Five-year-old Edith Fuller correctly spelled jnana to advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. She’s the youngest competitor in the bee’s history.
The trophy she earned is taller than she is. If you’re curious what jnana is (as I was), here’s a fuller definition:
In Sanskrit the word jnanam is derived from the root jna avabodhane (to know) and has three etymological meanings:
1. As a verbal activity or state of being, jnaptih jnanam means understanding, awareness, experience, knowing, consciousness. Jnana in this sense is without any content. It does not reveal anything except the subject itself. It is the intransitive usage of the word jnana, for example, “to know”.
2. As an instrument (jnayate anena iti janam), it denotes that by which something is known, or that which reveals something (artha-prakasakah). Jnana in this sense has content. It has a subject to which it reveals and an object which is revealed by it. In Vedantic terminology, it is called vrtti-jnana.
3. As a substratum (jnanam asti asminiti), it is that which knows or possesses knowledge. It is consciousness.
• 5-year-old Edith Fuller wins spelling bee in Tulsa (YouTube / KJRH)