"Avidya" is a Sanskrit word, which means the semantic fields of "ignorance", "delusion", "Unlearned" or "unwise" and which is in contrary to "vidya". Each individual soul is bound down by Maya in the sense of "Avidya" or ignorance.

"Avidya" functions by suppressing the real nature of things and presenting something else in its place. "Avidya" is quite related to `Maya`. "Avidya" relates to the finite self (Sanskrit `Atman`). "Avidya" creates delusion, which disintegrates the original unity of what is real and presents it as subject and as doer and result of the deed. This "Avidya" keeps humanity captive in `Samsara`. This is the reason behind all the miseries of human life. According to `Advaita Vedanta`, humanities only goal should be to eradicate "Avidya" and only this can lead to the realization of the self i, e "Atman" in Sanskrit.

Again, as per `Adi Shankara` in his commentary on the `Brahma Sutras`, "Owing to an absence of discrimination, there continues a natural human behaviour in the form of `I am this` or `This is mine`; this is avidya. It is a superimposition of the attributes of one thing on another. The ascertainment of the nature of the real entity by separating the superimposed thing from it is vidya (knowledge, illumination)". He also says that "Avidya" cannot be divided either as `absolutely existent` or as `absolutely non-existent`. In the `Upanishads`, "Avidya" is stated as the source of delusion. The Katha Upanishad talks about people living in ignorance or "Avidya" and thinking themselves wise, who move about in search of reality. The ordinary intelligence has its turn towards the Universal self, which is engaged in reasoning and reaches knowledge, which is imperfect as it is full of doubt, logic and skillful demonstration. In "Avidya", men feel to be with an external vision of things, where objects are extrinsically opposed to one another. "Avidya" overwhelms the human being by error and incapacity. The individual ego is due to "Avidya" or ignorance, a man thinks itself to be separate and different from all other egos. The `ahamkara` is the barrier or a by-product of "Avidya", which separates and stops the human to enter into harmony and unity with the universe. This results to the physical suffering and mental discord. A person can be free from all selfishness, possessiveness when the individual gets rid of "Avidya".

"Avidya" stresses the separateness, mutual independence and strife whereas Vidya stresses the harmony and interconnections of elements, which make up the world. "Avidya" takes one individual away from the truth of life. It eliminates the way through which one can attain Brahman. It prevents one to appreciate intellectuality, the intelligible ideas about the nature of the divine ground and the nature of the direct experience of it in relation to other experiences. "Avidya" keeps a person away from the eternal wisdom, which is not the knowledge possessed by each and every individual. This wisdom is the knowledge hidden beneath the sheaths of ignorance. It relates with the Supreme Self, which is self-evident and needs no proof, svatah-siddha, self-valid certainty. To get rid of the "Avidya", an individual should develop the habit of introversion, of abstracting from the outside world and looking within himself. One needs to silence his or her speech, mind and will. It is needed to hear the voice of the still spirit in us. The mind needs to strip away its outer sheaths in complete detachment to avoid "Avidya". To remove the "Avidya" from one`s life the divine consciousness and will must become one`s consciousness and will. Meditation is the way to cleanse one`s mind and heart and that gives relief from "Avidya". It means rest, suspension of mental activity, withdrawal into the interior solitude in which the soul is absorbed in the fruitful silence of God. Thus the only solution of all these is to get rid of the "Avidya".