Jnana Bhumikas (ज्ञानभूमिकाः)

Jnana bhumikas (Samskrit: ज्ञानभूमिकाः) are the seven stages of unfoldment of spiritual knowledge. Described in Yoga Vasishta, a seminal work in the field of Vedanta, these seven stages are attained by the Sadhakas or seekers of the highest knowledge to know the Self or Brahman. Jnana (ज्ञानम्) in general means knowledge and refers specifically to higher knowledge in Indian texts. Jnana marga is the direct means to release or moksha, as per Advaita siddhanta.

Jnana or knowledge is the basis of rational and intelligent activity. Every system of thought believes that knowledge is either the nature or quality of the self acting through the mind, reaching out to the objects and making them known to the self.

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

Jnana-, bhakti-, and karma-yoga, the three main forms of “applied psychology” in the Indian tradition involve the systematic modification of the three basic capacities of the jiva, namely thinking, emotion, and action. In the Advaita system, vidya is gained through a specific kind of meditation, mainly involving the wise discrimination (nitya-anitya-vastu viveka) between what is changing and what is permanent, and hence its approach is called the path of knowledge (jnana marga). The Visishtadvaita theory of knowledge is different in that jnana, the attributive intelligence of the self, as contrasted with the antahkarana of the Advaita philosophy, can reveal both itself and the object outside it.

In contemporary psychology, the term cognition is a generic term for any process whereby an organism becomes aware of, or obtains knowledge of, an object or event. This includes the processes of sensation, perception, recognition, conceptualization, judging, reasoning, and so on. As in the case of many such terms, there is no exact equivalent for cognition in Sanskrit. Monier-Williams’s English–Sanskrit Dictionary gives jñāna, vijñāna, and prajñāna as the Sanskrit counterparts of cognition. While these terms connote shades of the complex views of knowledge, they do not emphasize the process aspect of the contemporary usage of the term cognition.

Sapta Jnana Bhumikas

Self realization, is a progressive path which requires active effort on the part of the aspirant to attain or experience the Brahman. In this path, an aspirant goes through seven stages of acquiring knowledge as per Yogavasishta.

ज्ञानभूमिः शुभेच्छाख्या प्रथमा समुदाहृता । विचारणा द्वितीया तु तृतीया तनुमानसा ।। ५ सत्त्वापत्तिश्चतुर्थी स्यात्ततोऽसंसक्तिनामिका । पदार्थाभावनी षष्ठी सप्तमी तुर्यगा स्मृता ।। ६

Seven stages of spiritual progress are (in developing) a right desire, discrimination, purification of the mind, abiding in the self, rising above attachment, realization of objectlessness, and experiencing the highest state. They are further explained as follows.

1. शुभेच्छा॥ Subheccha - dawn of the desire (to be liberated)
2. विचारणा॥ Vicharana - investigation into the nature of Reality
3. तनुमानसा ॥ Tanumanasa - the purification of the mind
4. सत्त्वापत्तिः॥ Satvapatti - the realization of the self within
5. असंशक्तिः ॥ Asamshakti - rising above the attachment to objects
6. पदार्थाभावना ॥ Padarthabhavana - realization of the unreality or non-existence of the objects in Absolute
7. तुर्यगा॥ Turyaga - Attainment of the experience of the Absolute

A person having realized this experience attains Moksha.