Adarsana
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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 Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) 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-consci ...
school of thought, and in
Jain philosophy Jain philosophy refers to the ancient Indian philosophical system found in Jainism. One of the main features of Jain philosophy is its dualistic metaphysics, which holds that there are two distinct categories of existence, the living, consciou ...
.


Meaning

Adarsana or ''adarshan'' in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
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. 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. In
Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population rep ...
, the term, ''adarsana'', means visual errors and blindness that results in not seeing the objects that already exist. 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.


Implication

The term, ''adarsana'', as a technical term in
Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) 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-consci ...
referring to ignorance or absence of knowledge, figures prominently in the discussions pertaining to the ''Sadhanapada'' of
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali The ''Yoga Sutras of Patañjali'' is a collection of Sanskrit sutras ( aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras (according to Vyāsa and Krishnamacharya) and 196 sutras (according to others, including BKS Iyengar). The ...
. Patanjali systemised the
Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) 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-consci ...
philosophy or Yoga- darsana propounded by Acarya
Hiranyagarbha Hiraṇyagarbha (Sanskrit: हिरण्यगर्भः ; literally the 'golden womb', poetically translated as 'universal womb') is the source of the creation of universe or the manifested cosmos in Vedic philosophy. It finds mention in on ...
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 In Indian religions, ''Darshana'', also spelt ''Darshan'', (Sanskrit: दर्शन, , ) or ''Darshanam'' (darśanam) is the auspicious sight of a deity or a holy person. The term also refers to six traditional schools of Hindu philosophy ...
) 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. 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 ''Purusha'' (' or ) is a complex concept whose meaning evolved in Vedic and Upanishadic times. Depending on source and historical timeline, it means the cosmic being or self, awareness, and universal principle.Karl Potter, Presuppositions of Ind ...
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 Kaivalya ( sa, कैवल्य), is the ultimate goal of aṣṭāṅga yoga and means "solitude", "detachment" or "isolation", a '' vrddhi''-derivation from ''kevala'' "alone, isolated". It is the isolation of purusha from prakṛti, and libe ...
'' 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.


Application as per Yoga School of thought

The Yoga School of
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
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 :''In Hindu mythology, Buddhi is one of the wives of Ganesha.'' Buddhi (Sanskrit: बुद्धि) refers to the intellectual faculty and the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand". Etymology ''Bud ...
'' and ''
Purusa ''Purusha'' (' or ) is a complex concept whose meaning evolved in Vedic and Upanishadic times. Depending on source and historical timeline, it means the cosmic being or self, awareness, and universal principle.Karl Potter, Presuppositions of Ind ...
'' and its co-existing ''adarsana''. ''Adarsana'' is ''
Pradhana Pradhāna (Sanskrit: प्रधान) is an adjective meaning "most important, prime, chief or major". The Shatapatha Brahmana (शतपथ ब्राह्मण) gives its meaning as "the chief cause of the material nature" (S.B.7.15.27) o ...
'' 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. Vyasa in his commentary on
Yoga Sutra The ''Yoga Sutras of Patañjali'' is a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras (according to Vyāsa and Krishnamacharya) and 196 sutras (according to others, including BKS Iyengar). The ' ...
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 Atman or Ātman may refer to: Film * ''Ātman'' (1975 film), a Japanese experimental short film directed by Toshio Matsumoto * ''Atman'' (1997 film), a documentary film directed by Pirjo Honkasalo People * Pavel Atman (born 1987), Russian hand ...
, the experiencer, with '' Prakrti'', the object of experience, i.e. bondage, is ignorance. When ''adarsana'' ceases, the alliance of ''
Buddhi :''In Hindu mythology, Buddhi is one of the wives of Ganesha.'' Buddhi (Sanskrit: बुद्धि) refers to the intellectual faculty and the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand". Etymology ''Bud ...
'' and ''
Purusa ''Purusha'' (' or ) is a complex concept whose meaning evolved in Vedic and Upanishadic times. Depending on source and historical timeline, it means the cosmic being or self, awareness, and universal principle.Karl Potter, Presuppositions of Ind ...
'' 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.


Buddhist view

But,
Dharmakirti Dharmakīrti (fl. c. 6th or 7th century; Tibetan: ཆོས་ཀྱི་གྲགས་པ་; Wylie: ''chos kyi grags pa''), was an influential Indian Buddhist philosopher who worked at Nālandā.Tom Tillemans (2011)Dharmakirti Stanford ...
, the
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
philosopher, states that pervasion cannot be founded on the observation of ''
darsana In Indian religions, ''Darshana'', also spelt ''Darshan'', (Sanskrit: दर्शन, , ) or ''Darshanam'' (darśanam) is the auspicious sight of a deity or a holy person. The term also refers to six traditional schools of Hindu philosophy ...
'' (co-presence) or the observation of ''adarsana'' (co-absence) which is the view held also by the Caravakas and the
Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
s, 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.


Jain belief

In
Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...
, 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 A tapa () is an appetizer or snack in Spanish cuisine. Tapas can be combined to make a full meal, and can be cold (such as mixed olives and cheese) or hot (such as ''chopitos'', which are battered, fried baby squid, or patatas bravas). In so ...
'' 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''.


Other application

According to
Baudhayana The (Sanskrit: बौधायन) are a group of Vedic Sanskrit texts which cover dharma, daily ritual, mathematics and is one of the oldest Dharma-related texts of Hinduism that have survived into the modern age from the 1st-millennium BCE. Th ...
, Aryavarta lies west of Kalakavana, east of Adarsana, south of the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...
and north of the
Vindhyas The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...
. Dharamsutra II.2.16 speaks of ''Vinasana'' as Adarsana, the western boundary of Aryavarta.


References

{{Indian philosophy, state=collapsed Hindu philosophical concepts Jain philosophy Buddhist philosophical concepts