HINDU ENCYCLOPEDIA

सनातन धर्म भूमिका

Meaning of "jnanakanda"

Word

Jnanakanda

Sanskrit

ज्ञानकाण्ड

IAST

jñānakāṇḍa

In General

To many traditionalists, Jnana kanda belongs to portion of the Veda which relates to knowledge of the Atman. They consider Aranyaka and Upanishads only form Jnanakanda as against Samhita and Brahmanas as Kramakanda. But it is true that many Upanishads are taken from Brahmanas (such as Sathapatha Brahmanas) and Samhitas. The promoters of Jnana kanda further consider that only ascetic life can lead one to the highest goal, the Moksha. But in reality Samhita is the most auspicious basic text and the other three parts of Veda, the Brahmanas, Aranyaka sand Upanishads are different types of interpretation on the main texts of Samhita.

Karmakanda is the opposite of Jnanakanda which promote non-ascetic family life and performing religious sacrifices. Among the six systems of Indian philosophy the Uttara Mimansa of Sage Jaimini is more popular. People in general were more leaned towards the religious appeal of Jaimini than with the philosophical appeal of Upanishads. In Sankaradigvijaya we can find Sankara is fighting more with the traditional class of priest than with the Buddhist. But the followers of Sankara also considered Jnanakanda and Karmakanda as different

Veda

Veda do not discriminate Karma Marga and Jnana Marga as different.

Purana

Purana only reinforced the concept of Karmamarga and considered Jnanamarga as a sanyasin sect. But B.G. tread on a middle path called Karma Sanyasa or Nishkama Karma; doing karma without any desire for fruit.

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Word Sanskrit IAST In General Veda Purana