Jnâna yoga (Devanāgarī: ज्ञान योग) or "path of knowledge"[1] is one of the types of yoga mentioned in Hindu philosophies. Jnâna in Sanskrit means "knowledge".[2]
As used in the Bhagavad Gita, the Advaita philosopher Adi Shankara gave primary importance to jnâna yoga as "knowledge of the absolute" (Brahman), while the Vishishtadvaita commentator Ramanuja regarded knowledge only as a condition of devotion.[3] In the Bhagavad Gita (13.3) Krishna says that jnâna 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.[4]
[edit] Classification of means
Jnâna yoga teaches that there are four means to salvation:[5]
- 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, which was said to be able to separate milk (or Soma) 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: Sama-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.
[edit] See also
- ^ For translation of Jnâna Yoga as "path of knowledge" see: Flood (1996), p. 127.
- ^ For definition of jnâna as "knowledge" see: Apte, p. 457.
- ^ For the varying views of Shankara and Ramanuja, see: Flood (1996), p. 127.
- ^ B-Gita 13.35 "Those who see with eyes of knowledge the difference between the body and the knower of the body, and can also understand the process of liberation from bondage in material nature, attain to the supreme goal."
- ^ Shankara, Adi; Translator: Charles Johnston. "The Crest Jewel of Wisdom". pp. Ch. 1. http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/cjw/cjw05.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
[edit] References
- Apte, Vaman Shivram (1965). The Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 81-208-0567-4. (Fourth revised and enlarged edition).
- Basu, Asoke (June 2004), "Advaita Vedanta and Ethics", Religion East and West (4): 91–105
- Feuerstein, Georg (2001). The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice. Prescott, Arizona: Hohm Press. ISBN 1-890772-18-6. (Unabridged, New Format Edition).
- Flood, Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43878-0.
- Puligandla, Ramakrishna (1985). Jñâna-Yoga--The Way of Knowledge (An Analytical Interpretation). New York: University Press of America. ISBN 0-8191-4531-9.
- Varenne, Jean; Derek Coltman (1976). Yoga and the Hindu Tradition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-85114-1.
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