Devanagari: लीला ISO15919: līlā also written as leela
Actions that are contrary to one’s personality.
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We mayabaddh jeev perform actions. When God descends to Earth, He performs actions too. Yet, there is a huge difference between our actions and those of divine personalities. God is not afflicted by maya, and so He does not feel hungry, thirsty, sleepy, and so on, and yet He eats, drinks and sleeps just like us. Thus, His actions are called lila or pastimes. He does not pretend while doing these lilas either. Due to yogamaya shakti, He actually feels these feelings. Even though these actions are contrary to His personality, He performs them to please His devotees and set an example for the mayabaddh jeev to follow.
God-realised Saints are governed by yogamaya shakti, due to which they too can perform seemingly material actions without being affected by them in the least. For example, Arjuna killed thousands on the battlefield, yet he had no anger. That is why the actions of God and God-realised Saints are called lila.
