Jñāna — Knowledge

The path of knowledge and discrimination. From listening to gnosis, the way of jñāna-yoga and direct realisation.

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Śivasaṃhitā 51

  1. ŚS 1.2I, Ishvara, the lover of my devotees, and Giver of spiritual emancipation to all creatures, thus declare the science of yoganasasana (the exposition of Yoga). In it are discarded all those doctrines of disputants, which lead to false knowledge. It is for the spiritual disenthralment of persons whose minds are undistracted and fully turned towards Me. Differences of opinion.
  2. ŚS 1.8Being thus diversely engaged in this world, even those who still know what actions are good and what are evil, though free from sin, become subject to bewilderment.
  3. ŚS 1.9Persons who follow these doctrines, having committed good and bad actions, constantly wander in the worlds, in the cycle of births and deaths, bound by dire necessity.
  4. ŚS 1.101Lo no inerte, la conciencia, disfruta de todos los seres a través de la condición de lo inerte.
  5. ŚS 1.102El karma surge una y otra vez para el disfrute en lo que se llama el huevo de Brahma, el universo.
  6. ŚS 1.11Others say, “Only those things can be said to exist which are perceived by the senses and nothing besides them; where is heaven or hell?” Such is their firm belief.
  7. ŚS 1.12Others believe the world to be a current of consciousness and no material entity; some call the void as the greatest. Others believe in two essences – Matter (prakriti) and Spirit (purusa).
  8. ŚS 1.13
  9. ŚS 1.14
  10. ŚS 1.16
  11. ŚS 1.17Having studied all the Shastras and having pondered over them well, again and again, this Yoga Sastra has been found to be the only true and firm doctrine.
  12. ŚS 1.19This Yoga Shastra, now being declared by us, is a very secret doctrine, only to be revealed to a high-souled pious devotee throughout the three worlds. 2 The Siva Samhita – Chapter I Karmakanda. 20. There are two systems (as found in the Vedas). Karmakanda (ritualism) and jnanakanda (wisdom). Jnanakanda and karmakanda are again each subdivided into two parts.
  13. ŚS 1.20El Veda es considerado de dos clases: el *karmakāṇḍa* (sección de los ritos) y el *jñānakāṇḍa* (sección del conocimiento).
  14. ŚS 1.21The karmakanda is twofold – consisting of injunctions and prohibitions.
  15. ŚS 1.23The injunctions are threefold – nitya (regular), naimittika (occasional), and kamya (optional). By the nonperformance of nitya or daily rites there accrues sin; but by their performance no merit is gained. On the other hand, the occasional and optional duties, if done or left undone, produce merit or demerit.
  16. ŚS 1.25The good actions are verily heaven, and sinful deeds are verily hell; the creation is the natural outcome of karma and nothing else.
  17. ŚS 1.26Creatures enjoy many pleasures in heaven; many intolerable pains are suffered in hell.
  18. ŚS 1.27From sinful acts pain, from good acts happiness, results. For the sake of happiness, men constantly perform good actions.
  19. ŚS 1.29Even in heaven there is experiencing of pain by seeing the higher enjoyment of others; verily, there is no doubt of it that this whole universe is full of sorrow.
  20. ŚS 1.30The classifiers of karma have divided it into two parts; good and bad actions; they are the veritable bondage of embodied souls each in its turn.
  21. ŚS 1.32The wise Yogi, having realized the truth of karmakanda (works), should renounce them; and having left both virtue and vice, he must engage in jnanakanda (knowledge).
  22. ŚS 1.33The Vedic texts, – "The spirit ought to be seen," – "About it one must hear", &c., are the real saviors and givers of true knowledge. They must be studied with great care.
  23. ŚS 1.38As, when the knowledge of the rope is obtained, the erroneous notion of its being a snake does not remain; so, by the arising of the knowledge of self, vanishes this universe based on illusion.
  24. ŚS 1.40Así como la ilusión de plata desaparece al conocer la concha nácar, del mismo modo cesa el error sobre el mundo.
  25. ŚS 1.49All this universe, moveable or unmovable, has come out of Intelligence. Renouncing everything else, take shelter in it (Intelligence).
  26. ŚS 1.50As space pervades a jar both inside and out, similarly within and beyond this ever-changing universe, there exists one Universal Spirit.
  27. ŚS 1.56Save and beyond it, there is no other substance, therefore, it is one; without it everything else is false; therefore, it is True Existence.
  28. ŚS 1.57Since in this world created by ignorance, the destruction of sorrow means the gaining of happiness; and, through Gnosis, immunity from all sorrow ensues; therefore, the Spirit is Bliss.
  29. ŚS 1.61
  30. ŚS 1.62Having renounced all false desires and abandoned all false worldly chains, the Yogi sees certainly in his own spirit the Universal Spirit by the self.
  31. ŚS 1.64Maya (illusion) is the mother of the universe. Not from any other principle has the universe been created; when this maya is destroyed, the world certainly does not exist.
  32. ŚS 1.65He, to whom this world is but the pleasure-ground of maya, therefore, contemptible and worthless, cannot find any happiness in riches, body, etc., nor in pleasures.
  33. ŚS 1.66This world appears in three different aspects to men – either friendly, inimical, or indifferent; such is always found in worldly dealing; there is distinction also in substances, as they are good, bad or indifferent.
  34. ŚS 1.67That one Spirit, through differentiation, verily becomes a son, a father, etc. The Sacred Scriptures have demonstrated the universe to be the freak of maya (illusion). The Yogi destroys this phenomenal universe by realizing that it is but the result of adhyaropa (superimposition) and by means of aparada (refutation of a wrong belief). Definition of a Paramahamsa.
  35. ŚS 1.69The Lord willed to create his creatures; from His will came out avidya (Ignorance), the mother of this false universe.
  36. ŚS 1.71From the akasa emanated the air; from the air came the fire; from fire – water; and from water came the earth. This is the order of subtle emanation.
  37. ŚS 1.72From ether, air; from the air and ether combined came fire; from the triple compound of ether, air and fire came water; from the combination of ether, air, fire and water was produced the (gross) earth.
  38. ŚS 1.75
  39. ŚS 1.76
  40. ŚS 1.81When the avidya has an excess of tamas, then it manifests itself as Durga: the intelligence which presides over her is called Isvara. When the avidya has an excess of sattva, it manifests itself as the beautiful Lakshimi; the Intelligence which presides over her is called Vishnu.
  41. ŚS 1.84The wise have thus explained the creation of the world – tattwas (elements) and non-tattwas (non-elements) are thus produced – not otherwise.
  42. ŚS 1.85All things are seen as finite, etc. (endowed with qualities, etc.), and there arise various distinctions merely through words and names; but there is no real difference.
  43. ŚS 1.86Therefore, the things do exist; the great and glorious One that manifests them, alone exists; though things are false and unreal, yet, as the reflection of the real, they, for the time being, appear real.
  44. ŚS 1.87The One Entity, blissful, entire and all-pervading, alone exists, and nothing else; he who constantly realizes this knowledge is freed from death and the sorrow of the world-wheel.
  45. ŚS 1.89From the Annamiya Kosa (the physical vehicle) of the father, and in accordance with its past karma, the human soul is re-incarnated; therefore, the wise consider this beautiful body as a punishment, for the suffering of the effects of the past karma.
  46. ŚS 1.92From the self-combination of the Spirit which is Siva and the Matter which is Sakti, and, through their inherent interaction on each other, all creatures are born.
  47. ŚS 1.95Bound in the chain of matter by their karma, the jivas receive various names. In this world, the come again and again to undergo the consequences of their karma.
  48. ŚS 1.96When the fruits of karma have been enjoyed, the jiva is absorbed in the Parambrahma. 6
  49. ŚS 1.97
  50. ŚS 1.98
  51. ŚS 1.99

Bhagavad Gītā 28

  1. BG 10.4Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from delusion, forgiveness, truthfulness, control of the senses, control of the mind, happiness, distress, birth, death, fear and fearlessness.
  2. BG 13.1Arjuna said: Oh Kṛṣṇa!, I desire to know nature, spirit, the field, the knower of the field, knowledge and the object of knowledge.
  3. BG 13.3And know also that I am the knower of the field in all fields, O Bhārata!. The knowledge of the field and the knower of the field, that is considered by Me as true knowledge.
  4. BG 14.1The Blessed Lord said: I shall declare to you again the supreme knowledge among all knowledges, knowing which all sages have attained supreme perfection from here.
  5. BG 14.9Luminosity attaches to happiness, activity to action, O Bhārata!; but inertia, covering knowledge, attaches to heedlessness.
  6. BG 14.11When illumination arises in all the gates of this body, then one should know that luminosity is predominant.
  7. BG 14.17From luminosity knowledge is born, from activity greed; from inertia arise heedlessness and delusion, and also ignorance.
  8. BG 15.10The deluded do not perceive the one who departs, or who remains, or who enjoys endowed with the guṇas; those who possess the eye of knowledge see.
  9. BG 15.15And I am situated in the heart of all; from Me come memory, knowledge and their disappearance. I alone am to be known by all the Vedas; I am the maker of the Vedānta and I alone know the Vedas.
  10. BG 18.18Knowledge, the knowable, the knower — triple is the impulse to action. The instrument, the action, the agent — triple is the grouping of action.
  11. BG 18.19Knowledge, action and the agent, triples according to the division of the guṇas, are said in the doctrine of the guṇas. Hear those also properly.
  12. BG 18.20By which in all beings one sees a single indestructible being, undivided in the divided — know that knowledge as sāttvika.
  13. BG 18.21
  14. BG 18.42
  15. BG 18.50
  16. BG 18.63
  17. BG 3.1Arjuna said: If you consider knowledge superior to action, oh Janārdana, why do you order me to perform this terrible action, oh Keśava?
  18. BG 3.38Therefore, oh bull among the Bharatas, first master the senses and destroy this sin, which destroys knowledge and realization.
  19. BG 3.39Knowledge is covered by this eternal enemy of the wise, oh son of Kuntī, which has the form of desire and is insatiable fire.
  20. BG 3.41Therefore, oh bull among the Bharatas, first master the senses and destroy this sin, which destroys knowledge and realization.
  21. BG 4.38Truly, nothing here is as purifying as knowledge. That, the perfected in yoga, attains by themselves in their Self with time.
  22. BG 5.16But for those whose ignorance has been destroyed by knowledge of the Self, that knowledge, like the sun, illuminates the Supreme.
  23. BG 6.8One whose mind is satisfied with knowledge and realization, established in the immutable, with conquered senses — they are called yukta (united). That yogi is equal before a clod of earth, a stone, and gold.
  24. BG 7.1The Blessed Lord said: With mind attached to Me, oh Pārtha!, practicing yoga, taking refuge in Me, hear how, without doubt, you will know Me completely.
  25. BG 7.2I shall reveal this knowledge together with its realization, completely. Knowing this, nothing more will remain here to be known.
  26. BG 7.19After many births, the man of wisdom surrenders to Me, knowing that Vāsudeva is everything. Such a great soul is very difficult to find.
  27. BG 7.20Those whose knowledge has been stolen by desire surrender to other deities, following various rituals, impelled by their own nature.
  28. BG 9.1The Blessed Lord said: To you, who are not envious, I shall reveal this most secret knowledge, along with its realization, knowing which you shall be liberated from the inauspicious.

Upaniṣads 27

  1. upanishads 11One who knows both — knowledge and ignorance — together, crosses over death through ignorance and attains immortality through knowledge.
  2. upanishads 10
  3. upanishads 19If the killer thinks he kills, or if the killed thinks he is killed — both do not understand. This (Ātman) neither kills nor is killed.
  4. upanishads 21
  5. upanishads 24
  6. upanishads 15
  7. upanishads 3
  8. upanishads 4
  9. upanishads 15
  10. upanishads 6
  11. upanishads 10When the five instruments of knowledge stand still together with the mind, and the intellect does not stir, that they call the supreme state.
  12. upanishads 7Neither inward consciousness nor outward consciousness, nor both together, nor a mass of consciousness, nor conscious nor unconscious. Invisible, beyond transaction, ungraspable, without marks, unthinkable, indescribable, whose essence is the certainty of the one Self, in whom multiplicity ceases, peaceful, auspicious, non-dual — that they consider the Fourth. That is the Ātman. That is to be known.
  13. upanishads 1Brahmā, first among the gods, was born as the creator of the universe and the protector of the world. He taught the knowledge of Brahman —the foundation of all knowledge— to Atharva, his eldest son.
  14. upanishads 3Śaunaka, the great householder, approached Aṅgiras with due reverence and asked: O venerable one, what is that by knowing which all this becomes known?
  15. upanishads 9That which is omniscient, all-knowing, whose ardent practice consists in knowledge —from it are born this Brahman, name, form, and food.
  16. upanishads 8Remaining in the darkness of ignorance, themselves believing they are learned scholars, they wander errantly like the blind led by the blind.
  17. upanishads 10When the five instruments of knowledge stand still along with the mind, and the intellect does not stir — that they call the supreme goal.
  18. upanishads 19For there is no purifier here equal to knowledge. That, by itself, one who has perfected yoga, with time finds in the Self.
  19. upanishads 2When through ignorance one believes to have known everything, considering that nothing more exists to be known, then, instigated by the question 'What is that which is beyond ordinary knowledge?' they responded.
  20. upanishads 11Without hands or feet, He runs and grasps; without eyes He sees, without ears He hears. He knows what is to be known, He is the Lord of mind and mind itself. He is known by those who know Him in truth, He is the origin of speech.
  21. upanishads 15When humans can wrap space like a hide, then, without knowing God, could there be an end to suffering.
  22. upanishads 20Having fully known that Ātman, whether among the inner divinities or among humans, what more can be heard? He who knows it, he who knows it, he who knows it.
  23. upanishads 3Making the Ātman the lower fire-stick, and meditation the upper spindle, by the friction of knowledge the flame is kindled, and having their sins consumed by it, they become immortal.
  24. upanishads 17He is not grasped by the eye, nor by speech, nor by other gods, nor by austerity nor by action. By the grace of knowledge, by the purity of essence, then, meditating, one sees Him who is without parts.
  25. upanishads 1The knower of Brahman attains the Supreme. About this it has been said: Brahman is Truth, Knowledge, Infinite. Whoever knows It hidden in the cave of the heart, in the supreme space, realizes all desires together with the omniscient Brahman.
  26. upanishads 6Different from that (body) made of mind, more interior, is the Self made of discerning knowledge. By it the former is filled. It has the form of a person. Faith is its head, cosmic order its right wing, truth its left wing, yoga is its body, mahas its tail and foundation.
  27. upanishads 7Different from that (body) made of knowledge, more interior, is the Self made of bliss. By it the former is filled. It has the form of a person. Love is its head, joy its right wing, delight its left wing, bliss is its body, Brahman its tail and foundation.

Aṣṭāvakra Gītā 13

  1. ashtavakra-gita 2Aṣṭāvakra said:
  2. ashtavakra-gita 10The Ātman is of the nature of knowledge, eternal, all-pervading, unique, the Self of all.
  3. ashtavakra-gita 6Este mundo es insensato y envidioso. Conociéndome, ha caído en la ilusión.
  4. ashtavakra-gita 5Knowing Brahman, the nature of knowledge itself, there is no knower, and no thing to know.
  5. ashtavakra-gita 4Knowing Brahman, the essence of all knowing, there is no knower, and nothing to know.
  6. ashtavakra-gita 8Believe, dear one, believe! Do not fall into delusion here. The Lord Ātman is of the nature of knowledge.
  7. ashtavakra-gita 16Out of ignorance, this universe is yours. In truth, you are one alone. There is no other in saṃsāra, nor one outside it.
  8. ashtavakra-gita 36Verse 36 of chapter 18: translation based on the original Sanskrit.
  9. ashtavakra-gita 8Verse 8 of chapter 19: translation based on the original Sanskrit.
  10. ashtavakra-gita 3What do I do? What do I say? What do I recite?
  11. ashtavakra-gita 16There is no knowledge, no ignorance, no bondage, no release for you.
  12. ashtavakra-gita 9All is Brahman of the nature of knowledge. 'That thou art' — such is the meaning.
  13. ashtavakra-gita 5There is neither knowledge nor ignorance for you, neither bondage nor liberation.

Yoga Yājñavalkya 11

  1. yoga-yajnavalkya 1To Yājñavalkya, the foremost of sages, omniscient, pure in knowledge, knower of the truth of all śāstras, ever devoted to meditation.
  2. yoga-yajnavalkya 2Knower of the essence of the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, accomplished in yoga, master of the senses, anger, food and disease.
  3. yoga-yajnavalkya 19And the supreme, secret knowledge, explain it to me truly, O Lord. Thus addressed by me, Brahmā, the self-existent, guide of the world.
  4. yoga-yajnavalkya 20Looking at me, with the Self pleased, he declared knowledge and action. Of knowledge, two paths are to be known, prescribed by the Vedas.
  5. yoga-yajnavalkya 23That which is done properly, united with knowledge, is the action that leads to liberation. Indeed, liberating action frees a person from birth.
  6. yoga-yajnavalkya 27One should always act according to the precepts, together with knowledge. Humans are born in the three worlds according to the proper order.
  7. yoga-yajnavalkya 39Therefore, you too, O king of yogis, practicing the dharma of your own āśrama, with faith, according to the precepts, properly practice knowledge and action.
  8. yoga-yajnavalkya 42Gārgī said: O king of yogis, you said that for one who acts according to precepts together with knowledge there is liberation. Expound the knowledge of both, O Lord.
  9. yoga-yajnavalkya 43Thus addressed by his wife, Yājñavalkya, treasure of austerities, looking at her with compassion, expounded the form of knowledge.
  10. yoga-yajnavalkya 44Yājñavalkya said: Know that knowledge is of the nature of yoga, and yoga is endowed with eight limbs. Yoga is declared as the union of the jīvātman and the paramātman.
  11. yoga-yajnavalkya 16Whoever thus knows this secret, that yogī participates in liberation. Ignorance is indeed the existence-bondage; knowledge is liberation, without doubt.

Yoga Vāsiṣṭha 9

  1. yoga-vasistha 2Without knowledge, liberation is never attained
  2. yoga-vasistha 10The fire of knowledge burns all sin like fog
  3. yoga-vasistha 14Even prārabdha karma dissolves through knowledge; there is no doubt
  4. yoga-vasistha 46Without knowledge there is no liberation; without faith there is no knowledge
  5. yoga-vasistha 49At the beginning, having known «I am liberated», he remains thus
  6. yoga-vasistha 39By whose knowledge this universe, born, acts as if it were being born.
  7. yoga-vasistha 48Neither by knowledge, nor by intelligence, nor by virtue or austerity
  8. yoga-vasistha 29Nothing is seen; if anything were seen, [we would see that] it is only through knowledge. Seeing thus, what could we say? Nothing at all.
  9. yoga-vasistha 30There is nothing like supreme reality, nor anything like the non-supreme; when it is known through knowledge, then there is no distinction.

Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra 5

  1. Dhāraṇā 10For one who has consciousness alone as body, who is omniscient in all directions — oh Kaumārī, there is no knower or known in the state of Bhairava.
  2. Dhāraṇā 56Taking mind as the support of consciousness, burning the universe little by little — in the state of the sun, in the vast field, the person becomes both knower and known.
  3. Dhāraṇā 74At the moment of the arrival of sleep, when knowledge dissolves, apprehend that reality. Through that reality, illumination occurs.
  4. Dhāraṇā 90For the immutable Self, where is knowledge? Where is action? External states depend on knowledge. Therefore, this world is void.
  5. Dhāraṇā 93Knowledge and the known are dual and external. Inner knowledge is constructed with vikalpas. Meditate on that which is free of vikalpas — that is happiness.

Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā 3

  1. HYP 4.10Who truly knows the greatness of rāja yoga?Knowledge, liberation, stability and achievement are obtained through the word of the guru.
  2. HYP 4.38Who truly knows the greatness of rāja yoga?Knowledge, liberation, stability and achievement come only from the words of the guru.
  3. HYP 4.56Although all the senses are active in their objects, the supreme knowledge beyond the senses is the higher nature in samādhi.

Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā 3

  1. GS 2.33Placing the hands upon the testicles, firmly bound upon the head, this is Gorakṣāsana, the means of knowledge for the perfected ones.
  2. GS 7.19'I am nothing, independent; nothing is mine' — this determination. Making the mind absorbed in knowledge, the yogi dedicated to yoga...
  3. GS 7.20Making the mind absorbed in knowledge, the yogi dedicated to yoga attains samādhi, turns toward Brahman.

Gorakṣa Śataka 2

  1. goraksha-shataka 90El upādhi es el conocimiento erróneo; la realidad está establecida de otra manera. El destruidor de todos los upādhis es la práctica constante de los yoguis.
  2. goraksha-shataka 99Inmaculado, inmóvil, eterno, sin acción, sin atributos, grande, conocimiento del cielo/espacio, dicha: tal Brahman conocen los conocedores de Brahman.

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