Jivanmukta (जीवन्मुक्तः)

A Jivanmukta (Samskrit : जीवन्मुक्तः) is one who attains the Brahman, and becomes free from the limitations of the body while he is still alive. One in whom the knowledge of being the Brahman in all things occurs through the study of Vedanta, through the understanding of the Guru's upadesha, is said to be a Jivanmukta. A Jivanmukta has neither Raga (likes), Dvesha (dislikes) nor Vairagya (total renunciation). He is one who realized his source of happiness within Self, and not in external objects. He is said to be a realized Atman, at equanimity, above emotions and attachments.

Defining जीवन्मुक्तः ॥ Jivanmukta

Many Advaita Vedanta texts describe who a Jivanmukta is.

जीवन्मुक्तो नाम स्वस्वरूपाखण्डब्रह्मज्ञानेन तदज्ञानबाधनद्वारा स्वस्वरूपाखण्डब्रह्मणि साक्षात्कृते अज्ञान तत्कार्य सञ्चितकर्म संशय विपर्ययादीनामपि बाधितत्वात् अखिलबन्धरहितो ब्रह्मनिष्ठः ॥ २१७ ॥ jīvanmukto nāma svasvarūpākhaṇḍabrahmajñānena tadajñānabādhanadvārā svasvarūpākhaṇḍabrahmaṇi sākṣātkṛte ajñāna tatkārya sañcitakarma saṃśaya viparyayādīnāmapi bādhitatvāt akhilabandharahito brahmaniṣṭhaḥ ।

A Jivanmukta means one

• who by the knowledge of the absolute brahman (identical with his own self) has dispelled the lgnorance (अज्ञानः) regarding it, and has realised it.
• who owing to the destruction of ignorance and its effects such as the accumulated past actions (सञ्चितकर्म), doubts (संशयः) like whether the individual soul is separate from or identical with brahman and errors such as the identification of the body with the self, has become bondage free and committed to the ultimate reality.

Adisankaracharya explains the concept as

एवं च वेदान्तवाक्यैः सद्गुरूपदेशेन च सर्वेष्वपि भूतेषु येषां ब्रह्मबुद्धिरुत्पन्ना ते जीवन्मुक्ताः इत्यर्थः । (Tattvabodha)

Through the statements in Vedanta and the teachings of the Guru, those for whom the knowledge of Brahman occurs - they become free (from bonds of Karma and Punarjanma) while living.

Qualities of a Jivanmukta

Shri Krishna, in Shrimad Bhagavadgita, through Arjuna enlightens us on the qualities of a Sthitaprajna, one whose knowledge in Brahman/Atman is steady.

स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव । स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम् ॥ २-५४॥ (Bhag. Gita. 2.54)

Arjuna asks: How is a man who has a firm conviction that he is the Supreme Brahman, and who is intent on contemplation (samadhi) - how is such a man thought of by others? How does the man of steady knowledge himself speak? How does he sit? How does he move?

In this verse Arjuna asks in order to know what the characteristic attributes of a man of steady Knowledge (sthitaprajna) are. In this adhyaya, the characteristics of a sthitaprajna, whether he arrived at this state through the course of Knowledge (Jnana-yoga nishta) by renunciation of all karmas, or through the course of Karma (Karma yoga) are described. These are characteristic attributes are the means to attain that state, since they are to be attained by effort.

1. आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः । Content in Self: A man, satisfied in the Self alone by himself, completely casts off all the desires of the mind. When a man completely abandons all the various desires that enter the heart and is satisfied with the True Innermost Self (Pratyagatman) in himself, without longing for external possessions, averse to everything else because of his acquisition of the immortal nectar, -i.e., his realisation of the Supreme Truth, - then he is said to be one in whom the knowledge arising from the discrimination of the Self and the not-Self has been steadied. (Bhag. Gita. 2.55)
2. वीतरागभयक्रोधः । Free from Emotions: He whose heart is not distressed in calamities, from whom all longing for pleasures has departed, who is free from attachment, fear and anger, he is called a muni, a man of steady knowledge. He is without attachment anywhere, and neither rejoices nor hates. (Bhag. Gita. 2.56, 57)
3. इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यः संहरते । Withdrawal from External Objects: He who completely withdraws the senses from sense-objects, as the tortoise (withdraws) its limbs from all sides, his knowledge is steady. Withdrawal of the senses is due to disinterest in external objects (developed due to austerity) thereby even the subtle sense of taste, inclination (Rasa) or subtle attachment vanishes in the case of one who experiences Brahman. He who seeks prajna should seek to rein and control the sense-organs for they agitate the mind (Bhag. Gita. 2.58 - 61).

The self-controlled man, whose mind can be subdued at will, free from forces of attraction and repulsion; mastered by the Self, attains prasadam, serenity, or self-poise.

रागद्वेषविमुक्तैस्तु विषयानिन्द्रियैश्चरन् । आत्मवश्यैर्विधेयात्मा प्रसादमधिगच्छति ॥ २-६४॥

In this serenity, all miseries pertaining to the body and the mind vanish, the misery of samsara (mundane existence) ends. That man of renunciation, who, entirely abandoning all desires, goes through life content with the bare necessities of life, for the mere bodily existence, who is not proud of his knowledge,-such a man of steady knowledge, that man verily knows Brahman.