Liberation according to different philosophies
Liberation or Moksh is the abode of happiness according to the theists. Let us discuss the belief system of different philosophies regarding the nature of Moksh and its pros and cons.
The Charvak Philosophy completely denies the existence of Moksh. Apart from this, all the other philosophies of India considered Moksh to be the ultimate goal of life.
Vaisheshika View
The Vaishesika Philosophers believe that the complete cessation of 9 qualities i.e., ego, pleasure, pain, desire, dharm, adharm, efforts, dispositions, and hatred leads to Moksha. There is the absence of ego, pleasure, etc in Moksh. Precisely, they affirm that studying scriptures leads to knowledge of fundamentals which in turn destroys false knowledge. This further leads to the destruction of attachment and aversion which stops the actions of the soul. when there are no actions there is no dharm and adharm. This ultimately stops the cycle of transmigration.
The Jain view says that the destruction of sense pleasures, pain desires, etc is right but to believe the destruction of inherent qualities such as knowledge bliss of soul is not liberation. What is the use of such liberation when there is no knowledge and bliss? No great men will believe in such a liberation that denies knowledge and bliss.
Mimansa View
Mimansanks believe that the liberated soul remain absorbed in his own self. It is free from all bondage, pain, and misery. It is also devoid of six types of ripples like pleasure, anger, pride, conceit, greed, and deceit. The nature of Brahma is bliss and it is manifested in the liberated state. At that moment all the bondages are broken because of the Brahma Swaroop. As the soul is free from bondages it experiences bliss in its own self. Where the senses cannot reach and only the mind reaches, such is the state of unobstructed bliss and that is moksh. The bliss of moksh is unobstructed, unbreakable, and infinite, there is no place other than moksh where one can experience infinite bliss. Mimansaks talk about such bliss but the path to such bliss is not propounded.
Jains say that in Moksha, there is absence of pleasure through karmas but the presence of self-nature’s bliss. The practices of sacrifice of animals, violent activities, and other rituals cannot beget the soul’s liberation.
Just like sensual pleasures, people are fond of the soul and hence it is true that the soul’s inherent nature is blissful. And the way to such bliss is to deviate oneself from the pleasures and acquire the right faith and right knowledge by following the right conduct.
Samkhya View
According to Samkhya, the soul is pure consciousness but it has no power to even fold a matchstick, hence the soul is neither a doer nor an enjoyer. The soul resides beneath the nature of body and actions and due to this the soul is covered with the darkness of ignorance and not able to experience real happiness which is the real nature of the soul and this is the reason for transmigration.
When the Soul realizes that this material life is not real happiness and it is useless to connect or get attached with it then it does not become the enjoyer of the fruition of karma and Prakriti also realizes that now this soul has understood its weakness and will be detached from the fruition of karma so the Prakriti itself remain away from Soul. When the power of Prakriti weakens the soul resides in its real nature and that is moksh according to Samkhya. This state is full of consciousness but not the state of happiness because happiness is the nature of Prakriti and not of purush.
However a fundamental question is if knowledge is the nature of prakriti and not of the soul, then the soul is ignorant. If due to this ignorance if a mundane soul thinks this material happiness belongs to it, then why don’t a liberated soul accept this happiness belongs to it. so to avoid this confusion infinite knowledge should be accepted in moksh. If not, then there will be no specialty in moksh.
Buddhism
According to Buddhism, one who believes that the soul is stable and eternal they have attachment with the soul. This attachment causes the interest in worldly enjoyment and that is why soul the dwells in the ocean of transmigration. “ soul exists” by thinking itself the feeling of I and Others arises and this is the root cause of attachment and aversion. And these are the roots of sansaar. Therefore, one should consider this body, relatives, spouse, son, etc to be unstable, non-eternal, impure, miseries, etc. This reduces attachment which inturn enhances detachment that leads to the stoppage of karmas, ultimately leading to moksh.
According to Jainism, it is not correct to tell that all the activities arising from attachment to the soul leads to misery. Due to the affection towards the soul, one indulges in sensual pleasures which leads them to misery. However, with the same affection for the soul, an intellectual man gives up all material desires and tries to attain the key to happiness.
Buddhism considers everything to be transient including the soul. Describing an eternal soul to be non-eternal is false. It makes the soul deceitful and untruthful. Even this feeling can be experienced only by an eternal soul. Only previously bounded can be liberated and that is why it should be accepted that soul is stable. In Kshanikvaad, one is the doer and the other is the enjoyer. This is an awkward situation.
If the soul is non-eternal then why should one make efforts to destroy attachment etc which is also non-eternal. Hence the one who takes the efforts, I.e the soul is eternal. And that soul liberates itself by non-violent austerities. One who contemplates on non-eternal is eternal and when it starts contemplating on the eternal ever blooming knowledge, and practices austerity. Thus, it attains liberation which is full of infinite knowledge, vision, bliss, and energy.
Jainism
According to Jain Philosophy, one can find the difference in attachment and aversion in humans. And it cannot happen without a cause. When something diminishes with a cause, it can lead to complete destruction of the same. When the mild sun rays turn of the mild cold air and the heavy sun rays dispel heavy cold air, similarly the shubh bhaav( auspicious emotions) discards the feelings of attachment and aversion and when the Shubh bhaav is at its peak those negative feelings are destroyed from the roots. When these feelings are destroyed all the karmas accumulated since time immemorial shed off and the complete cessation of karmas is only termed as moksha.
Complete destruction of attachment, aversion, and the infinite karmas leads to the manifestation of infinite knowledge. We find differences in the knowledge of each person. The little unveiling of karmas leads to the little manifestation of knowledge and complete cessation leads to complete knowledge. Because of complete destruction of karmas, there is eternal omniscience in moksh and hence, the Jain philosophy emphasizes in obtaining such infinite knowledge and blissful liberation.
The Bliss of liberation
The bliss of liberation is eternal, unobstructed, and complete. Following are the reasons for same-
1.The liberated souls are completely devoid of attachment, aversion, and delusion. These attachments are the causes of the soul’s endless suffering.
Attachment Leads to ablation.
Aversion leads to disliking.
Delusion leads to a lack of discrimination and increase in ignorance.
These are negative emotions and result in suffering. These negative tendencies are the major cause of pain and agony due to which the jiva does not experience happiness even for a second. Those who indulge in these emotions accumulate various kinds of karmas and dwell in the ocean of transmigration and experience immense suffering. Elimination of attachment, etc. leads to bliss and happiness and this is real happiness. This happiness is experienced only by those who are devoid of attachment and aversion. A person diseased with delirium cannot experience happiness as one who is devoid of it. Similarly, a deluded and perverted soul who is full of attachment and aversion cannot experience real happiness.
2. The liberated souls are free of birth and death, hence, their bliss is unobstructed. when the seed is burnt one cannot acquire the sprout of it, similarly when the seed of karma is burnt, one does not acquire the sprout of transmigration. there is the complete absence of birth, death, disease, fear, etc.
3.The bliss of liberated souls is unobstructed. The reason for this is there is the absence of anxiety (excitement). even the worldly pressures can be experienced only if one does not possess anxiety and desires but the excitement of sensual pleasures is short term. not just that one desire gives birth to another and the cycle goes on which in turn generates only misery. The liberated souls are completely devoid of such desires. Complete cessation of all the desires is liberation. This is the reason why the happiness of liberated souls is infinite times greater when compared with all the happiness and riches of all the mundane souls in the universe. Hence, through Experience, Logic, and Scriptures, it is proved that liberated souls experience infinite bliss. This bliss is incomparable because no amount of worldly happiness can equal this bliss and hence it is indescribable. Even the omniscient’s are not able to describe such bliss. But it is wrong to conclude that such type of bliss is not there in the universe.
Source
[1] Param Tatva Ki Sadhna — Part3 by Pujya Panyas Bhadrankar Vijayji M.S.
