According to Buddhism, ignorance is a primordial force that afflicts us all. In Buddhist scriptures, it is referred to by the Sanskrit term avidyā (Pāli: avijjā), combing the root vid, which means to “see, know, perceive or understand,” with the negation a, resulting in the opposite meaning. 

The term dharma (Sanskrit; Pali: dhamma) is frequently used in Buddhism, although its broad meaning can’t be contained in a single-word equivalent in English. The etymological root of the Sanskrit word is “dhri,” which means “to support, bear, hold, maintain or keep.” In that sense, dharma refers to the underlying principles of “cosmic law and order,” “the state of nature,” “ultimate truth” or “nature of all phenomena.”