________________
MYTHOLOGICAL NOTES
2.66
2.71
3.6
3.7
3.11
Māyā For God, māyā is only the will to create the appearance. It does not affect God, does not deceive Him. For ignorant people like us who are deceived by it and see the many objects here instead of one Brahman or God, māyā is an illusion-producing ignorance. This māyā is described in some scriptures also as avyakta or even Prakṛti having the three elements of sattva, rajas and tamas.
131
The Samkhyas, however, admit two ultimate realities: Prakṛti and Purușa. This Prakṛti is made up of three gunas sattva, rajas and tamas is responsible for the evolution of the world. The Purusa is inactive, he simply witnesses. Prakṛti like a dancing girl dances on the stage and Purusa like a spectator simply watches her dancing performance. Here the poet without any ambiguity describes Visnu-Krsna as a mere spectator and māyā (or Prakṛti) as a female dancer, actress (nartaki).
Pañca-bāṇa-ripu : The enemy of the five-arrowed god of love (Kāma or Madana or Cupid having five flowery arrows) i.e. Śankara who burnt him to ashes with the fire shooting from his third eye in the forehead. Madhumathana: (or Madhumatha) 'Crusher or destroyer of (the demon) Madhu; Madhu-Sudana 'destroyer of the demon Madhu, Madhu-ripu or Madhuvairī are all epithets of Visnu - Kṛṣṇa.
Gopika-tanuja : Son of a cowherd's wife (here Kṛṣṇa is derisively so addressed as he was brought up by Yasoda, wife of the cowherd Nanda).
Alîka batu-cchala: According to the generally received account, the incarnations of Viṣṇu are ten in number. The reference here is to the fifth Vamana (Dwarf) incarnation. In the Treta-yuga, the Daitya king Bali had, by his austerities acquired the dominion of
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
