core concepts
What does maya mean in Hinduism?
What the word means
Maya is often translated as illusion, but that single word can be misleading. It does not simply mean the world is fake or empty. In much of Hindu thought, maya is the power or play through which the one reality, called Brahman, shows itself as the many things we see. It is what makes the changing, everyday world appear, while the deeper reality stays hidden behind it. So maya is closer to a veil than to a lie. The world we live in is real enough for daily life, but the tradition says it is not the whole story.
Different ways it is understood
The meaning of maya shifts from school to school. In Advaita Vedanta, it points to how the single reality looks like a world of many separate things, the way a rope might be mistaken for a snake in dim light. The rope was always there; only our seeing was off. Other schools treat maya differently. Some see it as the real creative power of God, the energy by which the world is truly made, not a trick of the mind. Devotional traditions often speak of maya as God's play, something to move beyond through love and surrender. Because of this, it is best to remember that there is no single fixed meaning.
How people use the idea
In everyday talk, people sometimes use maya to mean getting caught up in money, status, or worry, and forgetting what matters more to them. Used this way, it is less a strict philosophy and more a reminder that appearances can pull our attention. How seriously the idea is taken, and what it points to, depends on the person and the path they follow.