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IGNORANCE

From The Mahabharata; Santi Parva, Section CLIX


Yudhishthira said: Thou hast said, O grandsire, that the foundation of all evils is covetousness. I wish, O sire, to hear of ignorance in detail. 

Bhishma said: The person who commits sin through ignorance, who does not know that his end is at hand, and who always hates those that are of good behaviour, soon incurs infamy in the world. In consequence of ignorance one sinks into hell. Ignorance is the spring of misery. Through ignorance one suffers afflictions and incurs great danger. 

Yudhishthira said: I desire O king, to hear in detail the origin, the place, the growth, the decay, the rise, the root, the inseparable attribute, the course, the time, the cause, and the consequence, of ignorance. The misery that is felt here is all born of ignorance.
[Note: The commentator explains that including the first, Yudhishthira puts altogether 12 questions.] 

Bhishma said: Attachment, hate, loss of judgment, joy, sorrow, vanity, lust, anger, pride, procrastination, idleness, desire, aversion, jealousy, and all other sinful acts are all known by the common name of ignorance.
[Note: This is an answer to the first question viz., the general nature of ignorance.] 

Hear now, O king, in detail, about its tendency, growth and other features after which thou enquirest. These two viz., ignorance and covetousness, know, O king, are the same (in substance). Both are productive of the same fruits and same faults, O Bharata! Ignorance has its origin in covetousness. As covetousness grows, ignorance also grows. Ignorance exists there where covetousness exists. As covetousness decreases, ignorance also decreases. It rises with the rise of covetousness. Manifold again is the course that it takes. 

The root of covetousness is loss of judgment. Loss of judgment, again, is its inseparable attribute. Eternity is ignorance’s course. The time when ignorance appears is when objects of covetousness are not won. From one’s ignorance proceeds covetousness, and from the latter proceeds ignorance. (Covetousness, therefore, is both the cause and consequence of ignorance). Covetousness is productive of all. For these reasons, every one should avoid covetousness. Janaka, and Yuvanaswa and Vrishadarbhi, and Prasenajit, and other kings acquired heaven in consequence of their having repressed covetousness, O chief of the Kurus! Avoiding covetousness thou shalt obtain happiness both here and in the next world.

What is Ignorance:
Patanjali talks about 'chitta' which is a term translatable at different levels. In its expansive sense it encompasses the farthest reaches of the mind and the limits of prakriti or nature in its very self. As long as we are bound by the limitations of prakriti, we are using the mind, the chitta, and we are still in the domain of ignorance.

When the mind itself is transcended and we are able to experience it as object, we also experience our true essence. Beyond this stage another state of consciousness takes over. To attain this state, we not only have to still the vrittis or modifications of the conscious mind, but also to stop the unconscious flow which is the thread through all our incarnations, the very essence of prakriti. The mind is not just a conscious vehicle, it extends all the way through the subconscious and unconscious realms and can carry us to the limits of prakriti. Beyond this is vidya, knowledge, the end of avidya or ignorance.

The text further explains that at the beginning of the evolutionary cycle, when prakriti is brought into being, the essence of manifestation is the three gunas or primal tendencies of nature. It is the interplay of the gunas which determines the positive and negative aspects, the whole ebb and flow of creation. Accordingly it is said that as the mental tendencies come into conflict with the changing flow of the gunas, more suffering ensues. This is a difficult aspect of the science to comprehend. Yogic insight into the working of the mind is necessary in order to realize the deeper aspects of the interaction of the gunas.

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