[Advaita-l] The Four kinds of 'Mukti' compared with the 'Kaivalya' of Vedanta

[V Subrahmanian]

On Sun, Jun 6, 2010 at 3:40 AM, V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>wrote:

> श्रीगुरुभ्यो नमः
>
> Namaste.
>
>
>    1. Only that mukti taught as the supreme one in the Vedanta that is
>    nothing other than realizing that  one is nitya mukta svabhaava is the
>    ever-lasting one
>    2. In this, one is already ever-free, never-bound; only not realizing
>    this owing to ajnAna.  And thinking that one is bound.
>    3. When owing to the Guru-ShAstra upadesha and sadhana one realizes
>    this, the ajnAna is dispelled and one comes to know that one has ever been
>    free and that it is one's true nature
>    4. This 'coming to know' is not to be mistaken as any 'beginning of a
>    state' and its end feared; it is only a figurative expression to denote the
>    dispelling of avidya
>    5. The dispelled avidya will not return as there is no power that can
>    cause its return.
>    6. There is no going to any other loka, taking any other form or being
>    with any other different entity
>    7. Thus, there is no finittude of any kind in this moksha and therefore
>    this alone is the real one.
>
>  श्रीसद्गुरुचरणारविन्दार्पणमस्तु
>

 With reference to the above, it would be beneficial to learn what the
Chandogya Upanishad  Chapter 3 says:

>
>
// 2. "As people who do not know the spot where a treasure of gold has been
hidden somewhere in the earth, walk over it again and again without finding
it, so all these creatures day after day go into the World of Brahman and
yet do not find it, because they are carried away by untruth. *

*

3. "That Self abides in the heart. The etymological explanation of
*heart*is this: This one (ayam) is in the heart (hridi); therefore It
is called the
heart (hridayam). He who knows this goes every day in deep sleep to Heaven
(i.e. Brahman, dwelling in the heart).
*

4. "Now, this serene being, after rising from this physical body and
attaining the Highest Light, reaches his own true form. This is the Self."
Thus he (i.e. the teacher, questioned by his pupils) spoke. Continuing, he
said: "This is the immortal, the fearless. This is Brahman. And of this
Brahman the name is Satyam, the True."//

Shankaracharya comments on this last mantra:  'rising up from this body',
giving up this body, i e. giving up the idea of identity of the Self with
the body ....Before the attainment of this true nature, he had accepted
through ignorance the body, which is other than his own nature, s his own
Self.  As distinguished from that, it is being said, 'in his true nature.'

Another point to be remembered regarding the (im)possibility of 'losing
one's nature', 'svarUpa nAsha' in the state of kaivalya is that - even if
one wishes to destroy/lose one's nature, svarUpa, it is impossible to do so
as the Bhagavadgita has taught:  The Self cannot be destroyed by burning,
cutting, .....killing, etc.  अच्छेद्योऽयं, अदाह्योऽयं.....न हन्यते हन्यमाने
शरीरे.  There is no way one can bring about the destruction of the Self.
So, in the state of Kaivalya, the Self alone remains.  The loss of
individuality is not tolerable to some poeple and thus they raise this
objection to the Vedantic Kaivalya.

Om Tat Sat




*