[Advaita-l] jnAna-vidyA

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Fri, 21 Nov 2003, M. S. Ravisankar wrote:

> vidyaa - vidyaa has many  meanings. One of them is mantra (according to
> trishatii bhaashhya). For instance, kAdi vidyA, refers to the reading of
> panchadashaaxari by kandpara (manmatha). Here, vidyaa simply means mantra. I
> write this just to show how the meanings could be quite context sensitive
> and take on a special derivation.
>

In the context of Vedanta, vidya refers to certain passages in the
Upanishads which are used for meditation (upasana)  The Adyar Library and
Research Centre published an interesting book by K. Narayanaswami Aiyer
called "The 32 vidyas" which gives a lot of detail on this subject.
(Though it is marred a bit by authors theosophical proclivities.)

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
It's a girl! See the pictures - http://www.braincells.com/shailaja/