“The last illusion, the last snare of maya to trap the living entity, is the proposition that he is God. The living entity thinks that he is no longer a conditioned soul, but God. He is so unintelligent that he does not think that if he were God, then how could he be in doubt? That he does not consider. So that is the last snare of illusion.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 18.73 Purport)

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It is featured prominently in the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. To the uninitiated, the repeated mention of the terms “Mayavada” and “Mayavadi” might border on obsession. The terms are presented in a negative light. The acharya is not praising the philosophy or recommending it to others. Rather, that philosophy needs to be refuted, given its widespread adoption in a place that should otherwise know better, given its link to the origin of teachers, as identified in Bhagavad-gita.

श्री-भगवान् उवाच
इमं विवस्वते योगं
प्रोक्तवान् अहम् अव्ययम्
विवस्वान् मनवे प्राह
मनुर् इक्ष्वाकवे ’ब्रवीत्

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ
proktavān aham avyayam
vivasvān manave prāha
manur ikṣvākave ’bravīt

“The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikshvaku.” (Bhagavad-gita, 4.1)

In the following presentation, we assert that the philosophy at its core must fall into one of two buckets. The Sanskrit word “vāda” refers to a conclusion. The first term is “maya”, which means “that which is not.” Mayavada is thus the conclusion that everything is maya, but what exactly does that mean?

1. Everything is maya

“This entire world is illusion. It is like a dream. Nothing about it is real. We only think we have a permanent standing based on our ignorance. We cannot see that we are dying at every moment. As soon as there is birth, death follows. It is like this enemy steadily lurking in the background, following us wherever we go. Whenever it should decide to strike, we are helpless against its onslaught. In the extraordinary case, there might be a chance for a reprieve, but that only temporarily postpones the inevitable. The venerable Savitri Devi was once able to negotiate such a pardon directly with the god of death, Yamaraja.

“Yamaraja was impressed by Savitri’s devotion and wisdom. He granted her three wishes, but he wouldn’t bring Satyavana back to life. Savitri cleverly used her wishes to help her husband’s family. Finally, she said that she couldn’t live without Satyavana and would follow him even into death! Touched by her love, Yamaraja granted her a fourth wish and brought Satyavana back to life. Savitri’s love and devotion saved her husband.” (Timeless Treasures: Stories 12-22, Ch 3)

“The identification with the body is maya. The body itself is maya. The circumstances, the timings, the different locations, geography, the stars, the planets, the trees, the rivers – everything is maya. We are entirely in illusion. The teachers, the books, the instruction – these are maya, as well. Everything is illusion.”

2. Everything is Brahman

“This is the opposite of maya. Brahman is truth. Brahman is light. Brahman is life. Everything in this world is actually Brahman. We fail to notice because we are in maya. Once we figure out the pattern, identifying the traps set by the vision of the changing body, we come closer to Brahman. You, me, and every other form of life – we are Brahman.

“This is the meaning of God. Take the total collection. Gather the many sparks of Brahman, which appear infinite in number, but can be brought together as a concept, for the purposes of analysis. That is God. Brahman is satya, or truth, while jagan, or the world, is mithya, or false.”

…

Interestingly, both conclusions are actually the same. The next phase in action, the path to subsequently follow, is identical. If everything is maya, then nothing I do matters. I have no reason to talk. I have no reason to cure my ailments. I have no reason to pursue advancement, be it in knowledge, influence, stature, or renunciation. I have no reason to do anything.

The same applies for the second conclusion. If everything is Brahman, then we are all God. There is no reason to worry about anything. We are actually the Divine. There is no other God. We are all God, but right now we don’t know it. But why should it matter if we know it? We are God, so even ignorance should not hold us back.

Of course, the two conclusions are lacking in one vital aspect: exceptions. If everything is maya, then so must be the instruction which claims that everything is maya. The teacher becomes meaningless in this situation. On the other side, if everything is Brahman, then there is no distinction between the teacher and the student. Both are God, so what is the point of offering instruction? The student is already God. They are already Divine, by definition.

To claim absolute equivalence with Divinity in such a way represents the last snare of maya. The first illusion is identifying completely with the temporary body. The final illusion is considering oneself to be God, even though there is full dependence during the period of childhood. There is vulnerability to the three sources of misery, and of course there is the guaranteed defeat against time, which is also known as death, kāla.

If the claim is that there is an exception made for the teacher, who is a Brahman-realized soul, then what happens when that same teacher is in illusion? If the teacher was once in maya, how did they change their state? How does something which is God somehow become ordinary? How can the ordinary become God? If every person within a given population is in maya, who will rescue them? What if there are no Brahman-realized souls around? The maya condition will continue forever, then?

The logic doesn’t hold up, and so the conclusion of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is more accurate, more descriptive, and applies throughout the time continuum. That conclusion is achintya-bhedabheda-tattva. The living being is simultaneously one with and different from God. That is why someone like Krishna can teach someone like Arjuna. There are two participants in that association. Krishna is always more than Brahman. He is never in illusion. He can remember every previous iteration of the journey within the mortal realm. Arjuna has no such recollection.

श्री-भगवान् उवाच
बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि
जन्मानि तव चार्जुन
तान्य् अहं वेद सर्वाणि
न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
bahūni me vyatītāni
janmāni tava cārjuna
tāny ahaṁ veda sarvāṇi
na tvaṁ vettha parantapa

“The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!” (Bhagavad-gita, 4.5)

The teachers, the books, the processes, the paths, the recommendations – these are not in maya because of their association with the Supreme Lord. Otherwise, they are nothing but aspects of a material realm, which is ruled by maya. But that maya works at the pleasure of Krishna, and so that same energy can turn auspicious in nature, when used for fulfilling the objective of always remembering God, who is the Supreme Brahman.

मन्-मना भव मद्-भक्तो
मद्-याजी मां नमस्कुरु
माम् एवैष्यसि युक्त्वैवम्
आत्मानं मत्-परायणः

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam
ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ

“Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, offer obeisances and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.34)

In Closing:

Everything as maya perception,
But just consider the exception.

Of the person kindly teaching,
How illusion into words seeping?

A higher being there must be,
Who the truth personally to see.

Suffering with false identification bout,
But Krishna showing the way out.

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