What is "viparyaya"

Viparyaya ( Sanskrit: विपर्यय) means – reversed, inverted or perverse; change (of purpose, dress and the like); absence or non-existence; loss (of consciousness); complete destruction or annihilation; exchange or barter; error, trespass, mistake or misapprehension; calamity, misfortune or adverse fate; hostility, perverseness, opposition or the destruction of the world.

Wrong knowledge is viparyaya; it is not supported by anything e.g. a mirage. Viparyaya is a thought pattern or modification of the mind; it is not a fantasy which is the creation of a crazy mind. Human thinking is largely based on viparyaya-vritti responsible for much of the misery in human life.

Patanjali states:-

विपर्ययो मिथ्याज्ञानमतद्रूपप्रतिष्ठम् | "Viparyaya or Illusion is false knowledge formed of a thing as other than what it is." - Yoga Sutras (I.8)

Simply said this means – "Viparyaya is knowing a thing different from what it really is" or viparyaya is incorrect cognition or wrong knowledge. Wrong knowledge causes five kleśas – nescience, egoism, attachment, hate and fear of death, which '' kleśas '' are the impurities of the mind. "I-sense", which is unreal knowledge, is viparyaya which is rooted in '' avidya '' as are '' pramana '' (valid knowledge) and vikalpa (verbal construction). Patanjali defines avidya as the misidentification of the impermanent as permanent, impure as the pure. Vyasa states that erroneous cognition (viparyaya) is the cause of rebirth, when it has vanished no one is ever seen to be born anywhere; which means that our wrong identity with the body, sense-organs and the mind "rooted in spiritual ignorance functions through viparyaya". Yoga, the technique of controlling the body and the mind or Samadhi concentration, aims at controlling Viparyaya which is one of the five active and changeable citta-vrittis (modifications of the mind). Viparyaya can be replaced or corrected by valid cognition.

Śobhākaramitra includes viparyaya as a type of figure in poetry which in combination with upameyopamā can occur when there is vākyabheda but he does not agree with Ruyyaka and rejects the idea that viparyaya can combine with upamāna when vyatireka occurs. He explains that in viparyaya there is the mutual exchange of the qualified (dharmin) and the qualification (dharma) which holds true even when these roles are reversed, thus giving two varieties.

Shankara states:-

सदा त्त भूतेषु समोऽहमीश्वरः क्षराक्षराभ्यां परमो ह्यथोत्तमः | परात्मतत्वश्च तथाद्वयोऽपि सन्विपर्ययेणाभिमत्स्त्वविद्यया || "And I am always the same to all beings, the Lord, for I am superior to, and higher than, the perishable and the imperishable. Though I have the highest Atman as my true nature and am non-dual, I am nevertheless covered with wrong knowledge which is nescience. " - Upadeśasāhasri (I.x.8)

Here, Viprayaya is not synonymous with avidya but an aspect of avidya.