By Dr. Devakinanda Pasupuleti

The cause of bondage (bandha) and liberation (moksha) is our own minds. Ignorance about the real self causes bondage whereas knowledge about the real self causes liberation. Moksha is the realization of this highest truth.

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Ashtottaram 4

4) OṀ MOKṢHABHŨMYAI NAMAH:

OṀ (AUM) –MOK-ṢHA-BHOO-MYAI — NA-MA-HA

(Mokṣha: Liberation from the cycle of birth and death)

Every religion promises heaven as the ultimate goal of human pursuit. But in our scriptures, it is very clear that heaven is only a short stop in the spiritual journey and you enjoy the pleasures and luxuries of heaven until you expend the results of your meritorious actions, just like enjoying five- star hotel amenities until you can no longer afford them. According to our sacred texts, humans are the highest form of life of the 8.4 million species on earth. Our mother land gives us opportunities to the human being to work out our good and bad fortunes by following different paths (like karma yoga, raja yoga, bhakti yoga and ultimately jnāna yoga), which exhaust all the karma phala (results of actions), as said by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita. All the other paths aid in the purification of the mind, ultimately helping the person to attain the highest spiritual knowledge. So the meaning of liberation is to get out of bondage and the wheel of births and deaths.

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The liberated jnāni lives his life like an actor playing a role on stage. Yogis and ṛishis help us removing our ignorance about the true nature of the Self and pass on their wisdom and knowledge to us through tradition and heritage. They place liberation as the ultimate human pursuit with dharma (righteousness), artha (materialism) and Kama (desire) being the routine pursuits everyone is after. Other terms like Mukti, Kaivalya and Nirvaṇa are used by many philosophers but these terms do not have the same meaning as Moksha (liberation from the bondage and the wheel of births and deaths). On attaining the moksha, the light from the jiva (individual soul) becomes one with the God.

So, the land which teaches us to look beyond heavenly pursuits and gives the soul the opportunity for liberation is praised as "mokṣha bhūmi".