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Introduction
The derivative meaning of the Sanskrit word samsara is “the repeated passing of souls through different worlds – gross or subtle.” In other words, samsara means going through the cycle of repeated births and deaths. According to Hinduism the goal of human life is to be free or liberated from repeated births and deaths. Such liberation is called moksha or mukti in Sanskrit. Moksha can be attained only through God-realisation.
The various schools of Hindu philosophy (darshana) hold differing views about moksha. Some schools say that moksha can be achieved by people only after their death, others claim that it can be achieved even while they are alive. There are also differences of opinion regarding the nature of moksha. The following paragraphs will introduce the reader to these views and concepts.
Moksha According to the Dvaita School of Philosophy
The Dvaita, or dualistic school of Vedanta philosophy, believes in post-mortem liberation only. A person who has gone through rigorous ethical and moral disciplines followed by right knowledge, right action, non-attachment, and devotional meditation on the Personal God (Vishnu), becomes fit for release or moksha through Ishwara’s loving grace. According to this school, there are four gradations or levels of moksha: (1) salokya, (2) samipya or sannidhya, (3) sarupya, and (4) sayujya. Among the four, the first one is the lowest and the last one is the highest. Depending upon his spiritual progress the departed soul may achieve any one of the four kinds of moksha.
In salokya-mukti the departed soul goes to ishta-loka (the abode of the Personal God, such as the abode of Vishnu), and stays there blissfully enjoying His presence; in samipya or sannidhya-mukti the departed soul enjoys the bliss of extreme proximity to the Personal God; in sarupya-mukti the departed soul acquires the form of the Personal God and enjoys intense bliss; in sayujya-mukti the departed soul becomes blissfully absorbed in the Personal God.
Moksha According to the Advaita School of Philosophy
The Advaita, or non-dualistic school of Vedanta philosophy, believes that one can have liberation from samsara even when alive. Such release or liberation is called jivanmukti in Sanskrit. According to this school, a spiritual aspirant has to first go through various moral and ethical practices, worship (upasana) of the Personal God, etc. These observances gradually purify his mind and make it ready for intense meditation on the Impersonal Divine Reality (Nirguna Brahman). Such meditation enables him to have atmajnana or the knowledge of his inner Divine Self. Atmajnana destroys the mantle of ignorance (avidya) that covers the knowledge of the Reality. Release will come as soon as his ignorance is annihilated. Then he becomes a Jivanmukta (one who has had jivanmukti). After attaining jivanmukti he can no longer think of himself as an embodied being. To a jivanmukta, the body – like the rest of the world – appears illusory. The illusory body of the jivanmukta continues to exist as long as his prarabdha karma lasts. When the prarabdha is exhausted and the illusory body dies, the jivanmukta attains his disembodied release called videha-mukti.
According to one view, a jivanmukta may totally lose interest in his illusory body immediately after attaining jivanmukti. As a result, his body drops off in a matter of days causing his sadyomukti or “immediate release.”
Other scholars say that the term jivanmukti, from the standpoint of those who have attained atmajnana, means sadyomukti or immediate liberation. After attaining atmajnana, these liberated souls can no longer identify with their bodies, which along with the rest of the world have become illusory and unreal. So far as they are concerned, their bodies are not really there. Therefore, from their standpoint they have attained sadyomukti. However, observers who see such souls may call them jivanmuktas.
There is another concept about liberation called kramamukti or avantara-mukti (liberation through stages). According to this concept, a person who has intensely meditated on Saguna Brahman using the sacred sound symbol Aum or other prescribed methods of meditation such as dahara-vidya, shandilya-vidya, etc., goes to Brahma-loka after death. There he attains the knowledge of Nirguna Brahman under the guidance of Hiranyagarbha. When the entire universe is dissolved at the end of the kalpa he becomes one with Brahman and is not born again. This type of liberation from samsara is called krama-mukti or avantara-mukti.
P/S: Committing suicide by a spiritually unenlightened person is condemned by Hinduism because it causes him intense after-death suffering. However, according to the scriptures, a jivanmukta whose lack of interest in his body causes its death is not adversely affected by the loss of his body. According to Shri Ramakrishna, most of those who attain jivanmukti through nirvikalpa samadhi cannot bring down their minds anymore to the plane of this earthly existence. Their minds remain immersed in Brahman-consciousness. In that state they totally lose their body-consciousness. As a result, their bodies cannot get nourishment and drop off after a few days.
Moksha According to the Vishishtadvaita School of Philosophy
The Vishishtadvaita, or school of qualified non-dualism of Vedanta philosophy, doe not accept the idea of jivanmukti. A person can be liberated only after his death. Moksha means living blissfully in vaikuntha, which is the realm of the Personal God. A person who has attained moksha lives blissfully in vaikuntha in a spiritual body in the presence of God. He acquires many divine powers such as omniscience, etc., but unlike God he cannot create, sustain or dissolve the world. In spite of his exalted state he has to remain subservient to God.
According to this school, liberation cannot be attained by atmajnana as is maintained by the Advaita system. This school also says that Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga are only aids to Bhakti Yoga. One can be liberated from the bondage of this samsara only through God’s grace. Bhakti Yoga practices are the only means of obtaining divine grace.
Moksha According to the Sankhya School of Philosophy
In this system, the soul or the spirit is purusha, and the body-mind complex is an evolved form of unconscious primordial matter, prakriti. Purusha is pure consciousness; prakriti, although inherently unconscious, functions by borrowing consciousness from purusha. The bondage of purusha is cased by aviveka or purusha’s false identification with prakriti and its evolved products like mind, body, etc. Such false identification is caused by purusha’s ignorance. While in bondage, purusha suffers mental and physical pain because of its false identification with the body-mind complex. In order to get rid of this false identification and consequent pain and suffering, purusha must acquire the knowledge that, as spirit, it is completely different and distinct from prakriti and its evolved product – the body-mind complex. This knowledge is called viveka-jnana. In the Sankhya system, moksha (also called kaivalya) means the complete cessation of suffering and pain. It is viveka-jnana which causes purusha’s moksha by disentangling purusha from prakriti.
The Sankhya system, like the Advaita system, accepts the idea of jivanmukti or emancipation of the soul while living in the body. When a jivanmukta dies, he attains videha-mukti.
Moksha According to the Purvamimamsa School of Philosophy
This school believes only in after-death liberation of the soul. It does not believe in jivanmukti. Moksha can be achieved through the right performance of rituals as enjoined by the Vedas. The concept of moksha in the early Purva-Mimamsa system is that the liberated soul goes to heaven and enjoys heavenly bliss forever. But the later Purva-Mimamsa school describes moksha as a state devoid of the possibility of rebirth, and thus free from the possibility of consequent pain and suffering. It does not speak of moksha as a state of heavenly bliss.
Moksha According to the Nyaya and the Vaisheshika Schools of Philosophy
These two schools are similar in their concept of Moksha. These schools say that liberation (Apavarga) is a separation from all qualities. Liberation is a state beyond pleasure, happiness, pain, or any experience whatsoever. It is achieved by cultivating ethical virtues and acquiring the right knowledge of reality. After liberation there is no rebirth.