What does the CC statement that scripture contains illusory stories mean?

CC 2.23.117-118 uses viruddha–vyakhayana and mayamaya. What does this mean?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDJue9-NXvg

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Does it address your question? Hare Krishna Question What does the CC statement about scripture containing illusory stories mean? Isn’t scripture meant to take us out of illusion so how can scripture contain illusory stories? Answer Illusory stories means stories which if not understood properly can create or perpetuate illusion so yes scripture is meant to take us out of illusion that is true but scripture is multi-level and because it is multi-level according to time, place, circumstance scripture awards knowledge according to people’s conceptions so for example let’s look at what are let’s first let’s understand the illusory concept in general and then we look at how it applies to the stories which CC refers to so now we see the concept of illusory in the Ramayan where it is said that Ravana abducted Sita but what he abducted was actually illusory Sita Maya Sita and the real Sita was with Agni and she was safe and untouched and this is mentioned in the Kurma Purana and other Rama other retellings of the Rama story also this is not mentioned in the Ramayan so now what this means is that the word Maya is used in connection with Sita Maya Sita is the illusory form of Sita so illusory form of Sita means that actually the appearance that Sita was kidnapped and that the Lord’s consort could be touched by a demon that is an illusion so that means did the event happen yes the event did happen Ravana did kidnap but whom he kidnapped it is not Sita so if somebody thinks that the demon can touch the goddess of fortune then the person is wrong that means now if we understand the basic question of philosophy also that actually we are the nature of illusion means what to make things appear to be what they are not that which is not Maya that’s what it means now according to Mayavada something doesn’t exist only and nothing exists but somehow we think it exists everything is Brahman but somehow we think it to be something else but no we understand that Brahma is the ultimate reality but Brahma is a person with multiple energies and there is material energy also so the illusion is not that matter doesn’t exist which is what Brahmavada or Maya which is what impersonalism says but the illusion is to think that matter is meant for my enjoyment so when something appears one way and is another way that is what is Maya so similarly with respect to this concept this Maya Sita the point is that things appear to be one way but they are another way Sita was never touched actually although it appears as if she was abducted so now similarly what does Chaitanya Chaitanya would talk about say it gives example such as the destruction of the Kuru dynasty so now now we may wonder how can those who are associates of the Lord how can they get drunk like this and drunk to an extent that they kill each other fratricidal war how could the associates of the Lord do such a thing so now the point which is made is actually so the arrangement of the Lord by which he could rid the he could take his associates out of this world nobody else could kill them and the time was over so now there is a esoteric explanation for this the Lord did many things through this he also illustrated how the curse of the Brahmanas one has to be very very cautious about not offending the Brahmanas and the sages because their curse cannot be stopped even by his associates so the Lord has already illustrated this with respect to Jaya and Vijaya and with the Kumaras and the Kumaras are not even devotees so Krishna can serve multiple purposes through such pastimes but the important thing is that is not just that they were not devotees only because they got drunk like this no the point is that we should not think of this to be ordinary that it is not just an ordinary drunken brawl which became devastatingly destructive it was actually orchestrated by the Lord there is some deeper purpose being served over there similarly in disappearance of Krishna also I have answered in elaborate different and a separate question how the notion that that God who went to Yama’s abode and came back unscathed could be killed by an arrow and that to an arrow hitting a leg normally a wound to a leg is never fatal and there is no mention that the arrow was poisoned or something because of which the poison would flow through the blood circulation to the rest of the body or anything like that so how could he be killed it was an illusion created so that those people who want to be atheist they will get justification to continue to be atheist scripture in that sense is Kalpataru if somebody wants to be an atheist scripture will give the person a facility to continue to be an atheist and somebody wants to become a devoted to God scripture will give that facility also that’s why scripture has to be studied under guidance through those who are devoted to God it is said in the Christian tradition and the devil also quotes scripture so a famous Christian poet said you know I and you read the same Bible I see white you see black so scripture can be completely understood in an entirely different way based on one’s own preconceptions so if somebody is atheist and wants to justify atheism based on scripture the person can do that also so this illusion can be perpetuated by study of scripture if it is not guided and these stories especially can perpetuate that and similarly there is a story given in some of the Quran’s that actually Krishna and Balram came from a white and black hair from the body of Mahavishnu now and we know that Bhagwatam makes very clear that Krishna is the source of all the incarnations now when Krishna wants he can appear like this also he can perform various leelas he can what is wrong with him for appearing he can appear from the hair of Vishnu he has appeared even from the nose of Brahma Brahma when Brahma ji gets angry Varaha dev appears from the nose of Brahma now actually is that a very dignity from what comes out of the nose for the lord to come from the nose may not seem very dignified but the lord can perform leelas in different ways but just because the lord has come from the nose of Vishnu does it mean that from the nose of Brahma does that mean that Brahma is the source no we understand philosophically that Krishna is the supreme lord he manifests in this world in different ways similarly as a leela Krishna can come through the hair of Vishnu also if he wants but that does not mean that Vishnu is the source so the illusory pastimes means maya maya means that actually if not understood carefully they because they appear to be something different from what they are they can create illusion and that’s why they have to be understood carefully and the appearance that is given through those pastimes that appearance we understand that that is false thank you