Adi Shankaracharya (8th century CE), the architect of Advaita Vedanta, gives the most systematic and philosophical explanation of Maya. For Shankara: • Brahman alone is real • The world is Mithya (dependent reality) • The individual self (Jiva) is Brahman, appearing limited due to ignorance Maya is the power that superimposes names, forms, and individuality upon the non-dual Absolute. "Brahma satyam, jagan mithyā, jīvo brahmaiva nāparaḥ" (Brahman is real, the world is appearance, the individual is none other than Brahman)

Maya operates at the level of intellect and perception. It ends only through knowledge (Jnana)—not ritual, not emotion, not belief. Shankara does not dismiss the world; he demotes it.