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. This jivanmukti is the end of every jiva, and as a human being where there is adequate free will, the jiva gets a chance to fulfill that, to become mukta.

Defining जीवन्मुक्तः ॥ Jivanmukta

Many Advaita Vedanta texts describe who a Jivanmukta is. According to Vedantasara,

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 Jivanmukta 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.

• कामान्त्यजति -
• 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)
• अनुद्विग्नमनाः
• विगतस्पृहः
• 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)
• सर्वत्रानभिस्नेहः
• शुभाशुभम् नाभिनन्दति न द्वेष्टिः
• 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).
• विषय-विनिवर्तनम्

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॥ (Bhag. Gita. 2.64)

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.

Tattavabodha mentions other characteristics of a Jivanmukta. In defining who a Jivanmukta is Shri Shankaracharya states

ननु जीवन्मुक्तः कः ? यथा देहोऽहं पुरुषोऽहं ब्राह्मणोऽहं शूद्रोऽहमस्मीति दृढनिश्चयस्तथा नाहं ब्राह्मणः न शूद्रः न पुरुषः किन्तु असंगः सच्चिदानन्द स्वरूपः प्रकाशरूपः सर्वान्तर्यामी चिदाकाशरूपोऽस्मीति दृढनिश्चयरूपोऽपरोक्षज्ञानवान् जीवन्मुक्तः ॥

• दृढनिश्चयरूपोऽपरोक्षज्ञानवान् । Firm ascertainment by immediate knowledge: Just as there is firm belief, ‘I am the body’; ‘I am a man’; ‘I am a Brahmin’; ‘I am Shudra’, in the same way one who by his immediate knowledge {aparoksha jnana} has firmly ascertained, ‘I am not a Brahmin’; ‘I am not a Shudra’; I am not a man’ but ascertains that ‘I am unattached’ and of the nature of existence-consciousness-limitless, effulgent, the inner self of all, and an all-pervasive consciousness is a jīvanmukta.

Aparoksha jnana or the immediate knowledge, is self revealing. Knowledge of the Atman alone is aparoksha jnana, any other knowledge is paroksha, or knowledge mediated by sense-organs. There is no indirect knowledge of Atman, and even if some sastrakara points out paroksha-jnana initially, that is with reference to Brahman. This paroksha-jnana gained from the Veda is not comparable to the indirect knowledge of inference (pramana), though both are called paroksha-jnana. Inferential knowledge is based on what is heard, seen etc, but Paroksha-jnana described in the Vedas such as existence of svarga-loka etc cannot be verified by the Pratyaksha, Paroksha etc pramanas or means of knowledge. It is non-verifiable by the senses and is based on Shabda-pramana; while inferential knowledge is verifiable.

Further he states, a Jivanmukta, ब्रह्मैवाहमस्मीत्यपरोक्षज्ञानेन निखिलकर्मबन्धविनिर्मुक्तः स्यात् । By immediate knowledge that Atman is Brahman alone, one becomes free from bondage of all karmas.

• निखिलकर्मबन्धविनिर्मुक्तः। Free from bondage of Karma: Once the realization dawns that "I am Brahman," a jiva becomes free from Avidya; additionally he is also freed from anything that is born of that Avidya, namely ajnana. Every human being is born with and thus inherently has the ajnana of believing the body itself as Atman. The first thing born of ajnana is kartrtva, doer-ship, and when there is a doer-ship, there is also enjoyer-ship. As a karta, the doer, must also take the consequences of his karma, thus he is the karma-phala-bhokta, the reaper of the results of action. The one who sows, reaps. These results are different types of punya and papa. The Jivanmukta is free from Avidya, and therefore, from doer-ship and enjoyer-ship. He is no longer attached to any action (Karmabandha) he has done. Karmas are many, accumulated from the past janmas and there is no freedom from karma or action itself, what we can freed ourselves is the Karmabandha, freedom from Kartrtva or doer-ship. Atman has no kartrtvam, therefore anyone who has realized this becomes free from Kartrtvam.

What happens to Jivanmukta's Karma?

A Jivanmukta is liberated from kartrtvam or doer-ship. That being so, सञ्चितं कर्म ब्रह्मैवाहमिति निश्चयात्मकज्ञानेन नश्यति । Sanchita karma is destroyed by the firm knowledge, ‘I am Brahman’ alone. The Sanchita karma is the accumulated karma standing in the account of the Jiva, all the unmanifest karma from previous lives, and also, the karma done in this life before one gains this knowledge. And it is destroyed by this definite knowledge, nischayatmakajnana - I am Brahman. This is because Brahman is akartr, which performs no karma. The body-person who was responsible for all the karma, stands falsified once the knowledge of self dawns.

Will there be new karma-phalas because as long as he lives he has to perform some karma? There cannot be, because this person, being a Jnani, doesn’t think, I am the doer, even though he may be doing actions. Therefore new results of karma cannot come to him. But according to law of karma, any action should have a phala; some phala is generated as punya or papa, but it is not enjoyed by the Jivanmukta mainly because there is no Bhoktrtvam, as there is no Kartrtvam. If he does not enjoy the fruits of his actions, who does so?

If the jnani performed some good karma, like teaching, which is considered to be a punya-karma, to whom will that punya go? Whoever worships that jnani, to that person it will go. And if there is any papa-karma, like inadvertently stepping on an insect, which according to the law of karma is himsa and creates papa, it will not touch him. He has no punya or papa; therefore where will that papa go? There is always somebody who is going to say something against that jnani, and that person will get the papa. And because of prarabdhakarma, the jnani continues to have the body, because of Ishvara-srishti.

The body continues to exist, the mind remains, the senses continue, the whole sharira the karyakarana-sanghata, continues to exist. Why? This complex was given to the Jiva to exhaust the prarabdha-karma, and therefore it will continue to appear, live—like the pot (as in the pot and clay analogy). Otherwise if the Jiva realizes, I am sacchidananda-atman, and then disappears, like the snake (in the rope and snake adhyasa analogy), there will be no Jivanmukta. The prarabdha-karma is exhausted by experiencing it, प्रारब्धकर्मणां भोगादेव क्षय इति । and when that is over, there is no rebirth for him. Agami karma also does not affect the Jnani, because नलिनीदलगतजलवत् ज्ञानिनां सम्बन्धो नास्ति । the wise man is not affected by it-as a lotus leaf is not affected by the water on it. The karma done after knowledge, called Agami, does not belong to him, because he is not a karta anymore.

Jivanmuktas - Examples

Bharatavarsha is the birth-place to many jnanis, munis and Jivanmuktas such as Suta Mahamuni, Jadabharata and Janaka Maharaja. Glimpses into their lives show us their ideal personalities and practically depicts how a Brahmajnani treats various laukika situations. Roaming in the forests or ruling great janapadas they performed their duties with no expectation of any karmik returns.

सर्वभूतहृदयत्वम् सुकमुनेः । All-pervasiveness of Sukamuni

Shrimad Bhagavatam in the very second adhyaya praises the Brahmajnana-nishtatvam of Suka Mahamuni through the words of Suta Maharshi. Suta Muni mentions about Vyasa Maharshi's dissatisfaction about his son, Suka Mahamuni.

यं प्रव्रजन्तमनुपेतमपेतकृत्यं द्वैपायनो विरहकातर आजुहाव ।

पुत्रेति तन्मयतया तरवोऽभिनेदुः तं सर्वभूतहृदयं मुनिमानतोऽस्मि ॥ २ ॥

यः स्वानुभावमखिल श्रुतिसारमेकं अध्यात्मदीपं अतितितीर्षतां तमोऽन्धम् ।

संसारिणां करुणयाऽऽह पुराणगुह्यं तं व्याससूनुमुपयामि गुरुं मुनीनाम् ॥ ३ ॥ (Bhag. Pura. 2.2-3)

Vyasa Maharshi saw his son, Sukadeva, going away all alone with the intention of leading the life of a recluse, even before his Upanayana samskara was performed, and none of the samskaras were performed. Agitated at the thought of separation from his son, Vyasa Maharshi called out to his son, "O! Putra! Putra!" Sukadeva, totally absorbed in the Brahman, did not reply, but trees on the roadside responded to Vyasa Maharshi's call on behalf of Suka Muni, filled as they were by his presence.

Shrimad Bhagavatam itself is described as that very essence of the Vedas, a light illuminating the spiritual realities for those worldly men who seek to go beyond the darkness of ignorance. It was out of compassion for such men that this Guru of Munis, Sukadeva, uttered this Purana.

From this drshtanta, it is easy to grasp the all-pervasive nature (in all creatures) of a person who moves about with the knowledge of Brahman.

Jada-Bharata

Long time ago there used to live a king named Bharata, (Ajanabha), the son of Rishabha. He led a pious life and duly discharged the duty of performing all the required dharmik activities. After dividing all the hereditary fortune, he retired to a life of recluse in Salagramakshetra on the banks of river Gandaki. Bharata was rid of all craving for the pleasures of sense and, developing (great) tranquility of mind, derived supreme gratification. Once Bharata went to bathe in a river. A deer had also come to drink water there. While the deer was drinking water, there was the terrible roar of a lion. The deer gave a frightened leap and gave an untimely birth. The baby fell into the river. The mother deer died as a result of the leap. But Bharata rescued the baby deer from the water and raised it in his ashrama (hermitage). Soon he grew attached to the deer and forgot everything else. He had given up his kingdom, his sons, and his friends and forgotten them all. But he could not forget the deer.

Having become deeply attached to the deer, Bharata died watching the deer and thinking of it. Since he thought of the deer while dying, he was born as a deer in his next life. The only difference was that he was born as a jatismara deer, that is, a deer that remembered the incidents of its past life. As a deer, Bharata left his mother and came again to Salagramakshetra because he remembered his old place. He lived on dry leaves and dry grass and eventually died. He was reborn as a jatismara brahmana. In this life he was truly learned, well versed in all the shastras. Since he had attained the supreme knowledge, he saw no point in reading the Vedas or in doing work. He kept to himself and spoke little, only when he had to. His body was dirty, his clothes were filthy, he rarely ever interacted with people, ate whatever was given/available, spent time within himself and moved very slowly. Because of this, people treated him badly.

One day, the King of Soubira wanted to go on a palanquin to learn words of wisdom from Kapila Maharshi. The servant of the king looked around for palanquin-bearers and found Bharata. So Bharata bore the palanquin along with the other bearers without any questions. But being a jnani, he was trying to avoid the ants and creatures on the ground. He was careful not to step on any creature and in this process caused an imbalance of the palanquin. Annoyed at the way his palanquin was being tossed about, the king called out to find the wrong-doer. “What is wrong?” Asked the king of Bharata, “Haven’t you borne the palanquin only for a little while? How is it that you are tired? Can’t you bear a little burden? You look quite strong to me.” Bharata’s answer was this. “Who am I and who are you? What you have seen is only my body and your body. I am not my body and nor are your your body. Our atmans or souls are what we really are. My atman is not strong or tired, nor is it carrying your palanquin upon its shoulders.” Having said this, Bharata was quiet again. But the king got down from the palanquin and fell at his feet. He wanted to know who Bharata really was, for such words of wisdom do not come from an ordinary man. Bharata then told him the truth about the atman and enlightened the King.