avidyā
Ignorance.
In Vedanta
Self-ignorance — not merely absence of knowledge, but a positive force of mis-apprehension that causes the self to be taken as limited. Avidyā has two powers: āvaraṇa (concealment of one's true nature) and vikṣepa (projection of what is not there). It is beginningless (anādi) but has an end — it is destroyed by self-knowledge (ātma-jñāna) alone.