Adarsana refers to the real non-seeing of objects which already exist; it refers to the ignorance of factual existence of things. This term figures prominently in the Yoga school of thought, and in Jain philosophy.
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Adarsana refers to the real non-seeing of objects which already exist; it refers to the ignorance of factual existence of things. This term figures prominently in the Yoga school of thought, and in Jain philosophy.
Adarsana or adarshan in Sanskrit as an adjective means latent or invisible, and as a noun it means non-vision, disregard, non-appearance, neglect, latent condition disappearance, not-seeing. It also means agyan and avidya . Vaidyanath Shastri citing Sl. 2.25 and Sl. 3.55 of Vyasa Bhashya writes that by understanding the non-seeing of objects that exist one understands the seeing of those objects and understands their reality. Darsana means seeing. [1] Therefore, Panini, in his Ashtadhyayi (Sutra 1.1.60 and 61), has given its meaning as - disappearance, invisibility, elision of an object, which fact is denoted by luk, shlu and lup; lup refers to real non-seeing which already exists. In other words, Adarsana refers to the ignorance of factual existence of things. [2] In Ayurveda, the term, adarsana, means visual errors and blindness that results in not seeing the objects that already exist. [3] In the Puranas, Adarsana is the mind-born mother it is so said because the act of seeing and the act of not seeing or non-seeing is an activity of the mind. [4]
The term, adarsana, as a technical term in Yoga referring to ignorance or absence of knowledge, figures prominently in the discussions pertaining to the Sadhanapada of Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Patanjali systemised the Yoga philosophy or Yoga- darsana propounded by Acarya Hiranyagarbha which is the practical application of Samkhya principles earlier systemised through twenty two sutras by Kapila. Vyasa-bhasya which is Vyasa’s commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali has been commented upon by Vachaspati Misra and Vigyanabhikshu. Vyasa states that liberation consists precisely in the cessation of the mind which cessation occurs by the disappearance of the cause of misconception or adarsana while adding that correct vision of reality (darsana) stops or sublates misconception which is the cause of bondage. Vyasa explains that adarsana is the particular conjunction of avidya in relation to the inward individual consciousness. [5] Vyasa in his commentary on Sadhanapada of Yoga Sutras elaborately discusses and explains the concept of adarsana. Therefore, Adarsana or wrong conception or contrary knowledge is that contact of the Purusa with the Gunas in which the Gunas serve as objects of Purusa. The modification of the mind in the shape of experience of pleasure and pain is adarsana. Adarsana ceases on attainment of discriminative knowledge that gradually leads to Kaivalya or liberation. It is also known as the power which manifests as knowing (darsana), or as the characteristic of both the knower (Purusa) and the knowable. [6]
The Yoga School of Hindu Philosophy considers Adarsana as the sway i.e. proneness to Gunas, which sway lasts till the Gunas are active and that it is non-production of the primary mind. The primary mind is that which ceases to function after presenting the objects of experience and discernment to the owner, the Seer. The mind that ceases to function when right knowledge and aversion to objects of enjoyment through renunciation takes place is the primary mind. This school of thought also views Adarsana as the existence of experience and liberation in a latent state as the latency of Avidya or wrong knowledge or want of discrimination which is the cause of alliance of Buddhi and Purusa and its co-existing adarsana. Adarsana is Pradhana which has a dual nature i.e. it is static and also fluctuating and it is the cognitive faculty because Pradhana has the tendency to fluctuate and which tendency is stored as potential energy, adarsana. Thus, this school considers Adarsana to be the characteristic of both Pradhana and Purusa as a particular form of cognition, as all knowledge except discriminatory knowledge. [7] Vyasa in his commentary on Yoga Sutra II.23 tells us that adarsana is the failure to see or ignorance (avidya). Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra II.24 does explain that the cause of identification (samyoga) of the Atman, the experiencer, with Prakrti , the object of experience, i.e. bondage, is ignorance. [8] When adarsana ceases, the alliance of Buddhi and Purusa that causes misery ceases and there is complete, eternal cessation of bondage, the state of aloofness of Purusa and non-occurrence of future contact with the Gunas ensues. [9]
But, Dharmakirti, the Buddhist philosopher, states that pervasion cannot be founded on the observation of darsana (co-presence) or the observation of adarsana (co-absence) which is the view held also by the Caravakas and the Jains, because identity and causation are the only acceptable grounds of pervasion, unless two things are related in one of these ways, there can be no necessity and no pervasion, and non-difference implies essential identity in spite of the difference in cognitive contents of the two expressions. [10]
In Jainism, the term, adarsana, indicates the condition of mental unease and the suffering of loss of faith resulting from the failure in achieving the desired highest goal after long sadhana , tapas etc., which negative feeling does not affect one who has transcended anger, violence, jealousy, waywardness, bad or evil intentions, untruth, and who is disciplined and adopting the Brahmacharya Dharma has forsaken his household or family-life, all desires for possession of things and readily donates whatever is possessed by him. The overcoming of this negative feeling is called Adarsana-vijay. [11]
According to Baudhayana, Aryavarta lies west of Kalakavana, east of Adarsana, south of the Himalayas and north of the Vindhyas. Dharamsutra II.2.16 speaks of Vinasana as Adarsana, the western boundary of Aryavarta. [12]
Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciousness untouched by the mind (Chitta) and mundane suffering (Duḥkha). There is a wide variety of schools of yoga, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and traditional and modern yoga is practiced worldwide.
Maya, literally "illusion" or "magic", has multiple meanings in Indian philosophies depending on the context. In later Vedic texts, māyā connotes a "magic show, an illusion where things appear to be present but are not what they seem"; the principle which shows "attributeless Absolute" as having "attributes". Māyā also connotes that which "is constantly changing and thus is spiritually unreal", and therefore "conceals the true character of spiritual reality".
Buddhi refers to the intellectual faculty and the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand".
Advaita Vedanta is a school of Hindu philosophy and a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience. In a narrow sense it refers to the oldest extant scholarly tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta, written in Sanskrit; in a broader sense it refers to a popular, syncretic tradition, blending Vedānta with other traditions and producing works in vernacular.
Hindu philosophy or Vedic philosophy is the set of Indian philosophical systems that developed in tandem with the religion of Hinduism during the iron and classical ages of India. In Indian tradition, the word used for philosophy is Darshana, from the Sanskrit root drish.
Samkhya or Sankhya is a dualistic orthodox school of Hindu philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, Puruṣa and Prakṛti.
The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali is a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras and 196 sutras. The Yoga Sutras was compiled in the early centuries CE, by the sage Patanjali in India who synthesized and organized knowledge about yoga from much older traditions.
Avidyā is a Sanskrit word whose literal meaning is ignorance, misconceptions, misunderstandings, incorrect knowledge, and it is the opposite of Vidya. 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.
Ishvara is a concept in Hinduism, with a wide range of meanings that depend on the era and the school of Hinduism. In ancient texts of Hindu philosophy, depending on the context, Ishvara can mean supreme Self, ruler, lord, king, queen or husband. In medieval era Hindu texts, depending on the school of Hinduism, Ishvara means God, Supreme Being, personal God, or special Self. In Shaivism, Ishvara is an epithet of Shiva. In Vaishnavism it is synonymous with Vishnu, like in his epithet of Venkateswara. In traditional Bhakti movements, Ishvara is one or more deities of an individual's preference (Iṣṭa-devatā) from Hinduism's polytheistic canon of deities. In modern-day sectarian movements such as Arya Samaj and Brahmoism, Ishvara takes the form of a monotheistic God. In the Yoga school of Hinduism, it is any "personal deity" or "spiritual inspiration". In Advaita Vedanta, Ishvara is the manifested form of Brahman.
Dhyāna in Hinduism means contemplation and meditation. Dhyana is taken up in Yoga practices, and is a means to samadhi and self-knowledge.
Īśvarapraṇidhāna "commitment to the Īśvara ("Lord")" is one of five Niyama in Hinduism and Yoga.
Avyakta, meaning "not manifest", "devoid of form" etc., is the word ordinarily used to denote Prakrti on account of subtleness of its nature and is also used to denote Brahman, which is the subtlest of all and who by virtue of that subtlety is the ultimate support (asraya) of Prakrti. Avyakta as a category along with Mahat and Purusa plays an important role in the later Samkhya philosophy even though the Bhagavad Gita III.42 retaining the psychological categories altogether drops out the Mahat and the Avyakta (Unmanifest), the two objective categories.
Mithyātva means "false belief", and is an important concept in Jainism and Hinduism. Mithyātva, states Jayatirtha, cannot be easily defined as 'indefinable', 'non-existent', 'something other than real', 'which cannot be proved, produced by avidya or as its effect', or as 'the nature of being perceived in the same locus along with its own absolute non-existence'.
Ikshana is a noun which means sight, care and superintendence but also refers to eye, sight, look, seeing, viewing, aspect, caring for, looking after, regarding.
Pradhāna is an adjective meaning "most important, prime, chief or major". The Shatapatha Brahmana gives its meaning as "the chief cause of the material nature" (S.B.7.15.27) or "the creative principle of nature" (S.B.10.85.3). The Samkhya School of Indian philosophy employs the word to mean the creative principle of nature, as the original root of matter, the Prime Matter but which according to Badarayana’s logic is the unintelligent principle which cannot be the one consisting of bliss.
A Sanskrit Dictionary gives more than eighty meanings of the Sanskrit word, Sthiti (स्थिति), but this word mainly refers to position, rank or dignity, staying, or permanence, permanent or continued existence in any place.
The Upanishadic philosophy of experience expounded by Gaudapada is based on the cryptic references made by the sage of the Mandukya Upanishad to the experience of the individual self of its own apparent manifestations in the three fundamental states of consciousness, and to the Fourth known as Turiya. Turiya is identified with “that goal which all the Vedas declare” - सर्वे वेदा यत् पदमानन्ति, and whose characteristics are not dissimilar to those of the non-dual Brahman.
Kalpanā is derived from the root - kalpanama (कल्पनम्) + ना, and means – 'fixing', 'settlement', 'making', 'performing', 'doing', 'forming', 'arranging', 'decorating', 'ornamenting', 'forgery', 'a contrivance', 'device'. and also means – 'assuming anything to be real', 'fictional'.
Yoga philosophy is one of the six major orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, though it is only at the end of the first millennium CE that Yoga is mentioned as a separate school of thought in Indian texts, distinct from Samkhya. Ancient, medieval and most modern literature often refers to Yoga-philosophy simply as Yoga. A systematic collection of ideas of Yoga is found in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a key text of Yoga which has influenced all other schools of Indian philosophy.
Ashtanga yoga is Patanjali's classification of classical yoga, as set out in his Yoga Sutras. He defined the eight limbs as yamas (abstinences), niyama (observances), asana (posture), pranayama (breathing), pratyahara (withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (absorption).