10

Which Āstika schools mention these different types of muktis:

Sārūpya, Sālokya, Sārṣṭi, Sāmīpya, Sāyujya, Viśate, Kaivalya, Moksha

Are there more types of muktis in āstika schools? Which types of muktis are common across various āstika schools? Is viśate also a type of mukti? Are sāyujya and kaivalya same, but different terms in different schools?

Note: Kaivalya (Yahoo) mentioned in yahoo answer seems different from Kaivalya (Wikipedia) mentioned in Wikipedia.

From What is difference between Salokya & Sayujya Mukti...?

  • Sārūpya : Equal bodily feature
  • Sālokya : Equal facility to live on the same planet with the Lord
  • Sārṣṭi : Equal possession of opulence like the Lord
  • Sāmīpya : Equal association with the Lord
  • Sāyujya : Being merged into the existence or body of the Lord
  • Viśate : Devotees who are not at all anxious for any kind of liberation
  • Kaivalya: Merging into the effulgence of the Supreme Lord

Update:

Found sayujya-mukti, which describes and discusses the 5 muktis in more detail, and also mayavadis-brahmavadis-and-sayujya-mukti, both interesting reads on muktis.

0

1 Answer 1

6

Which astika schools mention those muktis?

These different types of muktis you have mentioned belong to the bhakti school of thought where God is considered to have a spiritual form with attributes (sakara and saguna). But because bhakti school of thought doesn't directly belong to the six philosophical schools (saddarshana), these concepts of mukti can be said to go under Vedanta astika school. It is because the Vedanta school has many more subdivisions like advaita, dvaita, etc. of which bhakti is a major part having been suggested by four different Vedanta schools. So the concept of mukti is central to the Vedanta astika school.

Are there more types of muktis?

The advaita system preached by Shankaracharaya is known as kevala advaita (pure non-duality). It's a system that preaches the path of knowledge. So as per this school there are these two kinds of muktis like jivanmukti (liberated while alive) and videhamukti (liberation without the body or after death). Scholars also mention many other types of muktis as per the doctrine they preach.

Which types of mukti's are common across various āstika schools?

Like I had already written in this answer to your question, getting liberation from this material mode of existence is the common objective of all irrespective of how they define what happens after emancipation. Astika schools like Samkhya and Nyaya give importance to the acquiring of right knowledge to cast out ignorance rather than to achieve mukti. Then in the Mimamsa school of thought attaining heaven is called as mukti. Hence, because mukti is the concept that belongs primarily to the Vedanta school, the Sayujya mukti where the jiva merges into the absolute losing its name and form is common to all types of Vedanta schools of thought. But it may not be the objective of all.

Is viśate also a type of mukti?

I am not sure where you read or heard it, but visate is a word which simply means "enters" or "goes into". So no, it's not a type of mukti.

Are sāyujya and kaivalya same, but different terms in different schools?

No Kaivalya and Sayujya are not same. The concept of Kaivalya belongs to the Yoga school of thought. Attaining Kaivalya is the end objective for them. It is a kind of liberation where the jivatma maintains its independent conscious existence and yet stays free from samsara. But in Sayujya mukti the jiva merges in the effulgence of the Brahman forever.

I hope this answers all the questions you asked in this post. You already have the Bhagavatam references from the yahoo question you mentioned. And in the Bhakti school of thought, Shrimad Bhagavatam is highly respected and also accepted as a source of valid knowledge.

3
  • Thanks for taking time to write a detailed answer again. Planning to buy your book. Do you address these issues in your book?
    – X10
    Jul 21, 2014 at 12:24
  • For Viśate, please see the yahoo link I have referenced in the question.
    – X10
    Jul 21, 2014 at 12:25
  • @108ium The book doesn't discuss about the different types of muktis, but the 10th chapter discusses about the four paths to freedom. It discusses about existence of God and has many other things like Karma, Mind, etc. Regarding Visate at that Yahoo link, it just uses it from a verse of Gita and doesn't mean to say it's a type of mukti.
    – Be Happy
    Jul 22, 2014 at 15:24

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .