"Maya is a name for a nonexistent phenomenon. But this nonexistent thing comes within view! It is like the mirage in the desert, a sheet of water that never was or is. He who knows the truth does not see it; only those ignorant with the ways of the desert are drawn by it. They run towards it and suffer grief, exhaustion and despair. Like darkness arising in the room hiding the room itself, like moss growing on the water hiding the water itself, like cataract growing in the eye hiding the vision, Maya too attaches itself to whoever helps it to grow. It overpowers the three Gunas and the three Gods. That is to say, all who identify themselves with the limited, the named, the formed, the individualised, are affected by it. Jiva-bhranthi (identification with Jiva) bring it about; Thathwa-bhranthi (identification with the Thath thwa, That-this entity) removes it. It hides the Thathwa; it does not hold sway over those who have once known the Thathwa."

"Arjuna, you might ask Me whether this Maya which pervades and injures the very place where it originates has not tarnished Me, in whom it has taken birth. It is natural that such a doubt should arise. But that is a baseless doubt. Maya is the cause of all this Jagath but it is not the cause of God. I am the authority that wields Maya. This Jagath which is the product of Maya moves and behaves according to My will. So whoever is attached to Me and acts according to My will cannot be harmed by Maya. Maya acknowledges their authority also. To overcome Maya, the only method is to acquire the Jnana of the universal, and to rediscover your own universal nature. For, you attribute the limit of life on that which is eternal and it is this which causes Maya. Hunger and thirst are the characteristics of life. Joy and grief, impulse and imagination, birth and death are all characteristics of the body. They are all an-Atma, un-Atmic. They are not the characteristics of the universal, the Atma."

"To believe that the universal which is you is limited and subject to all these un-Atmic characteristics, that is Maya. But remember, Maya dare not approach any one who has taken refuge in Me. For those who fix their attention on Maya, it operates as a vast oceanic obstacle. But for those who fix their attention on God, Maya will present itself as Madhava! The hurdle of Maya can be crossed either by developing the attitude of oneness with the infinite God or the attitude of complete surrender to the Lord. The first is called Jnanayoga, the second is named Bhakthiyoga."

"All men do not get the inner prompting to conquer Maya, by surrendering their all to the Lord. It depends on the merit or demerit, accumulated during many births. Those who have only demerit as their earnings will pursue the fleeting pleasure of the senses. Like the birds and the beasts, they revel in food and frolic; they take these as the purpose of life; they do not entertain any thoughts of God; they dislike the company of the virtuous and the good; they stray away from good acts; they become outlaws from the realm of God."