(ignorance). For
a
kara, avidy
, ignorance of the Ultimate Reality (
Brahman
) produces the illusory world of name and form, or m
y
, through superimposition. It is usually misleading to translate m
y
as ‘illusion’. Nevertheless, soteriologically the power of m
y
is wisely treated as such; and in later Hinduism, m
y
as Cosmic Illusion is sometimes personified and identified with the great goddess
Durg
.
In
Mah
y
na
Buddhism, m