An Analysis of the Theory of Maya in the Vedas

The doctrine of Maya which is introduced by Hinduism to show how man was created is one of the most important parts of Hindu theology. This doctrine indicates that the process of creation is, in fact, a kind of Brahman’s manifestation, and the world represents Brahman’s shade and his dream. The theory of Maya, which is one of the results of the pantheistic perspective, is mainly discussed in the book Upanishads and was developed by the mystics of Vedanta school, especially Shankara, one of the prominent thinkers of this school. This study aims to show that the theory of Maya does exist, though not in a detailed form, in the series of “Vedas", the oldest scriptures of Hinduism and the world. For this purpose, the paper makes a philosophical and semantic investigation of the theory of Maya in order to prove it in the light of the hymns of the Vedas, including the hymes of "creation" and "Prosha".