JÑĀNA. The Sanskrit root jñā is cognate with the Old English knawan. Hence on etymological consideration one normally translates jñāna as "knowledge." Although this translation seems harmless in many contexts, in a philosophical text that deals with epistemology, or pramāṇa-śāstra, it will often be wrong and misleading. In fact, in nontechnical Sanskrit jñāna often means knowledge. But when it is contrasted with pramā ("knowledge, knowledge-episode"), it means simply a cognition or awareness, and it is meant in an episodic sense. A cognition is an episode that happens in a subject, and when such a cognitive episode becomes true it becomes knowledge, as in pramā. Thus, one must say, only some cognitions are knowledge; others may be cases of doubt, misperception, error, false judgment, opinion, and so forth.

In epistemology, the problem is formulated as follows...