bogus Holy ones (saints, Gurus, Mahaatamaans, Gurmukhs etc.) — swindlers or religious con-artists, merely interested in money and sex. These fake ones take advantage of the worldly consciousness of the people and cheat them. The reality is, in the worldly consciousness of desires and attachments, we cannot differentiate between the real and the fake ones (s~q and As~q). The entire SGGS sings the Glory of the Holy. Transcending the three Guna of Maya, they are established in the Fourth State (Chauthaa Pada) of Consciousness. If one desire to read more about the enduring qualities or values of the real Holy people, read, for example, "Gaurhee Sukhmani Mahalaa 5" (sggs 262).
A complete guide to the practical and Holy or Pure Life of Higher Consciousness (Gurmukh Lifestyle), the Gurbani is of the nature of God. If one chooses to, it provides all that is needed to raise one's consciousness to the Highest possible dimension (Gurmukhtaa).
— T. Singh
www.gurbani.org
Updated on Friday, September 12, 2008 9:56 AM (PST)
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