Maya and Liberation

(The shadows lengthen as Uddhava asks the question that has burned in him for years.)

Uddhava: "Krishna, what is this maya that binds the eternal soul? How can that which is ever-free become a prisoner? And how does liberation occur?"

Krishna: "(his eyes growing profound) Uddhava, maya is My own power — not different from Me yet not exactly Me. It has two aspects: the power that conceals truth, and the power that projects illusion. The concealing power hides the soul's true nature. The projecting power shows the unreal as real."

Uddhava: "But why would You create such a power? Why allow souls to forget themselves?"

Krishna: "For the play of consciousness, dear friend. Without forgetting, there could be no remembering. Without bondage, liberation would have no meaning. Without the dream, awakening brings no joy. Maya enables the cosmic drama in which consciousness explores all possibilities."

Uddhava: "Yet the suffering is real! I have seen good people in agony."

Krishna: "The suffering belongs to the dream, not the dreamer. The sun is never touched by the clouds that seem to cover it. The screen is never wet by the rain in the movie. Yet as long as identification with the dream continues, suffering appears real. This is maya's power."

Uddhava: "(leaning in) How then does one wake up?"

Krishna: "Three things pierce maya: knowledge, devotion, and My grace. Knowledge reveals that what you thought was you — the body, mind, story — is only a costume worn for a role. Devotion purifies the heart until it reflects My presence clearly. My grace, given freely, illumines the mind in an instant."

Uddhava: "Which is most effective?"

Krishna: "All three are aspects of one liberation. Knowledge without devotion becomes dry. Devotion without knowledge can become sentimental. Both without grace remain incomplete. But when even a spark of genuine seeking arises, My grace rushes to meet it."

Uddhava: "And what happens at liberation? Does the world disappear?"

Krishna: "The world remains; the illusion disappears. You still see forms, but you know them as My energy. You still have a body, but you know yourself as its witness. You still engage in action, but you are not the doer. Everything continues, yet you are free."

Uddhava: "Is this like waking from a dream but finding the dream continues?"

Krishna: "Exactly, Uddhava. The liberated one moves through the world like a lotus on water — present but untouched. Happiness and sorrow still arise, but like clouds passing through empty sky, they leave no trace. The body ages and dies, but the realized one simply observes, knowing themselves as the imperishable witness."

Uddhava: "Can one fall back into maya after liberation?"

Krishna: "True liberation is irreversible. What you truly are cannot be lost again. But there are stages of awakening, and some stabilization is required. The fresh insight may flicker. With practice, it becomes steady like a lamp in a windless place. Eventually, it is one's constant state."

Uddhava: "(feeling the weight of the teaching) Maya is Your power. Bondage is a play. Liberation is remembrance. The world is Your dance. And I... I am the witness You have always been looking out through."

Krishna: "(smiling) You have understood, dear one. This understanding itself is the beginning of the end of maya."

(The twilight between them seems to shimmer with something more than light.)