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The wise person is free

Updated: Oct 22

When one owns up ātmā-jñānam, his sañcita-karma and āgami-karma are burned, but his prarabdha-karma is still there for him to exhaust. How can one be free if occasions of pleasure and pain are still there for him to experience? How is there a jīvan-muktaḥ - one who is free while living?


upādhistho’ pi taddharmairalipto vyomavanmuniḥ |

sarvavinmūḍhavattiṣṭhedasakto vāyuvaccaret || 52 ||

Even though obtaining in the upādhi, a wise person remains unaffected by attributes of upādhi, like space. He knows all, yet stays as one who doesn’t know. He moves about like air, remaining unattached.


upādhistho’ pi - even though a wise person is living in the current upādhi, going through all pleasure and pain on the physical body until his prarabdha-karma is exhausted, taddharmairaliptaḥ - yet not affected by their (body-mind-sense-complex) attributes, because he doesn’t identify with the qualities of upādhi. Biological pain is there, but not psychological pain which we called duḥkha - sorrow, which can be in the form of worry, anxiety, sadness etc. vyomavanmuniḥ - the wise person is compared to space, unaffected by all modifications of upādhi. Just like pot space accommodates all things which is filled in to the pot, it is never affected by the filling or the pot itself.   


The wise person is also compared to air, asakto vāyuvaccaret - moving about freely like air, since he is not attached to anything as a result of his wisdom. Even though he has gained this limitless wisdom - sarvavin, he doesn’t brag about it, instead he lives like a normal person as one who doesn’t know self-knowledge - mūḍhavattiṣṭhet.


In the next verse, videhamukti - freedom characterised by the absence of physical body as the result of ātmā-jñānam is talked about.


upādhivilayādviṣṇao nirviśeṣam viśenmuniḥ |

jale jalam viyad vyomni tejastejasi vā yathā || 53 ||

Because of resolution of upādhi, the wise person would enter into Viṣṇu (brahman). Just like water enters into water, space enters into space or light enters into light.


upādhivilayād - because of resolution of upādhi, muniḥ - the wise person viśet - enters viṣṇao - into Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu means vevesti sarvam iti - that which pervades everything, which is limitless brahman nirviśeṣam - without any distinction.


For an ignorant person, when prarabdha-karma is exhausted, his gross body drops off, yet subtle and causal body continue with the new set of prarabdha-karma. On the other hand, the wise person remains in the body while prarabdha-karma is there, and when prarabdha-karma is exhausted, all the gross, subtle and causal body are resolved into totality. Since the total body is Īśvara, therefore we say he merges into Īśvara which is expressed as Viṣṇu here.


To convey the idea of how a wise person enters into brahman without distinction, three examples were given here. yathā - just like jale jalam viśet - water enters into water, viyad vyomni viśet - pot space enters into total space when the pot is broken. tejastejasi vā - or individual light merges with total light.


Similarly jīva was brahman alone, because of the upādhi, individuality was apparent. And now after giving up his individuality, he merges back into brahman without any more rebirth and no distinction in the form of upādhi.


The nature of that brahman which the wise person merges into, is talked about in verses 54-57.


yallābhānnāparo lābho yatsukhānnāparam sukham |

yajjñānānnāparam jñānam tadbrahmetyavadhārayet || 54 ||

There is no superior gain compared to the attainment of brahman. There is no higher happiness compared to the happiness of brahman. There is no higher knowledge compared to the knowledge of brahman. In this manner one should ascertain that excellent reality is brahman.


In every stage of life, there are some goals to be achieved for self fulfilment which we express as happiness. But these achievements only give temporary satisfaction / happiness where another gain is needed. But it is not in the case of attainment of brahman. yallābhānnāparo lābhah - gaining which there is no further gain in life, after gaining brahman, one is totally satisfied with oneself in all-time, thus there is nothing else to be gained for fulfilment.


yatsukhānnāparam sukham - after gaining which happiness, there is no greater happiness, since brahman is the source of happiness, thus all other expressions of happiness may as well be gained by one who has gained brahman. yajjñānānnāparam jñānam - after gaining which knowledge, there is no further knowledge to satisfy oneself. By the knowledge I am that brahman, all satisfaction and happiness are obtained.



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