mukti (Liberation)

Liberation is only cessation of nescience

Br.up.4.4.6.S.B--- tasmaat avidyaanivr.ttimaatre mokshavyavahaaraH-------sarpaadinivr.ttiH.

Therefore, as we have already said, the cessation of ignorance alone is what is known as liberation, like the disappearance of the snake, for instance, from the rope when the wrong notion about its existence has been eradicated.  

Br.up.4.4.7.S.B---- ataH mokshaH na des’aantaragamanaadi apekshate.

Therefore, liberation does not imply going to another place (world), etc.

Br.up.4.4.20.S.B--- jnaanam cha tasmin paraatmabhaavanivr.ttiH eva.--------------------- iti ubhayam api aviruddham eva.

The knowledge of Brahman means only the cessation of identification with external things (such as the body, etc). Identity with Brahman is not something which requires to be attained, since it is always there. Everyone is in reality always identical with Brahman, but wrongly considers himself to be something different (due to ignorance). Therefore the scriptures do not enjoin that identity with Brahman should be attained, but only that the false identification with things other than Brahman should be given up. When the identification with other things (such as the body) is eradicated, the identity with one’s own Self, which is natural, prevails. This is what is meant by the statement that the Self is realized. In itself the Self is unknowable, that is to say it cannot be made the object of any means of knowledge (pramaaNa).

taitt.up. 1.1.S.B--- aatmaa hi brahma---  parapraaptiH.

The Self, indeed, is Brahman. The attainment of the highest will be declared for the knower of Brahman (taitt.up.2.1.1). Therefore the establishment in one’s own Self, on the eradication of ignorance, is itself the attainment of the highest, namely, liberation.  

B.S.3.4.52.S.B--- brahma eva hi muktyavasthaa.

The state of liberation is itself Brahman.

B.S.3.4.52.S.B---- tat hi asaadhyam nityasiddhasvabhaavam-------iti asakr.t avadishma.

We have said more than once that liberation is not an effect to be attained; it is only to be realized through knowledge, since it is eternally existent. (It is not some thing to be brought into existence by any action, since it is ever present and has only to be realized as such).

taitt.up.1.11.S.B--- ato vidyotpattyartham anushTheyaani karmaaNi.

The rites laid down have to be performed for the attainment of Self- knowledge (because they purify the mind and make it fit for the rise of knowledge).

taitt. up.1.11.S.B--- yathaa praaptameva kaarakaastitvam upaadaaya----- virodhaH.

The scriptures, on the assumption of the existence of the accessories of action (such as doer, etc), enjoin rites intended to eradicate the accumulated sins of those who aspire for liberation and also as a means for the attainment of various results for those who hanker after them. They do not however, at this stage, concern themselves with the question of the reality of those accessories. The rise of Self-knowledge is unimaginable for a person who has hindrances in the form of accumulated sins. On the attenuation of those sins, knowledge will emerge and nescience will be eradicated, resulting in the realization of the illusory nature of the world. A person who perceives something as different from himself may develop a craving for it. Impelled by desire, he engages himself in action. From that follows the succession of further births for enjoying the fruits of those actions. On the other hand, for a person who sees everything as the Self, no desire can arise. Such a person remains established in the Self and is liberated from further birth. It follows from this that Self-knowledge and karma (action) are opposed to each other.    

taitt.up. 1.11.S.B--- ataH kevalaayaaH eva vidyaayaaH param s’reyaH iti siddham.

Thus it is established that liberation is attained through knowledge alone.

taitt. up. 1.11.S.B--- yato janmaantarakr.tamapi----      ishyate.

The karmas such as agnihotra and practices such as celibacy, etc, performed in past lives also help the dawn of knowledge. It is because of this that some persons are found to possess detachment even from their birth itself, while others are seen to be attached to the world and not inclined towards enlightenment. Therefore, for those who have become free from attachment to worldly pursuits as a result of tendencies acquired in past lives it is desirable to resort to the other stages of life (such as sannyaasa). 

taitt. up, 1.11.S.B—sarveshaam cha adhikaaraH vidyaayaam ---- iti siddham.

Persons belonging to all aas’ramas are entitled to Self-realization. Liberation comes from Self-knowledge alone (and not through any karma, though karma must be performed in the spirit of karma-yoga for attaining fitness for knowledge).

B.S.3.4.36 to 39.S.B—Even those who do not belong to any aas’rama are entitled to attain Self-knowledge (e.g. Raikva, Gaargii).

Br.up.1.4.7.S.B—na hi vedaanteshu brahmaatmavijnaanaat anyat---- ----- avagamyate.

In Vedaanta (upanishads) nothing is spoken of as a means to realization except the knowledge of the identity of the self and Brahman. (This is said while refuting the contention that Yoga is also by itself a means to liberation. While Patanjali’s Yoga helps by developing one-pointedness of the mind, it does not postulate the identity of the self and Brahman as Advaita does).

People of the present day can also attain Self-knowledge.

Br.up.1.4.10.S.B--- seyam brahmavidyayaa sarvabhaavaapattih----- tadvijnaanasya asti.

Some may think that the gods were able to realize this identity with all through the knowledge of Brahman because of their extraordinary powers, but persons of the present age, particularly men, can never attain it because of their limited capacity. In order to remove this wrong notion, it is said here—“And even this day, whoever, curbing his interest in external things, strives for Self-knowledge, can attain it. -------- There is no difference as regards Brahman or the knowledge of It, between giants like Vamadeva and the human weaklings of today”.

Br.up.3.3.1.S.B--- ajnaanavyavadhaananivartakatvaat jnaanasya mokshaH jnaanakaaryam iti uchyate.

Because Self-knowledge removes the obstruction in the form of ignorance, liberation is metaphorically said to be the result of knowledge. (Liberation is not really an effect or result at all, since it is already existent in the sense that  there is really no  bondage at all).

Br.up.3.3.1.S.B--- na cha ajnaanavyatirekeNa mokshasya ------- yat karmaNaa nivartyeta. 

We cannot imagine any other obstruction to liberation than ignorance, because liberation is identical with the self of the aspirant and is therefore eternal (and not something to be brought into existence by any karma).

Br.up.3.3.1.S.B--- na aapyo api aatmasvabhaavatvaat ekatvaat cha.

Liberation is not something to be attained because it is identical with the Self and (the Self) is one (without a second).    

Br.up.3.5.1.S.B--- na hi paramaarthaavadhaaraNaanishThaayaam --- kaachana virodhas’a.nkaa.

We do not maintain that things different from Brahman exist when the highest truth has been realized, since the S’ruti says “One only, without a second” and “Without interior or exterior” (2.5.19 and 3.8.8). Nor do we deny the validity, for the ignorant, of actions with their factors and results as long as the relative world of name and form is considered as real. Therefore the standpoint depends on knowledge or ignorance and there is no contradiction between the two.

Br.up.4.3.34.S.B—tasmaat samprasaadasthaanam---

The state of deep sleep is taken as the example for describing liberation in the upanishads.

Br.up.4.3.20.S.B—tasmaat na aatmadharmo avidyaa-------- moksha upapadyate.

Therefore nescience is not a natural characteristic of the Self, for what is natural to a thing can never be removed from it, like the heat and light of the sun. Liberation from ignorance is therefore possible.

Br.up.4.4.6.S.B--- na hi vastutaH ------- upapadyate eva.

In reality, there is no distinction like bondage and liberation in the Self, because it is always the same; but the ignorance covering it is removed by the knowledge arising from the teachings of the scriptures.

Br.up.4.4.6.S.B--- sarvadaa samaikarasam----- -----------------vijnaanaphalamapekshya.

We hold that it is the definite conclusion of all the upanishads that we are nothing but the aatmaa, the Brahman that is always the same, homogeneous, one without a second, unchanging, birthless, undecaying, immortal, and free from all fear. Therefore the statement “He is merged in Brahman” is a figurative one, meaning the cessation, as a result of knowledge, of the continuous chain of births and deaths for one who was considering himself (out of ignorance) to be other than Brahman.       

Br.up.4.4.7.S.B--- ataH mokshaH na des’aantaragamanam---- iti uktam.

Therefore liberation does not mean going to another place (or world). The organs of a realized person do not go anywhere else, but they merge in their cause, just where they are. As has been said in Br.up. 3.2.12, only their names remain.

Br.up. 4.4.9.S.B--- tasmaat ayameva mokshamaargaH----

Therefore liberation is the absorption of the body and organs such as the eye in this very life, like the extinguishing of a lamp, when transmigration comes to an end because of the exhaustion of all desires.

Panchadas’i- 2.99- - Even after realization of the non-dual Reality, worldly dealings may continue as before, but no reality would be attached to them. The enlightened man will continue to see the world like every one else; but he will not be affected by anything that happens, knowing that joys and sorrows are only for the body-mind complex and not for the Self. See also 4.40.

B,S.1.1.4.S.B—tatra kinchit pariNaaminityam syat----- kaalatrayam nopaavartete.

Eternality is of two kinds, known as pariNaaminityam and kooTasthanityam. The first is what continues to be recognized as the same, though undergoing changes, e.g. earth, etc, for those who hold the universe to be eternal, or the guNas for the Saankhyas. The second category is what never changes. Brahman is eternal in this sense.

B.S.1.1.4.S.B—avidyaakalpitabhedanivr.ttitvaat s’aastrasya.           

The purpose of the scriptures is only to remove the notion of difference(duality) caused by nescience.       

B.S.1.1.4.S.B--- nityas’uddhabrahmasvaroopatvaat mokshasya.

Liberation is of the nature of Brahman which is eternally pure.

Liberation is not the result of action (karma).

B.S.1.1.4.S.B--- ato anyanmoksham prati-------- na upapadyate.

Apart from these (four), nobody can show any other mode by which liberation can be said to result from action. Accordingly, there is not the slightest possibility of any action being the cause of liberation.

Explanation:-  The results of all actions fall under one or other of the following four categories—production, attainment (or acquisition), transformation and purification. Brahman, being eternal, is not something to be produced. Being all-pervading and one’s own real nature, it is not something to be attained or acquired. Being ever the same, it is not the transformation of something else, as curd is of milk. Being ever pure, it is not to be got by purification of something else, as gold is obtained by purification of ore. Non-realization of Brahman being due only to ignorance, knowledge alone can lead to its realization.

V.C. verse 2- Commentary of H.H.Chandrasekhara Bharati Svami—

tena  saalokya-saamiipya-saaruupya-saayujyaanaam mukhyamuktitvaabhaavaH suuchitaH bhavati.

 These four—saalokya, etc, are not of the nature of liberation in the principal sense. Since they relate only to saguNa Brahman, they are to be considered only as mithyaa or illusory.

Jiivanmukti---liberation even while living.

Br.up.4.4.6.S.B--- tasmaat iha eva brahma eva--------- na s’ariirapaatottarakaalam 

Therefore, being always Brahman, he is merged in Brahman, in this very life, not after the fall of the body.

Jiivanmukti is also spoken of in B.G.S.B—2.51, 5.24, 6.27 and 18.25---  Liberation consists in remaining identified with the changeless Self even while living in the present body. Liberation is not something to be attained after death.     

Br.up.4.4.6—na tasya praaNaa utkraamanti----brahmaapyeti.

The organs of the realized person do not depart (to take up another body). Being already Brahman, he merges in Brahman.

Br.up.3.2.11.S.B— neti hovaacha yaajnavalkyo -----uurmaya iva samudre.

The organs and objects do not depart, but attain identity with, or merge, in him only, their cause, the man of realization, who is the Supreme Brahman, like waves in the ocean.   

The characteristics of the jiivanmukta   .

Vedaanta saara—Chapter 6.

 Jiivanmukto nama---- A person liberated-in-life is one who, by the realization of the Absolute Brahman, his own Self, has dispelled the ignorance regarding It and who is free from all bondage and is established in Brahman, because of the destruction of ignorance and all its effects . See also muND. Up. 2.2.8. When he is not in samaadhi he experiences sense-objects as well as hunger, thirst, etc, but does not consider them to be real and is therefore not at all affected by them. He is like a man witnessing a magical performance, being fully aware that what he sees is not real.

“He who does not see anything in the waking state as in sound sleep; who, though seeing duality, does not really see it as he sees only the Absolute; who, though engaged in action (for the good of the world),is in reality inactive (being totally free from the idea of agency); he, and none other, is the knower of the Self. This is the truth.” (S’ankara’s upades’asaahasrii,5).

“Such qualities as freedom from hatred are natural to one who has attained Self-knowledge. They have not to be cultivated with effort (as in the case of an aspirant for liberation)”--- naishkarmyasiddhi,4.69.

videhamukti   

A jiivanmukta (one who is liberated in life) continues to live till the praarabdhakarma which gave rise to the present body is exhausted. Then his body falls and he attains videhamukti or Absolute oneness, from which there is no return (see S’rii S’ankara’s Vaakya vr.tti- verses 52,53). 

“His sense-organs do not depart elsewhere (for taking up another body)”—Br.up.4.4.6.

“They (the sense-organs) are absorbed in him”—Br.up.3.2.11.

“Already liberated, he is freed (from further birth)” – KaTha up. 2.2.1.

Ch.up.6.14.2.S.B—For a person who has already become a jiivanmukta the delay (in attaining videhamukti) is only till the body falls after the enjoyment of the fruits of action due to which it was born.

KaTha up. 2.3.15.S.B—By declaring “He attains Brahman here” (2.3.14), it has been shown that there is no going to any other world for an enlightened man for whom all the knots of ignorance have been destroyed on the realization of the identity of the self with the all-pervading and absolutely attributeless Brahman, and who becomes Brahman even while living, as also asserted by another text: “His organs do not depart. Being but Brahman, he is merged in Brahman”- Br.up.4.4.6.

Kramamukti (Liberation by stages).

It has been said earlier that a person who realizes his identity with Brahman becomes liberated even while living (jiivanmukta). Such a person becomes a videhamukta when his body falls on the exhaustion of his praarabdhakarma. There is another kind of liberation known as kramamukti or liberation by stages. Those who meditate on Om go to Brahmaloka and attain liberation there. Others who meditate on Brahman without the use of symbols also go to Brahmaloka by the path of the gods and attain liberation there (B.S.4.3.15.S.B). Those who meditate with the help of symbols do not go to Brahmaloka. In the meditations based on symbols, the meditations are not fixed on Brahman, the symbols being the chief object and so the meditator does not attain Brahmaloka (B.S.4.3.16). Meditation on a linga as S’iva or on a saalagraama as Vishnu are examples of meditation based on symbols. So also are the meditations such as “Meditate on the mind as Brahman” (Ch.up.3.18.1), “Meditate on the sun as Brahman” (Ch.up.3.19.1). Such meditators attain other results, but not liberation.

B.S.4.3.10.S.B--- kaaryabrahmalokapralayapratyupasthaane sati ---------------sambhavatiityupapaaditam.

When the time for the final dissolution of the world of the conditioned Brahman is imminent, those who are in that world and have acquired full realization there attain liberation along with hiraNyagarbha. Such a liberation by stages has to be admitted on the strength of the upanishadic texts.

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