What is mokṣa?

liberation from the cycle of birth and death — understood differently by different schools, but always as freedom and lasting peace.

Mokṣa means “release”. Hindu thought holds that the soul (ātman) passes through many births (saṃsāra), driven by karma and desire. Mokṣa is the end of that cycle — the highest of the four aims of life.

The schools describe it differently. In Advaita Vedānta, mokṣa is realising that the self was never separate from Brahman, the one reality; nothing new is gained, ignorance is removed. In the devotional schools such as Viśiṣṭādvaita, Dvaita and the Gauḍīya and Śaiva traditions, the soul remains itself and lives eternally in loving relation with God. Yoga describes it as kaivalya, the self resting free in its own nature.

All agree that it is not a distant reward for the few. Its taste begins now, as the mind becomes less selfish, less anxious and more loving. Most traditions also speak of jīvanmukti, liberation while still alive, as seen in the great saints.

Source: Upaniṣads; Brahma Sūtras and their commentaries · Jīvanmukti: freedom while living

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