Moksha (, ; , ), also called vimoksha, vimukti, and mukti, is a term in Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, liberation, nirvana, or release.John Bowker, The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, Oxford University Press, , p. 650 In its soteriological and eschatological senses, it refers to freedom from saṃsāra, the cycle of death and rebirth and ultimate spiritual liberation from prakriti (nature and matter). In its epistemological and psychological senses, moksha requires self-realization, self-actualization, and self-knowledge.See: E. Deutsch, The self in Advaita Vedanta, in Roy Perrett (Editor), Indian philosophy: metaphysics, Volume 3, , Taylor and Francis, pp 343–360; T. Chatterjee (2003), Knowledge and Freedom in Indian Philosophy, , pp 89–102; Quote – "Moksa means freedom"; "Moksa is founded on atmajnana, which is the knowledge of the self."; Jorge Ferrer, Transpersonal knowledge, in Transpersonal Knowing: Exploring the Horizon of Consciousness (editors: Hart et al.), , State University of New York Press, Chapter 10
In Hindu traditions, moksha is a central conceptJohn Tomer (2002), Human well-being: a new approach based on overall and ordinary functionings, Review of Social Economy, 60(1), pp 23–45; Quote – "The ultimate aim of Hindus is self-liberation or self-realization (moksha)." and the utmost aim of human life; the other three aims are dharma (virtuous, proper, moral life), artha (material prosperity, income security, means of life), and kama (pleasure, sensuality, emotional fulfillment).See: A. Sharma (1982), The Puruṣārthas: a study in Hindu axiology, Michigan State University, , pp 9–12; See review by Frank Whaling in Numen, Vol. 31, 1 (Jul., 1984), pp. 140–142; A. Sharma (1999), The Puruṣārthas: An Axiological Exploration of Hinduism, The Journal of Religious Ethics, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Summer, 1999), pp. 223–256; Chris Bartley (2001), Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Editor: Oliver Learman, , Routledge, Article on Purushartha, pp 443; The Hindu Kama Shastra Society (1925), The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana, University of Toronto Archives, pp. 8 Together, these four concepts are called the Puruṣārtha in Hinduism.See: Gavin Flood (1996), The meaning and context of the Purusarthas, in Julius Lipner (Editor) – The Fruits of Our Desiring, , pp 11–21; Karl H. Potter (2002), Presuppositions of India's Philosophies, Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. 1–29
In some schools of Indian religions, moksha is considered equivalent to and used interchangeably with, other terms such as vimoksha, vimukti, kaivalya, apavarga, mukti, nihsreyasa, and nirvana.The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism: "Vimoksha [解脱]" (Skt.; Jpn. gedatsu). Emancipation, release, or liberation. The Sanskrit words vimukti, mukti, and moksha also have the same meaning. Vimoksha means release from the bonds of earthly desires, delusion, suffering, and transmigration. While Buddhism sets forth various kinds and stages of emancipation, or enlightenment, the supreme emancipation is nirvana, a state of perfect quietude, freedom, and deliverance. See The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism, vimoksha However, terms such as moksha and nirvana differ and mean different states between various schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.See: Loy, David (1982), Enlightenment in Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta: Are Nirvana and Moksha the Same?, International Philosophical Quarterly, 23 (1), pp 65–74; T. Chatterjea (2003), Knowledge and Freedom in Indian Philosophy, , pp 89; Quote – "In different philosophical systems moksa appears in different names, such as apavarga, nihsreyasa, nirvana, kaivalya, mukti, etc. These concepts differ from one another in detail." The term nirvana is more common in Buddhism,Peter Harvey (2013), An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices, , Cambridge University Press while moksha is more prevalent in Hinduism.Knut Jacobsen, in The Continuum Companion to Hindu Studies (Editor: Jessica Frazier), , pp 74–83 Moksha in Hinduism is oneness with supreme power and ultimate spiritual liberation from prakriti (nature).
Etymology
Moksha is derived from the Sanskrit root word, , which means to free, let go, release, liberate. According to Jain scriptures, it is a combination of two Sanskrit words, moh (attachment) and kshay (its destruction).
Definitions
The definition of moksha varies between various schools of Indian religions.M. Hiriyanna (2000), The essentials of Indian philosophy, , pp 50–52 Moksha means freedom, liberation, but from what and how is where the schools differ. Moksha is also a concept that means liberation from rebirth or saṃsāra. For example, some traditions posit ethical action as the means to moksha, while others point to devotion or meditation.Patrick Olivelle (2012), Encyclopædia Britannica, "Moksha (Indian religions)" This liberation can be attained while one is on earth (jivanmukti), or eschatologically (karmamukti, videhamukti). Eschatological sense
Moksha is a concept associated with saṃsāra (birth-rebirth cycle). Samsara originated with religious movements in the first millennium BCE. These movements such as Buddhism, Jainism and new schools within Hinduism, saw human life as bondage to a repeated process of rebirth. This bondage to repeated rebirth and life, each life subject to injury, disease and aging, was seen as a cycle of suffering. By release from this cycle, the suffering involved in this cycle also ended. This release was called moksha, nirvana, kaivalya, mukti and other terms in various Indian religious traditions but as per Hindu scripture veda one can attain mokhsha by giving up shadripu ( kama, lobha, krodha, moha, mada and matsarya).R.C. Mishra, Moksha and the Hindu Worldview, Psychology & Developing Societies, Vol. 25, Issue 1, pp 23, 27 A desire for the release from pain and suffering seems to lie at the root of striving for moksha, and it is commonly believed that moksha is an otherworldly reality, only achievable at the end of life, not during. However, there is also a notion that moksha can be achieved during life in the form of a state of liberation, known as jivan-mukti, although this is still reliant on personal and spiritual endeavours attributed to attaining moksha.
Eschatological ideas evolved in Hinduism.N. Ross Reat (1990), The Origins of Indian Psychology, , Asian Humanities Press, Chapter 2 In earliest Vedic literature, heaven and hell sufficed soteriological curiosities. Over time, the ancient scholars observed that people vary in the quality of virtuous or sinful life they lead, and began questioning how differences in each person's puṇya (merit, good deeds) or pāp (demerit, sin) as human beings affected their afterlife.See: Simon Brodbeck (2011), Sanskrit Epics: The Ramayana, Mahabharata and Harivamsa, in Jessica Frazier (Editor) – The Continuum Companion to Hindu Studies, , pp 83–100 J. A. B. Van Buitenen, Dharma and Moksa, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Apr. – Jul., 1957), pp. 33–40 This question led to the conception of an afterlife where the person stayed in heaven or hell, in proportion to their merit or demerit, then returned to earth and were reborn, the cycle continuing indefinitely. The rebirth idea ultimately flowered into the ideas of saṃsāra, or transmigration – where one's balance sheet of karma determined one's rebirth. Along with this idea of saṃsāra, the ancient scholars developed the concept of moksha, as a state that released a person from the saṃsāra cycle. Moksha release in eschatological sense in these ancient literature of Hinduism, suggests van Buitenen,J. A. B. Van Buitenen, Dharma and Moksa, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Apr. – Jul., 1957), pp. 33–40 comes from self-knowledge and consciousness of oneness of supreme soul.
Epistemological and psychological senses
Scholars provide various explanations of the meaning of moksha in epistemological and psychological senses. For example, Deutsche sees moksha as transcendental consciousness, the perfect state of being, of self-realization, of freedom and of "realizing the whole universe as the Self".E. Deutsch, The self in Advaita Vedanta, in Roy Perrett (Editor), Indian philosophy: metaphysics, Volume 3, , Taylor and Francis, pp 343–360
Moksha in Hinduism, suggests Klaus Klostermaier,Klaus Klostermaier, Mokṣa and Critical Theory, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 63, 70 implies a setting-free of hitherto fettered faculties, a removing of obstacles to an unrestricted life, permitting a person to be more truly a person in the full sense; the concept presumes an unused human potential of creativity, compassion and understanding which had been blocked and shut out. Moksha is more than liberation from a life-rebirth cycle of suffering (samsara); the Vedantic school separates this into two: jivanmukti (liberation in this life) and videhamukti (liberation after death).see: M. von Brück (1986), Imitation or Identification?, Indian Theological Studies, Vol. 23, Issue 2, pp 95–105 Klaus Klostermaier, Mokṣa and Critical Theory, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 61–71 Moksha in this life includes psychological liberation from adhyasa (fears besetting one's life) and avidya (ignorance or anything that is not true knowledge).
As a state of perfection
Many schools of Hinduism according to Daniel Ingalls, see moksha as a state of perfection. The concept was seen as a natural goal beyond dharma. Moksha, in the epics and ancient literature of Hinduism, is seen as achievable by the same techniques necessary to practice dharma. Self-discipline is the path to dharma, moksha is self-discipline that is so perfect that it becomes unconscious, second nature. Dharma is thus a means to moksha.see: Karl Potter, Dharma and Mokṣa from a Conversational Point of View, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 8, No. 1/2 (Apr. – Jul., 1958), pp. 49–63 Daniel H. H. Ingalls, Dharma and Moksha, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Apr. – Jul., 1957), pp. 41–48
The Samkhya school of Hinduism, for example, suggests that one of the paths to moksha is to magnify one's sattvam.One of three qualities or habits of an individual; sattvam represents spiritual purity; sattvic people, claims Samkhya school, are those who see world's welfare as a spiritual principle. See cited Ingalls reference.Daniel H. H. Ingalls, Dharma and Moksha, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Apr. – Jul., 1957), pp. 45–46 To magnify one's sattvam, one must develop oneself where one's sattvam becomes one's instinctive nature. Many schools of Hinduism thus understood dharma and moksha as two points of a single journey of life, a journey for which the viaticum was discipline and self-training. History
The proto-concept that first appears in the ancient Sanskrit verses and early Upanishads is mucyate, which means "freed" or "released". In the middle and later Upanishads, such as the Svetasvatara and Maitri, the word moksha appears and begins becoming an important concept.see: Klaus Klostermaier (1985), Mokṣa and Critical Theory, Philosophy East and West, 35 (1), pp 61–71 Roeser, R.W. (2005), An introduction to Hindu Indiaís contemplative psychological perspectives on motivation, self, and development, in M.L. Maehr & S. Karabenick (Eds.), Advances in Motivation and Achievement, Volume 14: Religion and Motivation. Elsevier, pp. 297–345