A History of Indian Philosophy v2.c19.s6.33

v2.c19.s6.33

Intense *virakti* is that in which the person does not desire anything in this life, whereas very intense *virakti* is that in which the person ceases to have any desires for all future lives¹. Vidyāraṇya takes great pains to prove, by reference to various scriptural texts, that there are these two distinct classes of renunciation (*sannyāsin*), though one might develop into the other². As regards the nature of *jīvan-mukti*, Vidyāraṇya follows the view of the *Yoga-vāsiṣṭha*, though he supports it by other scriptural quotations. On the subject of bodiless emancipation (*videha-mukti*) also he refers to passages from the *Yoga-vāsiṣṭha*. *Jīvan-mukti* is the direct result of the cessation of all instinctive root desires (*vāsanā-kṣaya*), the dawning of right knowledge (*tattva-jñāna*), and the destruction of *manas* (*mano-nāśa*). Vidyāraṇya, however, holds that on account of steady right knowledge even the seeming appearance of passions and attachment cannot do any harm to a *jīvan-mukta*, just as the bite of a snake whose fangs have been drawn cannot do him any harm. Thus he gives the example of Yājñavalkya, who killed Śākalya by cursing and yet did not suffer on that account, because he was already a *jīvan-mukta*, firm in his knowledge of the unreality of the world. So his anger was not real anger, rooted in instinctive passions, but a mere appearance (*ābhāsa*) of it³.