Avidyā (Hinduism)
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Avidyā is a
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
word that can translate as
ignorance Ignorance is a lack of knowledge or understanding. Deliberate ignorance is a culturally-induced phenomenon, the study of which is called agnotology. The word "ignorant" is an adjective that describes a person in the state of being unaware, or ...
, misconceptions, misunderstandings, or incorrect knowledge; it is the opposite of '' Vidya''. It is used extensively in
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
texts, including the
Upanishads The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...
, and in other Indian religions such as
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and
Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
, particularly in the context of metaphysical reality. Avidyā, in all Dharmic systems, represents fundamental ignorance and misperception of the phenomenal world. However, the Indian religions disagree on the details, for example with Hinduism considering a denial and misconceptions of
Atman Atman or Ātman may refer to: Religion * ''Ātman'' (Hinduism), meaning "Self", a philosophical concept common to all schools of Hindu philosophy * ''Ātman'' (Buddhism), ''attā'' or ''attan'', a reference to the essential self ** ''Anattā'' ...
(soul, self) as a form of Avidya, and Buddhism considering the denial and misconceptions of An-atman (non-soul, non-self) as a form of Avidya.


Etymology and meaning

''Avidyā'' (अविद्या) is a Vedic Sanskrit word, and is a compound of "a" and "vidya", meaning "not vidya". The word ''vidya'' is derived from the Sanskrit root ''Vid'', which means "to know, to perceive, to see, to understand". Therefore, ''avidya'' means to "not know, not perceive, not understand". The ''Vid*''-related terms appears extensively in the
Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...
and other
Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
. Avidya is usually rendered as "ignorance" in English translations of ancient Indian texts, sometimes as "spiritual ignorance". The word avidyā is derived from the
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
root *''weid''-, meaning "to see" or "to know". It is a
cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
of Latin ''vidēre'' (which would turn to "video") and English "wit". While Avidya found in Indian philosophies is translated as "ignorance", states Alex Wayman, this is a mistranslation because Avidya means more than ignorance. He suggests the term "unwisdom" to be a better rendition. The term includes not only ignorance out of darkness, but also obscuration, misconceptions, mistaking illusion to be reality or impermanent to be permanent or suffering to be bliss or non-self to be self (delusions). Incorrect knowledge is another form of Avidya, states Wayman. Avidya represents fundamental ignorance, state Jones and Ryan, a misperception of the phenomenal world. In Hinduism, Avidya includes confusing the mundane reality to be the only reality, and it as a permanent though it is ever changing. Its doctrines assert that there is a spiritual reality consisting of Atman-Brahman, one that is the true, eternal, imperishable reality beyond time.Lynn Foulston and Stuart Abbott (2009), ''Hindu Goddesses: Beliefs and Practices'', Sussex Academic Press, , pages 14-16


In the Vedic texts and Upanishads

Avidya in the earliest Vedic texts is ignorance, and in later Vedic texts evolves to include anything that is a "positive hindrance" to spiritual or nonspiritual knowledge. In the Upanishads, the concept includes "lack of knowledge, inadequate knowledge and false knowledge".
Isha Upanishad The ''Isha Upanishad'' (, ), also known as ''Shri Ishopanishad'', ''Ishavasya Upanishad'', or ''Vajasaneyi Samhita Upanishad'', is one of the shortest Upanishads, embedded as the final chapter (''adhyāya'') of the Shukla Yajurveda. It is a '' ...
refers to ''vidya'' and ''avidya'' in verses 9-11: ''
Katha Upanishad The ''Katha Upanishad'' (, ), is an ancient Hindu text and one of the '' mukhya'' (primary) Upanishads, embedded in the last eight short sections of the ' school of the Krishna Yajurveda.Paul Deussen. ''Sixty Upanishads of the Veda''. Volume 1 ...
'' uses the metaphor of blindness to describe ''avidya'':
Mundaka Upanishad The Mundaka Upanishad (, ) is an ancient Sanskrit Vedic text, embedded inside Atharva Veda. It is a Mukhya (primary) Upanishad, and is listed as number 5 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads of Hinduism. It is among the most widely translat ...
references ''avidya'' similar to the ''Katha Upanishad'' verse 2.5:


In Yoga Darsana

Avidya is described in the
Yoga Sutras The ''Yoga Sutras of Patañjali'' (IAST: Patañjali yoga-sūtra) is a compilation "from a variety of sources" of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the practice of yoga – 195 sutras (according to Vyasa, Vyāsa and Krishnamacharya) and 196 sut ...
by Patanjali, as the first of the five kleshas, the knots of affliction, and the productive field of all them that follow. In Yoga Sutras II.5, Patanjali defines Avidya as confusing the nature of the soul with the body: :अनित्याशुचिदुःखानात्मसु नित्यशुचिसुखात्मख्यातिरविद्या॥ ५॥ : :Ignorance is the notion that takes the self, which is joyful, pure, and eternal, to be the nonself, which is painful, unclean, and temporary. In Yogra Sutras II.2, Patanjali gives Kriya yoga as a method for overcoming Avidya and other klesas.


In Advaita Vedanta

The effect of avidya is to suppress the real nature of things and present something else in its place. In effect it is not different from
Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...
(pronounced Māyā) or illusion. Avidya relates to the individual Self ('' Ātman''), while Maya is an adjunct of the cosmic Self (''
Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In the ...
''). In both cases it connotes the principle of differentiation of an experienced reality into the subject ('I') and an object, as is implicit in human thinking. Avidya stands for that delusion which breaks up the original unity (refer:
nonduality Nondualism includes a number of philosophical and spiritual traditions that emphasize the absence of fundamental duality or separation in existence. This viewpoint questions the boundaries conventionally imposed between self and other, min ...
) of what is real and presents it as subject and object and as doer and result of the deed. What keeps humanity captive in Samsara is this avidya. This ignorance, "the ignorance veiling our true self and the truth of the world", is not lack of erudition; it is ignorance about the nature of 'Being' (''
Sat The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...
''). It is a limitation that is natural to human sensory or intellectual apparatus. This is responsible for all the misery of humanity. Advaita Vedanta holds that the eradication of it should be humanity's only goal and that will automatically mean realisation of the Self ('' Ātman'').
Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (8th c. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya (, ), was an Indian Vedanga, Vedic scholar, Hindu philosophy, philosopher and teacher (''acharya'') of Advaita Vedanta. Reliable information on Shankara's actual life is scant, and h ...
says in his Introduction to his commentary on the
Brahma Sutras The ''Brahma Sūtras'' (), also known as the Vedanta Sūtra (Sanskrit: वेदान्त सूत्र), Shariraka Sūtra, and Bhikshu-sūtra, are a Sanskrit text which criticizes the metaphysical dualism of the influential Samkhya philos ...
, In the view of his later followers, avidya cannot be categorized either as 'absolutely existent' or as 'absolutely non-existent'.


See also

* Atma Shatakam *
Avidyā (Buddhism) ''Avidyā'' (Sanskrit: अविद्या; ; Tibetan phonetic: ''ma rigpa'') in Buddhist literature is commonly translated as "ignorance". The concept refers to ignorance or misconceptions about the nature of metaphysical reality, in partic ...
*
Maya (illusion) ''Maya'' (; Devanagari: , IAST: ), literally "illusion" or "magic", has multiple meanings in Indian philosophy, Indian philosophies depending on the context. In later Vedic Sanskrit, Vedic texts, connotes a "magic show, an illusion where thing ...
*
Kleshas (Hinduism) ''Klesha'' (, ) is a Sanskrit word meaning "impurity", "corruption" or "poison". In Hinduism, a ''klesha'' is a mental state, such as fear or ignorance, that clouds the mind and leads to unhealthy actions. It is an obstacle to reaching a state of ...
* Moh


References


Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Avidya Hindu philosophical concepts Ignorance Sanskrit words and phrases