Anava (
Sanskrit: आणवा,
romanized: āṇavā) (from "anu", meaning an atom or an exceedingly small entity) is a state - the consciousness of the ego, the sense of "I" and "mine". This represents a sense of individuality and a separation from a general existence of any "divine plan". One of the three bondages or pāśas: anava,
karma and
maya. In
Shaivism, anava is the cause of the individual soul's mistaken sense of separate identity from Universal God
Shiva, and the last bond broken before union (
yoga) or
self-realization (
moksha). The three bondages are also explicitly discussed in the
tantras of
Shaktism.[1]
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