[Advaita-l] RE: sadyomukti and jIvanmukti

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

It seems like we are talking a little bit at cross purposes here.

>In case of a jeevan mukta, there is no question of merging of these 16 
>parts
>in divine. Because, he is not yet released from body. Since, merging of all
>individual identities are requied for absolute salvation, and since that is
>not happening in case of a jeevan mukta, the state of jeevan mukta cannot 
>be
>termed as an absolute salvation. Then, what is this state called? This is

Correct. I had no different comments to make about jIvanmukti vis-a-vis 
videhamukti. My comments are about sadyomukti, which is a special case, 
vis-a-vis jIvanmukti in general.

>one is present. This is absolute salvation. Before this state of absolute
>salvation, jeevan mukta experiences his divine nature while living. The 
>time
>when the 'he becomes him', that is called sadhyo mukti, immediately
>salvation. Because, upon death, 'he becomes him' immediately. Before death,

This is where I am drawing a distinction. No one has used the term 
sadyomukti in the above manner. If we are talking about physical death of a 
jIvanmukta, that is videhamukti, not sadyomukti. What is called sadyomukti 
in the advaita texts is the full and immediate salvation at the very instant 
of the rise of brahmAtma-vijnAna.

It is not just a question of annihilating prArabdha karma. For both the 
sadyomukta and the jIvanmukta who awaits videhamukti, the physical body 
continues so long as the prArabdha karma continues in its momentum. The 
difference is as follows. For the sadyomukta, there is no further impetus 
towards action of any sort, from the very instant of the rise of right 
knowledge (samyag-darSana). There is no further becoming, even after the 
death of the body, for he is indifferent to the effects of prArabdha karma. 
There is no further need for manana and nididhyAsana. All wishes have been 
fulfilled and after death there is no going anywhere - AptakAma AtmakAma ... 
na tasya prANA utkrAmanti - bRhadAraNyaka. There is no more individual soul 
either, for the sadyomukta knows his sarvAtmatva fully. Calling the 
sadyomukta a jIvanmukta is just a manner of speaking, referring to the 
continued embodiment that is visible to others. However, for all other 
jIvanmuktas, even after the initial rise of knowledge, there may be a 
residual tendency to action, as they are not totally indifferent to the 
residual effects of karma. As SankarAcArya phrases it in the bRhadAraNyaka 
commentary 1.4.7, bhAvinI pravRttir vA^N-manaH-kAyAnAM and 
jnAna-pravRtti-daurbalyam. In this case, he says sAdhana-s like tyAga and 
vairAgya are necessary to counter the effects of prArabdha karma. These are 
the jIvanmukta-s for whom manana and nididhyAsana are necessary.

It is for this reason that later teachers like vidyAraNya speak of 
gradations of knowers, from the basic brahmavit to the highest 
brahmavid-varishTha.

videhamukti, the instant of physical death of a jIvanmukta should not be 
generally called sadyomukti, because there can still be the step of the 
individual self going to brahmaloka, through the devayAna, depending on what 
kind of upAsana the said jIvanmukta did during his or her lifetime. This 
implies a delay between physical death and absolute final liberation. I hope 
this clarifies my earlier comments on this.

Regards,
Vidyasankar

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