THE Doctrine of Maya - HolyBooks.com

92 THE DOCTRINE OF MAYAeffect of dkdsa, so isJiva neither a part nor an evolvedeffect of the Atman (iii. 7).The Sastras praise the unity of the Atman, demonstrated by reason and borne out by Scriptures,while they censure manifoldness or separateness.The separation between Jiva and the Atman is onlyassumed and need only be taken in a metaphysicalsense (iii. 13. 14). Again, the distinctionless Atman,eternal and unborn, appears with distinctness underso many finite and mortal forms simply throughmaya for, if the distinctions were real, the immortal;would in that case necessarily become mortal, whichon the very face of it is impossible, since a thing cannot be changed into anything of quite an oppositenature (iii. 19. 21).The Atman is ever unborn and one. It does notconvert itself into the world of experience. If itdid, it would go on taking birth after birth adinfinitum, thus precluding all possibilityof liberation. The birth of worlds is possible only throughmaya. Nothing can be actually born of the Atman.It may only be supposed to give birth to things,like the rope to the snake, etc., but not in reality(iii. 27).Again, A sat (non-existence), cannot be taken asthe cause or source of everything. The son of abarren women isa concept without meaning, neverto be realized in reality or even in illusion (iii. 28).All dualityisnothing but a creation of the mind,since it stands or falls with the mind (iii. 31).