avidya Sanskrit word meaning ‘ignorance’, ‘lack of wisdom’. Avidya is a key concept in India’s philosophical systems, which attempted to explain the reasons for karmic bondage leading to suffering and release from such bondage through spiritual liberation. The general idea was that karmic fetters arise because of avidya, which is ignorance of the true nature of reality. When wisdom dispells avidya, the individual is freed from bondage. There was intense speculation in Indian philosophy regarding the nature and the metaphysical status of avidya. If avidya causes bondage that traps the individual in the transmigratory cycle of life and death (samsara), then where does avidya reside and how does it come into being? D.K.C.