THE Doctrine of Maya - HolyBooks.com

""""CHAPTER IHISTORY OF THE WORDMAYAMAYAis one of the most important and prominentwords in the vocabulary of the Vedanta philosophy.If it had an unalterable and fixed meaning throughout the history of Indian thought, our task wouldhave been lighter and we should have been saved thelabour of writing this chapter. But as it is, theword isvery fluid, and has at different times assumedvarious shapes of meaning. What it meant in theVedic literature seems at first sight to be almostcontradictory to its later connotation. Our presentinquiry is intended to bring out the connectinglinks between its various meanings as they gradually passed through stages of transition. To avoidall subsequent error and confusion in understanding the conception of Maya, it seems necessary tomake clear the ground by first coming to termswith the word itself. The misconception and misuse of words is at the root of a host of fallacies ;hence, we believe that no mean part of our task isfinished if we are able, by means of a careful philological research, to define the concept of Maya in