What is the nature of Maya, and how does it relate to bondage and liberation?

As detailed in Chapter 50, Maya is the supreme, indescribable illusion responsible for the entire confusion of name and form that we perceive. Its power is very difficult to cross over, and its dwelling place is any pulse of imagination that occurs in the mind. The text explains that the states of both bondage and liberation are born from this imagination. While the Vedic principle "Only from knowledge comes liberation" is upheld, it is also stated that the dawn of such knowledge is impossible without the destruction of sinful karma. One who attains pure knowledge is said to have abandoned Maya by their own resolve, freeing them from its bondage.