KEYWORD
Avidya
Sanskrit: ‘not-knowledge’;
ignorance.
The concept of avidya is one of
the most important in Advaita Vedanta. Avidya
is a comprehensive term which includes maya,
and can also indicate ajnana.
Avidya is the cause of adhyasa
or superimposition of the non-self on the Self.
Avidya or ignorance is generally accepted as
a lack of understanding or a negation of knowledge.
In fact, ignorance is a combination of a negative
and a positive aspect. The negative is that
which conceals the reality from us, and the
positive is that which projects the manifest
world. This latter positive power (sakti) is
called maya. Maya and avidya are generally synonymous,
though maya is sometimes said to be the ignorance
or adjunct of Isvara, the creator of this world,
and avidya to be the ignorance or adjunct of
the jiva or the individual soul.
Maya is associated with the effect
of avidya, namely the world of name and form.¹
It is an indubitable fact of our experience
that though we incessantly pursue answers for
our suffering, we never attain a satisfactory
and final resolution. We can say that from the
perspective of the ‘cause and effect’
of phenomena, the most persistent aspect of
maya is that it prevents us from locating the
cause of our discontent. Avidya is the failure
to discriminate between reality and appearance.
Since ignorance is the cause of
bondage, the removal of ignorance is the means
for moksha, liberation. The removal is accomplished
through the realisation of the Self which is
the sole reality. The vicious cycle of life
and death is dependent on the law of cause and
effect. As long one identifies with causality
which is illusory (avidyaka), there is no end
to samsara.
We can say the cause of birth
and death is ignorance (avidya). The ultimate
truth is causeless; it is not dependent upon
anything for its existence. When one exercises
discrimination (viveka) between what is real
and illusory, one becomes detached (vairagya)
and knowledge (jnana) arises. ²
According to the sages, the thirst
for a ‘cause’ ceases when we attain
the Truth or highest knowledge. The one aim
of Vedanta, therefore, is the eradication of
maya or avidya. We do not ‘attain’
self-realisation— it is already available
and at all times self-evident. What we are required
to do is remove avidya which obscures self-knowledge.
The ultimate reality is not the fruit of activity,
all that is required is the removal of ignorance
through knowledge. ³
Reality is not dependent on impermanent
forms for its existence. What is it which transcends
time and space? Wherever we are and whatever
the time, the principle of reality remains one
and the same. It is ‘one without a second’.
Bhagavan differed from the conventional
emphasis on maya as an independent entity or
sakti. He referred to it as non-existent. It
was not something which had the power to create
illusion. He said, like Shankara, that maya
was mithya, that is, non-existent and this subtle
understanding is at the root of his teaching.4
If, in the first place maya was non-existent,
where is the question of illusion? If there
is no illusion, where is the question of moksa?
You are already That, Tat twamasi.5
We leave the final word to Sri
Jnanadeva who wrote in his Amritanubhava:
“If the ignorance, because
of its own state of ignorance cannot know itself,
how can it testify its own existence?
Therefore, were it asserted that
ignorance makes itself known by itself, such
a conflicting assertion would make the one asserting
to observe silence.
The only knowing one is the Atman
and if he is fooled by ignorance, then who will
take note of that ignorance?
If it (ignorance) cannot for its
own sake render the knowing one (Atman) not
knowing (ignorance) then one ought to feel ashamed
of calling such (as) ignorance.
Were the sun to be swallowed
by the clouds, by whose light the clouds would
be visible? (Or) if sleep overpowers the sleeper,
who would enjoy the sleep?” 6
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1. “Knowledge and ignorance
can only pertain to objects, the non-Self. They
are not appropriate to the Self, whose form
is pure consciousness.” Padamalai by Muruganar,
p. 58. Trans. Dr. T. V. Venkatasubramanian,
Robert Butler and David Godman. 2004.
2. “The ego, which is the first born of
avidya (nescience), is what makes for the distinction
of ‘I’ and ‘not-I’ which
in turn brings about the entire host of finite
experiences.” Ramana Maharshi and His
Philosophy of Existence by T.M.P. Mahadevan,
p.34. Sri Ramanasramam, 1999.
3. M: Brahma jnana is not a knowledge to be
acquired, so that acquiring it one may obtain
happiness. It is one’s ignorant outlook
that one should give up. The Self you seek to
know is verily yourself — Maharshi’s
Gospel Book Two, Chapter One, Self-Enquiry.
4. Bhagavan: People ask: How did ignorance arise
at all? We have to say to them: ‘Ignorance
never arose. It has no real being. That which
is, is only vidya (knowledge). Talks with Sri
Ramana Maharshi, Talk No. 298.
5. The Self is ever-present (nityasiddha). Each
one wants to know the Self. What kind of help
does one require to know oneself? People want
to see the Self as something new. But it is
eternal and remains the same all along. They
desire to see it as a blazing light, etc. How
can it be so? It is not light, not darkness
(na tejo, na tamah). It is only as it is. It
cannot be defined. The best definition is ‘I
am that I AM.’ Ibid.,Talk No. 122.
6. Amritanubhava: VII.12-16, p.78. Translated
by R.K. Bhagwat. Samata Books, Chennai, 1997.
