Maya () or Mayāsura () is a figure in

Hindu history Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also bee ...

, described as the king of the

Danavas In Hindu mythology, the danavas are a race descending from Kashyapa and his wife Danu, a daughter of the progenitor god, Daksha. It is mentioned that there are one hundred danavas. Origin The danavas are a mythological race of asuras, the ...

, a race of beings descending from

Kashyapa Kashyapa (, ) is a revered Vedic sage of Hinduism., Quote: "Kasyapa (Rudra),(Vedic Seer)..." He is one of the Saptarishis, the seven ancient sages of the ''Rigveda''. Kashyapa is the most ancient and venerated rishi, along with the other Sa ...

and his wife Danu. He is known for his architectural expertise, credited with creating the

Mayasabha Mayasabha, also known as the Hall of Illusions, is a legendary palace described in the Indian epic ''Mahabharata''. Located in Indraprastha, it was constructed by Mayasura, Maya (also referred to as Mayasura), an Asura architect and king of th ...

(Hall of Illusions) for the

Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...

s and

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

(Three cities) for the sons of Tarakasura. In the ''

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

'', he is mentioned as the father-in-law of

Ravana According to the Mahakavya, Hindu epic, ''Ramayana'', Ravana was a kingJustin W. Henry, ''Ravana's Kingdom: The Ramayana and Sri Lankan History from Below'', Oxford University Press, p.3 of the island of Lanka, in which he is the chief antag ...

. He is presented as an architect of

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

(the illusory material reality). In the

Surya Siddhanta The ''Surya Siddhanta'' (; ) is a Sanskrit treatise in Indian astronomy dated to 4th to 5th century,Menso Folkerts, Craig G. Fraser, Jeremy John Gray, John L. Berggren, Wilbur R. Knorr (2017)Mathematics Encyclopaedia Britannica, Quote: "(...) i ...

1.02, Mayāsura is described as a Daitya who received divine astronomical knowledge from the Sun God sometime around the end of Satya Yuga.

In the ''Mahabharata''

Mayasura is mentioned to be a son of the sage

and his wife Danu. Mayasura had befriended a

Nāga In various Asian religious traditions, the Nāgas () are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...

named Takshaka and lived with him in the area of Khandavaprastha along with his family and friends, but when the

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...

came there after the partition of

Hastinapura Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'' is described as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas; it is ...

Arjuna Arjuna (, , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɾd͡ʒun̪ə is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers, and is widely regarded as the most important and renowned among them. ...

burnt the entire forest, forcing Takshaka to flee and killing everyone else. This made Mayasura decide to surrender to the

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

was ready to forgive him and in return, Mayasura built a grand palace named

, where the

would perform the Rajasuya Yagna. Mayasura also offers him gifts like a bow, a

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

etc. He gives a mace to Arjuna's brother

Bhima Bhima (, ), also known as Bhimasena (, ), is a hero and one of the most prominent characters in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. As the second of the five Pandava brothers, Bhima was born to Kunti—the wife of King Pandu—fathered by Vayu, the ...

named Vrkodara. In some versions of the Mahabharata he also gives

the Gandiva bow.

In the ''Ramayana''

The ''

Uttara Kanda The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

'' of the epic ''

'' mentions that during his visit to

Svarga Svarga (, ), also known as Swarga, Indraloka and Svargaloka, is the celestial abode of the devas in Hinduism. Svarga is one of the seven higher lokas ( esoteric planes) in Hindu cosmology. Svarga is often translated as heaven, though it is reg ...

(heaven), Maya married an

apsara Apsaras (, , Khmer language, Khmer: អប្សរា are a class of celestial beings in Hinduism, Hindu and Culture of Buddhism, Buddhist culture. They were originally a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters, but, later play ...

(heavenly nymph) named Hema. They had two sons — Mayavi and Dundubhi — and a daughter

Mandodari Mandodari (, , lit. "soft-bellied";) was the queen consort of Ravana, the king of Lanka, according to the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. The ''Ramayana'' describes her as beautiful, pious, and righteous. She is extolled as one of the ''Panchakanya'', ...

, who later married

, the

Rakshasa Rākshasa (, , ; ; "preservers") are a race of usually malevolent beings prominently featured in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Folk Islam. They reside on Earth but possess supernatural powers, which they usually use for evil acts such as ...

ruler of

Lanka Lanka (; ) is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary Rakshasa king Ravana in the epics of the ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks kn ...

and the main antagonist of the epic. In some versions of the ''Ramayana'', Maya had another daughter named Dhanyamalini, who also married Ravana.

In Folklores

In some folktales from Bengal, Mayasura is married to Oladevi, the goddess of cholera.Oladevi - Banglapedia
/ref>

References

{{HinduMythology Danavas Rakshasa in the Ramayana Characters in the Mahabharata

In the ''Mahabharata''

In the ''Ramayana''

In Folklores

See also

References