What is Moksha (Liberation or Freedom)?

Moksha means “Liberation”, “Freedom” or “Emancipation” and is the last of the four Purusharthas (objects of human pursuit).

Freedom means becoming free from worldly bondage. Extreme bondage is nothing but having a strong selfish ego and one is completely under the grip of Arishadvargas (band of six enemies) and Pancha Kleshas (five afflictions). According to Advaita Vedanta, Bondage is because of Avidya (ignorance) due to which we permanently get caught in the cycle of birth and death trying to exhaust accumulated Karma and in the process accumulate new Karma.

To know details about what exactly one gets liberated from please read my answer to the question What is Moksha?

After having grown up, it is inappropriate to have the thinking of a kindergarten kid. One should not bury the head under the sand like an ostrich and be impervious to the realities of life. Even though on several occasions we have attended somebody’s funeral, yet we think we are eternal. Rather, we think that our body is eternal. We wish that death never arrives at our door.

We love to accumulate and hoard. Desires are never-ending. We are always worried about something. Satisfaction eludes us. Advaita Vedanta says, “Come on. Wake up. Take it easy, buddy”. The same thing is conveyed in the Katha Upanishad (1.3.14) and Swami Vivekananda immortalised it by saying “Arise, Awake and Stop Not until the goal is reached”.

Moksha, the liberation means not overly rejoicing during success or pleasure and not overly whining or grousing or complaining during failure or pain. It is attaining the mental maturity, calmness, steadiness, poise, composure, equanimity, etc., to be not shaken and to treat both favourable and adverse situations in the same manner. It is possible to be in this state only if the ego is dropped. If the ego is strong, then it is impossible to have mental maturity and mental calmness.

After constant practice of establishing to be in the Silent Awareness, one would be able to take things as they come. Come what may, one would be unshaken and face any adversity by looking straight at it and endure any difficulty steadfastly like a solid rock.

It is due to ignorance (Avidya), the ego becomes strong, desires become never ending and to satisfy those desires one has to engage in several actions every single day until the moment of death.

A person who has gained the wisdom drops the ego, does not engage in any meaningless action and always blissfully experiences the Silent Awareness and attains Moksha.

Silent Awareness as defined by Bhagavad-Gita (3.17) is, “Person who rejoices only in the Atman, who is satisfied with the Atman, who is content to be with the Atman alone, for that person verily there is nothing more to be done”.

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