Answer

Maya in Hindu mythology and philosophy operates as the primordial creative power (Shakti) wielded by the supreme divine, particularly associated with Vishnu and later with the Goddess (Devi), by which the infinite Brahman projects the finite, differentiated world of appearances. At its cosmological level, Maya is not mere trickery but the very mechanism through which Brahman, which is formless and undivided, manifests the universe of name and form (namarupa), making multiplicity appear where there is only unity. In the Devi Bhagavata Purana and the Markandeya Purana's Devi Mahatmya, Maya is personified as Mahamaya, the Great Illusion, who even veils the minds of Vishnu and Brahma, demonstrating that no being within creation is exempt from her power. The Bhagavata Purana describes how Vishnu uses his Yogamaya to enact the divine play (lila), as seen when Krishna causes Yashoda to perceive the entire cosmos within his mouth — a moment that collapses the boundary between illusion and revelation. What separates a sophisticated answer is recognizing that Maya is simultaneously avidya (ignorance) for those enmeshed in it and vidya (divine knowledge/power) when wielded consciously by the divine — it is both the veil and the weaver. The paradox is that Maya cannot be called real (it is not ultimate reality) nor unreal (it produces tangible experience), placing it in the category of 'anirvachaniya' or the inexplicable. Liberation (moksha) in this framework comes precisely from seeing through Maya, recognizing the Atman as identical to Brahman, at which point Maya loses its binding power, though it continues to operate for those still within samsara.