Grammatical Analysis
Māyā: [f.] deceit; illusion; hiding faults; trickery. Derived from root mā (to measure, form, build, exhibit).
Orthodox Definition
As one of the sixteen minor defilements (upakkilesa), Māyā is the specific psychological mechanism of deceit and cover-up. It is the active attempt to conceal one’s transgressions, faults, and unwholesome actions from the community, one’s teachers, or oneself.
The commentaries note that a person afflicted by māyā builds an illusion of purity. If they commit an offense, they think, “May no one know about this,” and use evasive speech or false behavior to obscure the truth. This is fundamentally opposed to the monastic principle of āvikaroti (revealing one’s offenses openly), which is the absolute prerequisite for spiritual rehabilitation.
Because the path to Nibbāna requires brutal honesty regarding one’s own defilements, the presence of māyā ensures the practitioner remains trapped in their own illusions.
Textual References
- Sutta: Vatthūpama Sutta (MN 7) – Charting deceit as a primary stain on the mind.
- Canonical: Suttanipāta (Sn 1.1) – Extolling the monk who has abandoned deceit and pride as having “shed the old skin like a snake.”
- Commentary: Papañcasūdanī – Technical definitions separating the illusion of māyā from the fraud of sāṭheyya.