JOY BHATTACHARYYA

Liberation: Some Philosophical Analyses

JOY BHATTACHARYYA

he word liberation is used at random

in many senses, for instance political
liberation, economic liberation, etc.
India, for example, got political liberation
when the British rule ended in 1947. And
now India is still trying to achieve economic
liberation. Liberation in all these cases
means release from this or that suffering.
Thus the word liberation is very often used
in a relative sense.
The present article, however, takes liberation in the absolute sense which means an
absolute release from all sufferings whatsoever. The idea of liberation in this absolute
sense is available in the major systems of
Indian philosophy. Our principal aim is to
analyse this idea of liberation as it is developed in the domain of Indian philosophy.
Incidentally, we may mention that ethics
or moral philosophy is part and parcel of a
system in Indian philosophy. As such, liberation is viewed from an ethical point of view.
It is very often regarded as the highest good
or Parama Purushrtha in many systems.

The Chrvka theory of liberation

As we have just mentioned, liberation
is viewed as an ethical problem in the systems of Indian philosophy. Chrvka ethics
alone upholds a negative view about liberation having taken it in the absolute sense.
Chrvka uses the word apavarga to
mean the absolute release from all sufferings. According to Chrvka, apavarga
simply consists in the bodily death. The
point needs an explanation. In his metaphysics Chrvka accepts materialism. He
accepts earth, water, fire and air, as the only
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realities. The self or I is the conscious

body, composed of the four elements.
Hence the death of a body is no other than
death of a being. Cessation of life brings
cessation of suffering absolutely. Hence in
the eyes of Chrvka, liberation in the absolute sense means the death of a being.
It is not also difficult at all to understand
here that Chrvka does not believe in rebirth. Since the self is absolutely identified
with the body, the self ceases to exist when
the body perishes. If this be so, there is no
question of the self being reborn to enjoy the
fruits of actions done in previous birth.
Chrvka admits that life is not after all
a bed of roses. Yet it is always wise for a
person to avoid sufferings and to enjoy life
by hook or by crook. To get rid of suffering
absolutely is an impossibility in this world.
The absolute cessation of suffering is possible through death alone. But death is
never an ideal in ones life. Hence, according to Chrvka, liberation that means death
cannot be a goal (purushrtha). He, on the
contrary, holds that it is wise for one to enjoy the only life in this world without thinking about the imperceptible heaven attainable through the accumulation of virtue
(dharma) or hell attainable through the accumulation of vice (adharma). The basic
point to be noted is that, as a staunch supporter of empiricism, Chrvka does not believe in what is supersensuous. Consequently the materialist Chrvka does not
believe in virtue or vice, heaven or hell and
so on. According to him, physical pleasure
(kma) is the highest good and one should
leave no stone unturned to enjoy the

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worldly life beyond which no other life can

be conceived reasonably.
The Jaina theory of liberation

Ethics or moral philosophy is a very

important part of the Jaina system. Liberation is accepted here as the highest
good. Liberation is absolute release from
suffering and it is attainable through the
removal of bondage.
According to Jainism, jiva is identified
with the soul-substance that is potentially
perfect. What is latent can be explicit in an
individual when the obstacles causing its
bondage are removed. Just as the sun shines
forth as soon as the dark clouds in the sky
disappear, so also the soul attains perfection,
that is already potentially there, as soon as
the obstacles are removed. These obstacles
are the particles of matter (pudgala) infecting the soul-substance. The material particles actually rob the soul of its perfection.
How are the material particles attracted
to the soul-substance? The karma of the previous life of the jiva generates certain passions in the soul-substance. These passions
attract matter to the soul-substance. Incidentally, we may mention that the body and
other conditions ascribed to an individual
are all due to karma bearing different names
accordingly. The gotra-karma, for example
determines the family one should belong to,
the yu-karma determines the span of ones
life. Since nature and number of the material
particles are determined by karma of a being. The particles are also called karma-matter (karmapudgala). Bondage of a being is
due to passion (bhva) and the passion is
again due to our ignorance about the true
nature of the self and other things in this
world. The bhava-bandha results in dravyabandha or the souls actual association with
the material particles referred to earlier.
Now, when bondage is association of
the soul with the material elements, liberation is necessarily the complete dissociation
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of the soul-substance from material particles.

The Jainas in this context prescribe two
principles to be followed. These are samvara
and nirjara respectively. The first means
stoppage of the influx of new matter into the
soul already infected by others and the second means complete elimination of matter
with which the soul has already been
mingled. According to Jaina ethics, passions
in the soul lead to the association of the
soul-substance with matter. Passion ultimately owes its origin to ignorance about the
real nature of self and other things in this
world. Ignorance, however, causes anger,
greed, vanity, etc. Knowledge of truth
(samyak jnna) alone can remove ignorance.
Hence the attainment of such knowledge is
emphasized repeatedly. Teachings of the
omniscient teachers, ie the most revered
Tirthankaras, do stand the aspirant in good
stead in this regard. But right knowledge is
possible only through right faith lying in a
respectful attitude of the aspirant towards
truth. Moreover, mere right knowledge is of
no use if it is not put to practice. In Jaina
ethics, therefore, we are told that liberation
is after all an effect of right faith, right
knowledge and right conduct. These three
are often regarded as three gems (triratnas).
When one, through the harmonious development of the three gems, succeeds in overcoming the forces of passions and karmas,
one gets liberated. A liberated soul alone attains perfection. It is interesting to note here
that in view of his attainment of perfection,
the liberated soul is venerated and worshipped by the Jainas instead of God. Jaina
religion is a religion without God.
The Buddhist theory of liberation

Lord Buddha was through and through

an ethical preacher and a reformer. His enlightened preachings point to man the path
of absolute release from sufferings. He made
quite a pragmatic approach towards this
worst problem of life. Instead of idle specu-

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lation, Buddha tried to draw mans attention

to the basic questions of sufferings, their
origin, the cessation of sufferings and the
path leading to an absolute cessation of suffering (nirvna). The answers to these four
questions are known as the Four Noble
Truths (Catvri rya-satyni). The fundamental teachings of Lord Buddha are based
on these truths to be realized by the aspirant.
The first noble truth realized by Buddha
is that life is never a bed of roses. The truth
is that there can never be a benign pleasure,
and that the so-called sources of pleasure in
life are also sources of suffering.
Buddha then makes quite a reasonable
approach towards the problem of suffering
while preaching the second truth. Is suffering without a cause? No, not at all. Every
event must have a cause. Suffering in life is
indeed a fact and there is therefore a cause
behind. The basic cause of suffering is ignorance about the real nature of the self and
the world. In this connection we are reminded of the following twelve links or
chain of suffering: sufferingbirthwill to
be bornour mental clinging to objects
desire for objectssensuous experience
sense-object relationthe six sensesthe
organismthe initial consciousnessthe
mental impressionsignorance.
We would now propose to discuss the
third noble truth as regards the absolute cessation of sufferings. In Buddhist ethics the
absolute cessation of suffering is called
nirvna. Nirvna does not mean a total extinction of existence. It means the absolute
cessation of the present sufferings and also
the absolute end of rebirth through the removal of its most fundamental cause, namely
ignorance. The attainment of nirvna lies in
absolute stopping of rebirth and future sufferings and also the attainment of perfect
peace in this life. Perfect peace is here considered as beyond the worldly pleasure or
happiness. It does actually beggar descriptions. Lord Buddhas silence in this regard
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means that nirvna can hardly be described

in terms of ordinary experience. Its true
nature is only realizable through its realization. Persons for whom this realization is a
far cry cannot understand through reason
and metaphor the real nature of nirvna.
How does the realization of nirvna take
place? We would refer to the Mgga Vagga
(The Way or the Path) of The Dhammapada.
The best path is the Eightfold Path. This is
indeed the unique path of enlightenment. It
consists of right understanding, right
thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and
right concentration.
The Nyya-Vaisheshika theory
of liberation

Kandas Vaisheshika and Goutamas

Nyya are indeed two allied systems in the
domain of Indian philosophy. These two
systems are realists and pragmatists in their
approach to human life and its problems.
According to these systems, bondage is
real and there is of course a real suffering.
Total annihilation of all these sufferings is
liberation or apavarga.
What is pain? It is defined by Goutama
in his Nyyasutra (I.1.21) in terms of annoyance (bdhan). All beings in this world suffer in this or that way. But suffering is explained by all without exception as annoyance. Nobody, therefore, wants to suffer in
the world. But how to put an end to suffering? People by and large try hard to remove
sufferings. However, means adopted cannot
lead to an absolute cessation of suffering.
Only a temporary relief is obtained. Suffering caused by a serious disease, for example
is removed by taking the prescribed medicines and following some preventive measures. But this does not mean absolute cessation of all sufferings, because other problems are there.
How is it possible then to get absolutely
released from suffering? According to

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Nyya, false knowledge about the twelve

prameyas is the basic cause of our bondage.
This false knowledge can be corrected by
true knowledge alone. True knowledge of
the twelve prameyas is the saving knowledge for the suffering mankind.
Incidentally, the word prameya broadly
means any object of veridical anubhava or
pram such as a jar. But prameya in the
present context means only those twelve
metaphysical principles (prameya) the true
knowledge of which alone leads to liberation. The metaphysical principles are the individual self (jivtm), the organism, the
senses, the objects of senses (colour, taste,
smell, etc.), the cognition, the manas, the
threefold activities, the mental defects, rebirth, the results of activities due to mental
defects, suffering and finally absolute freedom from all sufferings. (Nyyasutra, I.1.9).
In connection with the above we would
only say a few words about the Self (tm)
which is said to be the most fundamental
prameya. In the present context, self actually
means the suffering individual self. Nyya
believes in God or the supreme Self. Knowledge of God does not remove false knowledge of ones self at least directly. Moreover
ones knowledge of the other self does not
also remove false knowledge of the self, the
first metaphysical principle. Thus knowledge
of God or of any other self is not the saving
knowledge. Knowledge of ones own self
(svtmajnna) can alone remove false
knowledge and this is therefore the saving
knowledge. Of course, self-knowledge
means here svtmaskshtkra or direct
anubhava of the Self as an eternal substance
over and above the organism, the senses, the
manas, the vital forces etc.
Of the twelve prameyas, the individual
self is most fundamental because self-knowledge is after all the key to the attainment
of liberation. Because of false knowledge
as regards the twelve prameyas, the jiva is
under bondage and his bondage is real.
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Though real, bondage can be destroyed in

the long run by acquiring true knowledge.
For the Nyya-Vaisheshika school, bondage
has got no beginning and liberation has got
no end. Since liberation is destruction of
bondage, it is something negative, ie negation (abhva) of all pains and pleasures.
Pleasures, according to the system, are never
benign and in liberation, therefore, there is
neither pain nor pleasure.
How is the negation of pleasure and pain
possible in liberation? The causes of pleasure and pain are merit and demerit respectively. In liberation, however, neither merit
nor demerit inheres in the self. Thus, in liberation, there is neither enjoyment of pleasure nor suffering from pain. The absence of
merit and demerit is also due to the absence
of desire (rga) and aversion (dvesha). The
absence of desire and aversion to objects is
again due to the removal of their cause,
namely false knowledge. As we have already
mentioned, false knowledge can be removed
by true knowledge of the twelve prameyas.
In order to preach this causal link Goutama
has said in the Nyya-sutra (I.1.2) that pain,
birth, merit and demerit, desire and aversion,
and false knowledgethrough the successive removal of these in the reverse order,
there follows the absolute liberation from
suffering (apavarga).
In this context let me state that according to Nyya-Vaisheshika, the individual
self is really a knower of objects, a doer of
righteous and wrong deeds and also the
enjoyer of fruits of the acts performed. Real
doership and enjoyership guarantee real
bondage of the individual self. Destruction
of bondage is the crying need and true
knowledge of the twelve metaphysical principles is the only path for liberation, as the
Nyya-Vaisheshika school emphasizes repeatedly in the relevant texts.
At last we may note in brief that an individual self after getting liberated ceases to
possess the specific qualities including

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knowledge or consciousness. Liberation

therefore consists in the non-possession of
specific qualities. The general qualities such
as number and magnitude do inhere in the
liberated soul-substance. So the liberated
souls are not absolutely devoid of all their
qualities. Liberation does not mean for
Nyya the total annihilation of all qualities.
The Smkhya-Yoga theory of liberation
We would now propose to take into consideration quite an ancient theory of liberation. The theory has been advanced in the
Smkhya-Yoga system. Smkhya and Yoga
are allied systems admitting dualism in ontology. Yet Smkhya is theoretical while
Yoga is practical. Smkhya puts forward a
theory of liberation, Yoga, on the other
hand, shows the path leading to liberation.
Smkhya system of Kapila and the Yoga
system of Patanjali are, however, related in
the way in which science and technology,
philosophy and religion are related. According to Smkhya-Yoga dualism, realities are
two and those are Matter and Self. The material principle is called Prakriti or
Pradhna. It is also known as Mulaprakriti
in the sense of its being Primordial matter
from which the world of diversity has
evolved. The other reality is Self or
Purusha. Purusha is of the nature of consciousness. According to Smkhya-Yoga,
however, there are many Purushas. In
this sense of course Smkhya-Yoga shows a
tendency towards pluralism. The basic point
to be noted, however, is that Smkhya-Yoga
accepts this world of diversity as real. In
its zeal to account for diversity SmkhyaYoga has supported the idea of plurality
of selves. Prakriti is, however, one. The diversity of material world has been explained
in terms of various evolutes of Prakriti,
namely the seven Prakriti-Vikritis and sixteen Vikritis. However, without entering into
a detailed discussion we would only mention
a few salient features of Prakriti and
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Purusha for the sake of our study.

Purusha is the individual self, according
to Smkhya. The classical Smkhya is, however, atheistic since it does not believe in
God or the supreme Self. Purushas are many
because there are many jivas. Smkhya
holds that Purusha is of the nature of Pure
Consciousness. Consciousness is not a quality of Purusha, as the Nyya-Vaisheshika
system maintains. Consciousness is the
essence (svarupa) of Purusha.
According to Smkhya-Yoga, Purusha
being transcendental in nature is inactive.
Purusha does not perform any action, right
or wrong. Purusha is not also the enjoyer in
the real sense as the Nyya-Vaisheshika admits. According to Smkhya-Yoga,
enjoyership of Purusha is only apparent.
The warriors, for example, fight against enemies in the battlefield and also get victory.
Yet the king is said to be the victor. Similarly, Purusha is said to be the enjoyer while
real enjoyment is ascribed to buddhi (or
chitta of Yoga).
Now a few words about Prakriti.
Prakriti, unlike Purusha, is of the nature of
constant transformation (parinma). But
transformation is either homogeneous or heterogeneous. The second kind of transformation takes place when Prakriti is in contact
with Purusha.
Prakriti is in its essence an equilibrium
of three gunas, namely sattva, rajas and
tamas. The word guna is used in the system
in a technical sense to mean the constituents
of Prakriti. These three constituents, however, serve as bondage of the self or
Purusha. Purusha being transcendental in
nature is not actually under bondage. Bondage and liberation are only of Prakriti. The
three gunas are of the nature of pleasure
(priti), pain (apriti), and apathy (vishda).
The first evolute of Prakriti is buddhi.
By virtue of the preponderance of
sattvaguna, buddhi reflects Purusha or
consciousness. Hence buddhi appears as

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conscious. Buddhi being material in essence

is also capable of various transformations in
the form of empirical knowledge, desire,
aversion, actions and so on. It may therefore
be referred to as the empirical self (I). It is
because of non-discrimination between the
Pure Self and the empirical self (buddhi), the
Pure Self appears to be under bondage. But,
as a matter of fact, the empirical self is under
bondage and it gets liberated when Purusha
realizes Its distinction from the empirical
self. Just as a dancing girl abstains from her
dance when the spectators do not enjoy the
performance, so also the empirical self
(buddhi) abstains from binding (apparently)
the Purusha when discriminative knowledge
as saving knowledge dawns on it. Non-discrimination (aviveka) is said to be the most
fundamental cause of bondage.
How can aviveka be removed? This is
possible through discriminative knowledge
of Pure Self (Purusha) and empirical self.
But discriminative knowledge is no doubt
very difficult to arrive at. The Yoga system
of Patanjali shows the path of spiritual practice. The aspirant must follow this path with
an eye to the goal of liberation which is
technically called kaivalya. According to
Smkhya-Yoga ethics, kaivalya means
aloofness. It is important to note here that
Smkhya-Yoga is dualistic through and
through. Hence Prakriti does not cease to be
there, it only abstains from affecting
Purusha in any way. Moreover, there are innumerable Purushas. Hence Prakriti does
not actually cease to exist. Kaivalya of one
Purusha does not mean the liberation of all.
We should also note that kaivalya, according to Smkhya-Yoga is not a blissful
state at all. Pleasure (priti), as we have already mentioned, is the nature of sattvaguna
which is a constituent of Prakriti. Purusha
being other than the empirical self (buddhi)
is of course beyond pleasure, pain and apathy (the three gunas). Hence in liberation,
there is no question of Purushas enjoyment
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of pleasure. Moreover, like the NyyaVaisheshika system, Smkhya-Yoga does

not also believe in the possibility of benign
pleasure. The three constituents of Prakriti
never stay isolated. As such, where there is
pleasure, there is also pain. This is also another reason why kaivalya cannot be a state
of pure pleasure or bliss.
The Mimms theory of liberation
The Mimms system of Jaimini is indeed of great importance in Indian philosophy. The Vedas have got four principal aspects, namely Samhit (collection of
hymns), Brhmana (rites and rituals),
ranyaka (forest treatises) and the
Upanishad (highest knowledge). The
Mimms system is primarily concerned
with rites and rituals prescribed in the
Brhmana. This aspect of the Vedas is said
to be the Karmaknda. Karma is a technical
name for duties as prescribed in the Vedas.
Since the Mimms system makes a philosophic (critical) approach towards karma,
the system is called Karmamimms.
Dharma is the other name of karma, ie the
rites and rituals. Hence the system of Jaimini
is also known as Dharmamimms.
At the initial stage, the Mimms school
would accept dharma as most important.
Dharma, as we have already said, means
rites and rituals leading to the attainment of
heaven. Heaven was accepted initially as the
highest goal of life. But afterwards,
Mimms, under the influence of many other
systems, accepted liberation as the highest
good. It is hard to say exactly when such an
important change in thought took place.
In the Karmaknda prescriptions for the
performance of specific Vedic sacrifices are
available. Their performance will lead to the
attainment of heaven. But the heavenly
abode is not at all a permanent place for one.
The potency (apurva) will be exhausted
gradually through the enjoyment (bhoga) of
the heavenly pleasure. This has led the later

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Mimmsakas to think about the supremacy

of liberation over dharma.
Liberation is absolute release from
worldly bondage. Bondage is due to the performance of actions with self-interest
(sakma). Through the performance of duties (nitya and naimittika karmas) and also
through self-knowledge one can attain liberation, according to Mimms. Here liberation is conceived of as a total annihilation of
pleasure, pain, consciousness, etc. Like the
Naiyyikas, the Mimmsakas regard consciousness as an accidental quality of the
self. Liberated self is said to be devoid of
consciousness. The self does not also have
enjoyment of pleasure in liberation, for all
pleasures are associated ultimately with
pain. Liberation is absolute release from
pain. Hence the Mimmsakas hold that liberation is not a state of pleasure.
The Advaita Vedanta theory of
liberation
Finally, we take into account the
Advaita Vedanta theory of liberation that is
often estimated as most satisfactory. It is a
firm conviction of the Advaitin that the Reality is non-dual. The Self is the only reality
because its denial is logically impossible.
The Self is eternal and eternity is the other
name of Reality.
The, Self, being eternal, must not be
identified with the body, the senses, the vital
forces and so on. The Self is of the nature of
Pure Consciousness. But the body, the
senses, etc. are after all devoid of consciousness. Moreover they are non-eternal. Hence
the Advaitin discards the materialist account
of the self-body identity. Moreover he rejects the Nyya and Mimms notion that
consciousness is only an accidental quality
of the self. Had consciousness been so, then
its absence in self could be easily conceived.
But denial of consciousness ultimately presupposes consciousness. As the Naiyyika
himself admits, knowledge of the absence of
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something (a jar, for example) presupposes

knowledge of the same. One who does not
know a jar can hardly apprehend the absence
of the same. Thus knowledge of the absence
of knowledge refers back to knowledge itself. Hence, according to Advaita Vedanta,
consciousness must be said to be the essence
of the self. For him, self equates with consciousness. In this regard the Smkhya-Yoga
thought is quite comparable with that of the
Advaitin.
The Advaitin goes a step further. With
reference to various statements in the principal Upanishads, the Advaitin declares that
the Self is of the nature of Bliss. Bliss has to
be distinguished from pleasure that actually
belongs to the non-self, namely, the antahkarana. Bliss is pure in the sense of its being
eternal and unmixed with pain. All pleasures, worldly and heavenly, owe their origin to some object. Pure Bliss is no other
than Self, according to Advaita Vedanta.
With these words about Advaita theory
of the self we would now proceed to take
into account an important point. The NyyaVaisheshika system draws a distinction between the self (jivtm) and the supreme
Self (Ishvara). The Yoga system also acknowledges a distinction between the self
and Ishvara. But it is the Advaitin alone who
recognizes no distinction between the two.
The Self which is of the nature of Pure Consciousness-Pure Bliss is Brahman. The
Advaitin abolishes all possible distinctions
that are falsely ascribed to the Self. All distinctions are only apparent and consequently
false (mithy).
The most fundamental point to be
considered in this connection is that
the Advaitin regards the self as Brahman.
The Sanskrit word Brahma literally means
what is great. But the self is found to
be limited in many senses. Hence it can
be asked whether this identification of
the self and Brahman is tenable at all.
The Advaita answer to the question is quite

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significant. It points out that ignorance

that is not a mere negation of knowledge,
prevents us from knowing the self as Brahman. Because of ignorance, only certain
limitations are falsely ascribed to the self.
We are in the dark about the greatness and
absolute purity of the self. Hence it is ignorance that prevents us from identifying the
self with Brahman.
Now the Advaita concept of liberation
may be discussed in short. The self
being identified with Brahman is actually
free. Bondage is only apparent and it is
superimposed on eternally free self or
Brahman as a mere false appearance. This
projection of what is false is due to ignorance on the part of jiva. Removal of
apparent bondage is possible through the
removal of its cause namely ignorance.
When ignorance will be removed through
self-realization, there will be perfect Bliss
which is the nature of the self.
But how can ignorance be removed?
The Advaitin is convinced that ignorance
can be removed by self-knowledge alone.
This is therefore called the saving knowledge. When jiva realizes his oneness with
Brahman, he gets rid of bondage that is only
apparent. According to the Advaitin, the
Naiyyika is wrong in thinking that bondage
is real. Had bondage been real, it would
have been eternal. Then liberation would be
an impossibility. The Advaitin therefore argues that bondage is only apparent. What appears is neither real not unreal, nor is that
both real and unreal. What is apparent is at
least empirically real (vyavahrika sat).
Bondage is apparent and it can therefore be
removed. It is possible to remove bondage
through the cancellation of ignorance.
Moreover, we may note that several
paths are there for the cancellation of

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ignorance. There is the path of knowledge,

which, as Sri Ramakrishna observes, is most
difficult to follow at this age. There is the
path of karma or the path of performing duties without self-interest or without attachment to the fruits of actions. This path of
karma includes the path of selfless service to
mankind, as Swami Vivekananda emphasizes. There is also the path of devotion
which is the simplest as Sri Ramakrishna repeatedly observes. We may mention that the
path of selfless service is most important
from the social or collective point of view.
This path is therefore appreciated wholeheartedly by many great persons including
Rabindranath, Netaji Subhaschandra and
many others. Charity begins at home. Thus
selfless service to people in the locality, in
the city, in the state, in the country and finally in the world is only a form of
karmayoga to be followed by the aspirant.
Moreover, service of the realized one has got
nothing for ones own. Thus the realized
souls like Shankara, Buddha, Sri Chaitanya,
Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda
rendered selfless service to mankind. Other
enlightened souls like Rabindranath,
Gandhi, C. R. Das, Netaji, to name a few,
also performed selfless service to mankind.
Finally, the supremacy of the Advaita
concept of liberation may also be mentioned.
Nyya-Vaisheshika describes liberation as a
mere negation of all special qualities such as
knowledge, pain and pleasure. A liberated
self is thus comparable with a block of
stone, as it were. Smkhya-Yoga regards liberation as conscious because consciousness
is the essence of Purusha. But the Advaitin
alone regards liberation as Pure Bliss. Liberation in the eyes of an Advaitin is therefore positive through and through. What is
ultimately positive really excels.

Dr Joy Bhattacharyya is a lecturer in Indian Philosophy Department (Indology) of the

Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture.

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