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Upadesa Sara

Sloka 29

Bondage and Liberation

There are some prevalent notions about Liberation – that it can be gained only after death, or that Liberation means going to heaven (the attainment of a subtler field of experience where we get enjoyments that are unavailable in this mortal world). Vedanta asserts that Liberation can be gained in this very body and it is not the gain of heaven.

We generally associate Liberation with happiness and not sorrow. This verse proves beyond doubt that happiness is my very nature and not something to be gained. Also, true or lasting happiness is never gained through objects of this world or the world beyond (heavens). Eternal, infinite Bliss is the nature of the Self and not of objects. The Infinite is naturally ever liberated. How ridiculous is the notion that I shall gain Liberation after death when I am already, by nature, liberated? This confusion is because we have taken our bondages to be real. Vedanta says that it is only ignorance of our ever-liberated nature and the consequent identification with the body that gives rise to the notion of bondage. It is a mere imagination of the mind and not real. Bondage being the effect of ignorance gets destroyed by Knowledge. Liberation can be gained here and now, in this very birth, in this very body! This principle is explained further:

bandha-muktyatitam param sukham,
vindatiha jivastu daivikah.

bandha-muktyatitam – beyond bondage and liberation; param – supreme; sukham – happiness; vindati – gains; iha – here; jiva – individual; astu – indeed (some rare); daivikah – divine;

Here, (in this world) some rare individual with divine qualities gains supreme Happiness which is beyond bondage and Liberation.

The notion of jiva-hood or finitude itself is bondage. Liberation is, therefore, the removal of this ignorance-born notion. The Self is ever liberated. It is beyond the delusory thought of bondage and Liberation. To know this is to attain supreme Happiness. We realize that the Self is eternally gai,ned and bondage that was previously experienced was a mere ‘feeling’ and not real. This ‘feeling’ of bondage and Liberation exists only in the mind and not in the Self. The notion of the ghost on the post causes fear. On knowing the post, we are liberated from the fear of the ghost. The ghost existed merely as a notion in our mind. The post was ever free from the notion of the ghost, the fears of the individual as well as the thoughts of fearlessness that resulted from knowledge of the post.

Man attains supreme happiness on Self-realization. He does not have to wait for death to realize his true nature. He does not have to reach another plane of experience (heaven) as the Self is ever gained. Realization is immediate and can be attained in this very body, at this very moment – here and now.

Not anyone and everyone can gain a particular object or a particular knowledge. Some qualifications are required for any achievement. One who is capable of gaining supreme happiness must have some rare special qualities. Such a divine individual (daivikah jivah) is one who is fully endowed with the four-fold qualifications (sadhana catustaya sampanna). They are:

• Viveka – discrimination between the real and the
• Vairagya – dispassion towards enjoyments – both earthly and
• Sat sampatti – six-fold wealth namely:
  1. Sama – control over the mind.
  2. Dama – control over the senses.
  3. Sraddha – faith in the Guru and the scriptures.
  4. Titiksa – forbearance.
  5. Uparati – withdrawal from extrovertedness.
  6. Samadhana – equanimity and self-absorption.
• Mumuksutvam – an intense desire for

These qualities are gained with effort, grace, or as a meritorious result of innumerable lives. When such a qualified seeker gains the knowledge of the Self from a Guru who is well versed in the scriptures, his ignorance is instantly removed. The seeker thereby frees himself once and for all from the vicious circle of birth and death. The word ‘tu’ shows that such a fortunate individual must be quite unique and rare. He is indeed worshipful because of his divine qualities and unique achievement.

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