Avidyaa (Nescience)Br.up.4.3.20
S.B.---ata idam avidyaayaaH
satatvam uktam----------------------tataH phalam. Therefore,
the nature of nescience is that it represents what is infinite as
finite, projects things other than the Self, which are non-existent and
makes the Self appear as limited. From this sense of limitation arises
the desire for things that appear to be different from oneself
(due to ignorance of the truth that everything is but Brahman). This
desire prompts one to action for its fulfillment. Action produces
results, and this leads to further birth. Thus the cycle—kaama,
karma, janma—desire, action, rebirth, goes on indefinitely, as
long as ignorance continues. tasmaat
na aatmadharmaH avidyaa----
Ignorance is not a natural characteristic of the Self, because that
which is natural to a thing can never be eliminated, like the heat and
light of the sun. B.S.Adhyaasabhaashya---avidyaavadvishayaaNi
eva ------s’aastraaNi ca. All
the means of valid knowledge, such as perception, and even the
scriptures, have validity only as long as a person is ignorant of the
Self. (All these function only on the basis of the superimposition (adhyaasa)
of the body, mind and organs on the Self. This superimposition comes to
an end when avidyaa is eradicated. After that even the scriptural injunctions
cease to be applicable).
This
primal ignorance is described as beginningless. But this word is not
used here in the same sense as that in which it is used in respect of
Brahman. avidyaa is
beginningless only in the sense that it has no cause. avidyaa is the cause of the entire universe according to Advaita.
It
is not possible to classify this avidyaa either as real or as unreal. What is unreal (asat),
like a sky- flower, or the horn of a rabbit, is never experienced. Since
avidyaa is experienced, it is
not unreal. According to Advaita, that alone is real, which never changes or ceases to exist. avidyaa,
being removable by knowledge, is not real. It cannot be both real and
unreal because the two are contradictory. So avidyaa
is described as ‘anirvachaniiya
’,
different from both real and unreal. This does not mean that it is
absolutely unreal. avidyaa has
empirical (vyaavahaarika)
reality. The universe, which is an effect of avidyaa,
also has the same level of reality. avidyaa,
as well as the universe, are said to be indeterminable (anirvachaniiya) and illusory (mithyaa).
Locus
and content of avidyaa All
are agreed that the content (or object) of nescience is Brahman. But
there is difference of opinion with regard to its locus. MaNDana
Mis’ra says in Brahmasiddhi that the jiiva
is the locus of nescience. Vaachaspati
Mis’ra holds the same view –see his commentary on Brahma
suutra-1.4.3. Aanandagiri----Brahman
is the locus—commentary on Brahma suutra-1.4.3. Sures’varaachaarya---Brahman
is the locus---Naishkarmyasiddhi Ch.3.1. Sarvajnaatmamuni---Brahman
is the locus---Samkshepa s’aariirakam—1.319 Prakaas’aatman----Brahman
is the locus------VivaraNa- avidyaa
is positive avidyaa
is not mere negation, as it is antagonistic to Knowledge. In
Vedaantasaara of Sadaananda, ignorance is defined thus:-Ignorance is
something positive, though intangible, which cannot be described as
either being or non-being, which is made of three guNas
(sattva, rajas and tamas), and is antagonistic to Knowledge. Ch.2.34
In
B.G.5.15, the Lord says that Knowledge is covered by Ignorance. What
covers can only be positive and cannot be negative. In
Samkshepas’aariirakam 1.320 and in VivaraNa it is established that avidyaa
is positive. The
same conclusion has been arrived at in Sures’vara’s Vaartika on
taitt. Up. Bhaashya-2.179. See
also Samkshepas’aariirakam Chap.3.111. It
must, however, be noted that it is only from the empirical point of view
that it is said that avidyaa,
while being other than the real as well as the unreal, is positive and
not mere absence of knowledge. From the absolute point of view, avidyaa does not exist at all. See also under the heading ‘Maayaa’,
where verses from Panchadas’i have been quoted. avidyaa
has
two powers avidyaa
or Nescience covers Brahman with its veiling power (aavaraNa
s’akti) and projects the universe with its power known as vikshepa s’akti—see
Viveka chuuDaamaNi, verses 113 and 115. In
Vedaantasaara it is said:- Just as a small patch of cloud, by
obstructing the vision of the observer, conceals, as it were, the solar
disc extending over a very large area, similarly, ignorance, though
limited by nature, yet obstructing the intellect of the observer,
conceals, as it were, the Self, which is unlimited and not subject to
transmigration. Such a power is the power of concealment. (Para 52). The
Self, covered by this concealing power of ignorance, becomes subject to
transmigration characterized by the notion of being a doer and an
enjoyer. Just as ignorance regarding a rope, by its inherent power,
gives rise to the illusion of a snake, etc., so also, ignorance, by its
own power, creates in the Self covered by it, such phenomena as
aakaas’a, etc. Such a power is called the power of projection. (Paras
53 and 54).
avidyaa
and maayaa—whether the same
or different S’rii
S’ankara
treats avidyaa and maayaa as
identical –See B.S.Bhaashya-1.4.3.Sures’vara also does the same. Samkshepas’aariirakam-3.108-109
expresses the same view. In
Panchadas’i, VidyaaraNya says that prakr.ti constituted of pure sattva
is maayaa and when constituted
of sattva mixed with rajas and tamas is avidyaa.
Brahman reflected in maayaa
is iis’vara, who is omniscient and is the controller of maayaa.
Brahman reflected in avidyaa
is jiiva.
In Patanjali’s Yoga suutras avidyaa
is described as one of the five ‘kles’a-s’,
or causes of man’s suffering. (Suutra 2.3); the other four are egoism
(asmitaa), attachment (raaga),
aversion (dvesha) and the desire to cling on to life (abhinives’a). avidyaa is
said to be the cause of the other four (2.4). avidyaa is defined as looking upon what is non-eternal as eternal,
what is impure as pure, what is painful as pleasant and the non-Self as
the Self (2.5). avidyaavr.tti In
deep sleep there is avidyaa as
well as avidyaavr.tti. avidyaa, which is the adjunct (upaadhi) of the Self in deep sleep, is the causal condition of the
mind. While the mind is dormant in deep sleep (sushupti), it is through avidyaavr.tti
that ignorance and happiness are experienced. On waking up, the mind
again comes out of its causal condition and there arises the memory of
what was experienced in sleep. svaruupa-jnaana,
which is the very nature of Brahman, is not opposed to
primal ignorance. It is this svaruupa-jnaana
which reveals the ignorance. The primal ignorance which is the cause of
bondage is destroyed by the mental mode (akhaNDaakaaravr.tti) generated by the
mahaavaakyas. This final vr.tti-jnaana
also disappears immediately thereafter, in the same way as the medicine
itself disappears after removing the disease.
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