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viveka

Translation

discriminative discernment

Other Translations

discrimination, insight, discriminative knowledge

Background

  • In the context of Sāṅkhya and Yoga philosophy, a primary meaning of viveka is the discrimination or knowing the distinction between prakṛti (material nature) and puruṣa (Self or pure awareness)
  • Sometimes described as the shifting of awareness from the object of perception to the power of perception itself (purusha)
  • viveka is described as a grain-by-grain realization that begins to emerge from nonreaction (vairāgya) and interiorization
  • In Buddhist literature, the term viveka is used in the sense of separation and is classified into three kinds: bodily seclusion (kāya-viveka), mental purification (citta-viveka), and final liberation (avadhi-viveka)

Yoga Sūtras