All Topics  
Jnana yoga

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Jnana yoga
 
 
  Topics Jnana yoga Topic Home

Jnāna yoga (Devanagari
Devanagari

, or 'Nagari', is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together....
: ????? ???) or "path of knowledge" is one of the types of yoga
Yoga

Yoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in both Buddhism and Hinduism....
 mentioned in Hindu philosophies. Jnāna
Jnana

J?ana or g?ana is the Sanskrit term for knowledge or philosophy.In Buddhism, it refers to pure awareness that is free of conceptual encumbrances, and is contrasted with vijnana, which is a moment of 'divided knowing'....
 in Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
 means "knowledge".

As used in the Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is an important Sanskrit Hindu scripture. It is revered as a sacred scripture of Hinduism, and considered as one of the most important religious classics of the world....
, the Advaita philosopher Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara ; , also known as ' and ', was an Indian philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, the most influential sub-school of Vedanta....
 gave primary importance to jnāna yoga as "knowledge of the absolute" (Brahman
Brahman

Brahman is a concept of Hinduism. Brahman is the unchanging, infinite, Immanence, and transcendence reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe....
), while the Vishishtadvaita
Vishishtadvaita

VishishtAdvaita Vedanta ) is a sub-school of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, the other major sub-schools of Vedanta being Advaita and Dvaita....
 commentator Ramanuja
Ramanuja

Ramanuja , also known as Ramanujacharya, was a theologian, philosopher, and scriptural exegete. He is seen by Sri Vaishnavism as the third and most important teacher of their tradition, and by Hindus as the leading expounder of Vishishtadvaita, one of the classical interpretations of the dominant Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy....
 regarded knowledge only as a condition of devotion. In the Bhagavad Gita (13.3) Krishna
Krishna

Krishna is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the supreme being....
 says that jnāna consists of properly understanding kshetra (the field of activity--that is, the body) and kshetra-jna (the knower of the body--that is, the soul).






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Jnana yoga'
Start a new discussion about 'Jnana yoga'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Jnāna yoga (Devanagari
Devanagari

, or 'Nagari', is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together....
: ????? ???) or "path of knowledge" is one of the types of yoga
Yoga

Yoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in both Buddhism and Hinduism....
 mentioned in Hindu philosophies. Jnāna
Jnana

J?ana or g?ana is the Sanskrit term for knowledge or philosophy.In Buddhism, it refers to pure awareness that is free of conceptual encumbrances, and is contrasted with vijnana, which is a moment of 'divided knowing'....
 in Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
 means "knowledge".

As used in the Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is an important Sanskrit Hindu scripture. It is revered as a sacred scripture of Hinduism, and considered as one of the most important religious classics of the world....
, the Advaita philosopher Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara ; , also known as ' and ', was an Indian philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, the most influential sub-school of Vedanta....
 gave primary importance to jnāna yoga as "knowledge of the absolute" (Brahman
Brahman

Brahman is a concept of Hinduism. Brahman is the unchanging, infinite, Immanence, and transcendence reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe....
), while the Vishishtadvaita
Vishishtadvaita

VishishtAdvaita Vedanta ) is a sub-school of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, the other major sub-schools of Vedanta being Advaita and Dvaita....
 commentator Ramanuja
Ramanuja

Ramanuja , also known as Ramanujacharya, was a theologian, philosopher, and scriptural exegete. He is seen by Sri Vaishnavism as the third and most important teacher of their tradition, and by Hindus as the leading expounder of Vishishtadvaita, one of the classical interpretations of the dominant Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy....
 regarded knowledge only as a condition of devotion. In the Bhagavad Gita (13.3) Krishna
Krishna

Krishna is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the supreme being....
 says that jnāna consists of properly understanding kshetra (the field of activity--that is, the body) and kshetra-jna (the knower of the body--that is, the soul). Later in the Gita (13.35) Krishna emphasizes that a transcendentalist must understand the difference between these two.

Classification of stages


Jnāna yoga teaches that there are four means to salvation:

  • Viveka - Discrimination: The ability to differentiate between what is real/eternal (Brahman) and what is unreal/temporal (everything else in the universe.) This was an important concept in texts older even than the Bhagavad Gita, and often invoked the image of a Swan
    Swan

    Swans are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes goose and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini....
    , which was said to be able to separate milk (or Soma
    Soma

    Soma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic civilization and Greater Iran cultures....
    ) from water, whilst drinking.
  • Vairagya - Dispassion: After practice one should be able to "detach" her/himself from everything that is "temporary."
  • Shad-sampat - The 6 Virtues: Tranquility (control of the mind), Dama (control of the senses), Uparati (renunciation of activities that are not duties), Titiksha (endurance), Shraddha (faith), Samadhana (perfect concentration).
  • Mumukshutva - Intense longing for liberation from temporal limitations.


See also

  • Vedanta
    Vedanta

    Vedanta is a spiritual tradition explained in the Upanishads that is concerned with the self-realisation by which one understands the ultimate nature of reality and teaches the believer's goal is to transcend the limitations of self-identity and realize one's unity with Brahman....
  • Bhakti yoga
    Bhakti yoga

    Bhakti Yoga is a term within Hinduism which denotes the spiritual practice of fostering loving devotion to God, called bhakti. Traditionally there are nine forms of bhakti-yoga....
  • Advaita Vedanta
    Advaita Vedanta

    Advaita is more often than not deviantly interpreted as monism/monistic system of thought. Advaita Vedanta is a sub-school of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy....
  • Vishishtadvaita Vedanta
  • Adi Shankara
    Adi Shankara

    Adi Shankara ; , also known as ' and ', was an Indian philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, the most influential sub-school of Vedanta....
  • Ramana Maharshi
    Ramana Maharshi

    Sri Ramana Maharshi , born Venkataraman Iyer, was an Indian sage. He was born to a Tamil Hindu Brahmin family in Tiruchuzhi, Tamil Nadu. After having attained moksha at the age of 16, he left home for Arunachala, a mountain considered sacred by Hindus, at Tiruvannamalai, and lived there for the rest of his life....