Jnanakarmasamucchaya

(“combination of awareness and
action”) Religious discipline for ending
the bondage and reincarnation (samsara) of the soul, which was advocated
by members of the bhedabhada
(“identity-in-difference”) philosophical
school. According to this school, correct
awareness (jnana) and ritual action
(karma) were both necessary elements
in gaining final liberation of the soul.
The preparatory step was to perform
meritorious ritual actions—fasting
(upavasa), worship, and pilgrimage—to
weaken one’s negative karmic dispositions, such as greed, anger, and ignorance. These weakened dispositions
were later completely destroyed through
meditation. The assumptions behind
this path were attacked by other philosophical schools, particularly the
Advaita Vedanta school, which minimized the value of ritual action and
claimed that final liberation came from
awareness alone.