Work
Moksha
Overview
Moksha (, UK also ; Sanskrit: मोक्ष, mokṣa), also called vimoksha, vimukti, and mukti, is a term in Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, liberation, nirvana, or release. In its soteriological and eschatological senses, it refers to freedom from saṃsāra, the cycle of death and rebirth. In its epistemological and psychological senses, moksha requires self-realization, self-actualization, and self-knowledge.
In Hindu traditions, moksha is a central concept and the utmost aim of human life; the other three aims are dharma (virtuous, proper, moral life), artha (material prosperity, income security, means of life), and kama (pleasure, sensuality, emotional fulfillment). Together, these four concepts are called the Puruṣārtha in Hinduism.
In some schools of Indian religions, moksha is considered equivalent to and used interchangeably with, other terms such as vimoksha, vimukti, kaivalya, apavarga, mukti, nihsreyasa, and nirvana. However, terms such as moksha and nirvana differ and mean different states between various schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The term nirvana is more common in Buddhism, while moksha is more prevalent in Hinduism. Moksha in Hinduism is oneness with supreme power and ultimate liberation from nature (prakriti).
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Philosophers who discussed Moksha
- Madhvacharya
- Mircea Eliade
- Adi Shankara
- Nagarjuna
- Haribhadra
- Anekantavada
- Buddhism
- The Buddha
- Gaudapada
- Plotinus
- Vāchaspati Misra
- Vyasatirtha
- Thiruvalluvar
- Islam
- Walter Terence Stace
- Osho
- Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar
- Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya
- Vedarthasamgraha
- U. G. Krishnamurti
- Basava
Related ideas
- Ātman (Hinduism)
- Paul Deussen
- Dvaita Vedanta
- Ramanuja
- Kaivalya
- Gnosticism
- Ājīvika
- Hinduism
- Hindus
- Mircea Eliade
- Jainism
- Satya
- Karma
- Saṃsāra (Jainism)
- Soteriology
- Saṃsāra
- Adi Shankara
- Anthropocentrism
- Vishnu
- Anattā
- Brahman
- Suffering
- Nirvana
- Nagarjuna
Place in the tradition
Part of Buddhist philosophy.