History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c92.52.5

v7.c92.52.5

*bhakti* (devotion) for those (disciples) that long for worldly pleasures, heaven or moksa, as the Śruti says ‘there is no other way’. Jīvan-mukti¹⁷⁰² means ‘to have a vision of the Deity worshipped’ and ‘one who is liberated, though living, is not tainted by his acts, whether meritorious or otherwise’. This doctrine closely follows what is said in some of the Upanisads about the man who has realised *brahma* that ‘he shakes off *puṇya* and *pāpa* and having cast aside the body he reaches the world of *brahma*; he does not return i. e. he never again undergoes *saṁsāra*’. One should strive for that stage. Therefore one who has obtained correct knowledge should become a *bhakta* (devotee). All these, viz. one in distress, the seeker after knowledge, one who seeks some desired object and one who has obtained correct knowledge, are noble, but the man, who has knowledge about God, when he becomes a devotee, reaches the world of the Highest Self, as the Vedic words say ‘one who knows brahma reaches the Highest’.