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Māyā of Sankara should not, however, be mistaken for the 'Prakrti' or 'Pradhana' of Sankhya, No doubt, like Praksti of Sankhya, it is something material and unconscious. But like Prakrti of Sānkhya, it is neither real nor independent reality. Māyā is entirely dependent on and inseparable from the supreme Lord, and as such, lias no being of its own. It is a power of Lord. So, all power is non-different from its possesor, so also Māyā, being power of supreme Lord is not different from it.27 Tsvara creates the world out of liis this Māyāsakti which is tlie matrix of names and forms.28 It's activity and inactivity is on accout of Māyä.29 He is. in his essential nature, inactive. But becomes active in relation to his Mâyä.30 It is called Mahāmāya and Išvara is called Mahamayin.31 Mäyā is existent but not real like Brahman. Brahman is both sat and positive, Mäyä is positive but not sat. So, there is no two ultimate categories in Sankara's pliilosophy. According to Sankara the world is Māyā, means that it is an appearance of Reality in a form which is not its essential and ultimate nature and has no being after the dawn of the right knowledge.32 Māyā is a power of God, indistinguishable from him, just as the burning power of fire is from fire itself. It is neither real like Brahman por unreal like son of a barren woman. It is not real, for it vanishes at the dawn of knowledge, it is not unreal, for it is true as long as it lasts, Sankara beautifully states in his Vivekacūdāmani that 'this Māyā is neither real nor unreal, nor is it essentially both, it is neither differentiated nor is it un-defferentiated, nor is it essentially both, it is of the most wonderful and indescribable form.o33 On the ground that it is indescribable, Māyā cannot be denied. It is felt fact and is to be inferred through its effects by our intelligence.34 Sankara quotes a verse from Süryapurāna to support his anirvacaniyatva of Māyā.35
Māyā is the material cause of the world in conjunction with 1Svara, Māyā, the creative power does not affect God, does not deceive him, like magician who is not affected by his inagical power.36 The relation of Māyā and Braluman is unique. It is neither identity nor difference, nor both. It is energised and acts as a medium of the projection of this world of plurality on the non-dual ground of Brahman. Really it can do no harm to Reality, just as mirage water cannot make the sandy desert muddy. It is something positive (bhāvarīpa) though not real. It is called positive in order to emphasize the fact that it is not merely negative. The main functions of Māyā is two fold:-it superimposes and conceals the real nature of the object and shows up in it place some other object. These two powers of Māyā are called 'Avaraña' and 'Viksepa respectively,37
