hindu-mindfeatured in 4 works
Ignorance (Avidyā)
The root illness isn't sin but a deep forgetting of who you are.
Avidyā is 'ignorance' — but not a mere lack of information. It names a deep, beginningless misperception that makes us take the unreal for real and forget our true nature, and so keeps us bound to the round of rebirth. Because the disease is ignorance, the cure is knowledge: when avidyā is removed, bondage is seen to have been unreal all along. In Yoga it is the first and root of the 'afflictions.'
How it traveled
- Īśā UpaniṣadKuru-Pañcāla region · -600explains
- Kaṭha UpaniṣadKuru-Pañcāla region · -500explains
- UpadeśasāhasrīKālaḍi (Kaladi) · 710explains
- Aṣṭāvakra-gītāKāśī (Varanasi) · 1450explains
Key passages(20)
Very high
Very high
Very high
Very high
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi 198↗explains
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
Very high
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4,4.10↗challenges
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
Very high
Very high
Very high
Very high
Very high
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
High