If the last leg of this journey was of letting go, the last lesson is that of not submitting to the tattvas and their play. If Tavayogi had trained us not to get hooked on him and other accessories that we already held on to or gifts that came our way, but pointed us to Agathiyar instead, first as God in the first initiation; as guru with his touch in the second initiation; as the breath by having us observe the breath in the third initiation, Agathiyar in turn showed us to Prapanjam and showed himself as this all-encompassing Prapanjam.
If Maya is anything and everything that is subject to change, then it is in all of creation. Maya is the skies and the changing weather, the earth and its mountains, trees and animals, and man and the ever-changing body, its cells, the speech, the opinion, the thoughts, the perception, the understanding, etc. We are a result of Maya having begun as a cell, and constantly changing forms, from cell to a zygote, embryo, fetus, a child, a toddler, a kid, teen, youth, adult, and turning old and finally dying and decaying, changing back into the very elements or tattvas that we began with. Maya that has been seeded in us and has germinated has to be weeded out.
Maya which envelops all of creation envelops the spiritual arena too, influencing the internal changes taking place. It looks like the Siddhis attained or gifted or that comes our way as a byproduct of the internal transformation is a work of Maya. So too there is Maya in our perception and understanding of the sacred texts. There is Maya hidden in the knowledge passed on by way of a master to a student. One has to carefully peel it away. For instance, we are safe if we stick to the direct transmission, be it Arul Vaakku or Gnana Vaaku or the songs of the saints or the revelations in the Nadi. The moment we begin to elaborate thinking the readers or listeners cannot grasp what is said, the human element sets in and there is the tendency to manipulate adding on and dropping facts. That is why for instance one should only take the words that Agathiyar says in the Nadi, not the expansion and clarifications by the Nadi readers. Agathiyar in answering our quest to know his origin asked the Nadi reader to only read what appeared in the Nadi and not to elaborate further. Similarly in having us read the songs of the saints he had us go for the original texts and not read the clarifications given by writers.
Norman Rockwell's graphic depiction of these misinterpretations through an illustration that appeared in "Readers Digest" many years ago is an excellent example of Maya. The message got changed when it reached back to the original source. If the mode of transmission was by way of mouth those days, it is through the net and social media in present times. We have to verify what we download or share is true and not false.
Just as there is truth and false in all things uploaded to the net, in coming to us as Prapanjam, Agathiyar is teaching us to filter the truth and false that is in it. We need to be alert and identify the wolf in the sheep's skin. Once we beat Maya in its game the game is over. The Divine Lila comes to an end.
Manickavasagar sings of 60 million Sakthis that bring Maya into existence in his 'Potri Thiru Agaval' (போற்றித் திருஅகவல்)
ஆறு கோடி மாயா சத்திகள்
வேறு வேறு தம் மாயைகள் தொடங்கின;
Ramalinga Adigal pronounces that he had beaten Maya and won a victory over it in his song 'Ambalatharase Arumarunthe' (அம்பலத்தரசே அருமருந்தே)
இருட்பெரு மாயையை விண்டே னே
எல்லாம்செய் சித்தியைக் கொண்டே னே