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Avidyā is a Sanskrit word whose literal meaning is ignorance, misconceptions, misunderstandings, incorrect knowledge, and it is the opposite of Vidya. [1] It is used extensively in Hindu texts, including the Upanishads, and in other Indian religions such as Buddhism and Jainism, particularly in the context of metaphysical reality. [2] [3] [4]
The term has been translated by Harbans Singh as meaning: “to become stupefied, to be bewildered or perplexed, to err, to be mistaken”. [1] It is defined in ancient Indic texts for perplexity or confusion and for the cause of confusion, that namely being, avidya or ajnana (ignorance or illusion). [1]
Vidya (Sanskrit: विद्या, IAST: vidyā) figures prominently in all texts pertaining to Indian philosophy – meaning science, learning, knowledge, and scholarship. Most importantly, it refers to valid knowledge, which cannot be contradicted, and true knowledge, which is the intuitively -gained knowledge of the self .
Moksha (liberation), it states, is gained through right knowledge. This premise led Nyāya to concern itself with epistemology, that is, the reliable means to gain correct knowledge and to remove wrong notions. False knowledge is not merely ignorance to Naiyayikas; it includes delusion.
Apasmara symbolizes the ignorance of selfhood (ahamkara), a universal, cosmic form of ignorance essential for jivas to function in samsara across their countless rebirths by forgetting past lives and identifying with a new body each time.
This meaning has also led to its use with prefixes such as Dviguṇa (twofold), Triguṇa (threefold) and so on. In other contexts, such as phonology, grammar and arts, "Guṇa-" takes the meaning of āmantraṇā (आमन्त्रणा, addressing, invitation) or abhyāsa (अभ्यास, habit, practice). [17]
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 even cognitive dissonance and other cognitive relation, and can describe individuals who are unaware of important information or facts.
Silanka considers sceptics "those who claim that scepticism is best" or as "those in whom no knowledge, i.e. scepticism, is evident". Apart from the specific technical meaning, Silanka also uses the word ajñānikah in a more general sense to mean anyone who is ignorant. [3] [4]