By: Devakinanda Pasupuleti
The topic of bandha (bondage) and mokṣha (liberation) has been widely discussed in all the systems of Hindu philosophy. Mokṣha is posited as the final purushārtha, the ultimate goal of life. The synonyms for mokṣha are: mukti, kaivalya and nirvāṇa.
Human is essentially Ātman, the pure spirit, of the nature of consciousness. But we have somehow forgotten this and have identified ourselves with the body-mind-sense complex. As a result, humans are constantly undergoing transmigration, the cycle of birth-death-rebirth and so on. Whatever suffering a man undergoes is due to this identification with the body-mind-sense complex, and consequent transmigration brought about by karma. This cycle of transmigration, called saṃsāra, can be ended by the destruction of ajnāna or avidya (ignorance) through jnāna (knowledge). Once this is done, mokṣha is attained.
Some works like the Sūtasaṃhita- describe four kinds of mukti or mokṣha: 1) sālokya (living in the same world as God); 2) sārūpya (having a form similar to that of God); 3) sāmīpya (living near God); 4) sāyujya (getting identified or united with God). These ideas seem to have existed in Vedic literature itself (Taittirīya Saṃhita; Aitareya Brāhmaṇa; Bruhaḋāraṇyaka Upanishad; Chāndogya Upanishad).
From time immemorial, our land has been blessed with so many devotees who not only pursued the path of utmost devotion and love towards God, but also helped ordinary people and householders to cultivate the same devotion toward God! They wrote and composed hundreds and thousands of devotional songs in simple words and easy style for common folk to sing along. They incorporated very tough and difficult vedāntasūtrās in the songs. They have been helping us for centuries to achieve our final goal of liberation through bhaktiyoga (path of devotion). For jnānayoga (path of knowledge) our ṟishis, sages, seers and saints gifted us with the Vedas, Upanishads, Brahmasūtrās, Bhāshyās, āgamās, purāṇās, iṫihāsās,Bhagavadgita, and many more. Depending on each person's interest, they have provided us with so many avenues and so much literature.
The land which shows us the means to pursue the ultimate goal of liberation is our motherland 'Mokṣhakāraka Bhūmi'.
