avarana

Avarana is a Sanskrit term that translates roughly as veil, cover, or obstruction. It is used across Hindu, Buddhist, and yogic traditions to denote something that obscures knowledge, perception, or spiritual realization. The root a- meaning not, and varṇa meaning covering, signals a hidden or obscured truth.

In Hindu philosophy, avaranam is often described as the veil of ignorance that conceals the true nature of the self and ultimate reality. Different schools treat the veil in distinct ways: for example, in Advaita Vedanta liberation involves removing this veil to realize non-dual awareness, while other traditions interpret it as a more general impediment to spiritual insight or proper discrimination.

In Buddhist contexts, avarana refers to mental veils or obscurations that hinder insight and liberation. Traditional discussions describe obscurations arising from craving, aversion, and ignorance, and outline practices such as meditation, ethical conduct, and wisdom to dispel them and restore clear comprehension.

In yoga and tantric literature, the concept is used to describe coverings of higher faculties or subtle centers that must be removed to attain higher states of consciousness. Outside religious contexts, avarana is sometimes used metaphorically to describe cognitive biases or social obstacles that cloud judgment or perception.

Because the term appears in multiple traditions with nuanced meanings, scholars typically define avarana by its function as an obstructive veil rather than as a single, uniform doctrine.