Moksha

Moksha is the Sanskrit word for liberation or release, used in Hindu and Jain philosophy for the highest goal of human life: the release of the self from the cycle of birth and rebirth (samsara) and from the ignorance, craving, and karmic conditioning that sustain it. Different schools of Indian philosophy give moksha different content.

For Advaita Vedanta, articulated most systematically by Adi Shankara, moksha consists in the recognition that the individual self (atman) is identical with the absolute (Brahman): liberation is not an event in time but the realization of what is always already the case, dispelling the cosmic illusion (maya) that produced the appearance of separation. For Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita Vedanta, moksha is the eternal devotional relation of the individual soul to a personal God. For Yoga and Samkhya, moksha is the discrimination of the conscious self (purusha) from the field of materiality (prakriti). The differences run deep, but the term names the same direction of philosophical aspiration across the traditions.

The differences among the Vedanta schools on the nature of moksha turn on the relation between the individual self and the absolute. Advaita Vedanta holds strict non-duality: the apparent individual self is finally identical with Brahman, and liberation is the recognition of this identity. Vishishtadvaita Vedanta holds qualified non-duality: individual selves and the world are real but form the body of Brahman as their inner soul. Dvaita Vedanta, articulated by Madhva, holds full duality: individual selves are eternally distinct from Brahman, and liberation is the eternal devotional relation to a personal God.

The relation between knowledge (jnana), devotion (bhakti), and disciplined action (karma yoga) as paths to moksha is one of the recurring debates within Hindu philosophy. The Bhagavad Gita's synthesis treats all three as legitimate paths suited to different temperaments. Subsequent traditions have weighted them differently: the Advaitins emphasize knowledge, the bhakti movements (Ramanuja, Chaitanya) emphasize devotion, the Karma Yoga tradition (extending into Gandhi) emphasizes action without attachment to its fruits.