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Purva-Mimamsa in its Sources c8: Chapter III: Liberation

Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā in its Sources c8

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Chapter III: Liberation

A. Liberation of Soul—Mokṣa

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We do not find anything in regard to the details of Liberation in the *Bhāṣya*, and it has been explained by *Prabhākara* that *Shabara* was dealing with the subject of Karma, Action; hence he confined himself to what benefits the man addicted to Action, not the man who has washed off his impurities and renounced all Desire and Action; hence he has not gone forward to deal with the subject of Renunciation and Liberation. This is in strict accordance with what has been taught in the *Bhagvad-Gītā* to the effect that—‘One should not disturb the ideas of people addicted to Action.’ (*Bṛhatī*, p. 256.)

B. Liberation according to the Prābhākara

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The view of *Prabhākara* himself we have no direct means of ascertaining, as, like *Shabara*, he does not deal with people who have transcended Karma or Action. His followers’ views on the subject we learn from the *Prakaraṇapañchikā* (p. 156). According to these views, Liberation consists in the disappearance of all Merit and De-merit (resulting from Actions). It is on account of Merit and De-merit accruing to the Soul that it is born in the physical body; consequently when all Merit and De-merit have disappeared, there remains nothing that could lead the Soul to be born again in a body; and when the Soul ceases to have connection with bodies, and hence also with the Sense-organs, etc., all its metempsychic troubles are ended and it is free, liberated. As to how all this comes about, the following explanation has been provided:—(1) First of all, the man becomes disgusted with the troubles that he has had to undergo during his life on the earth; (2) finding the pleasures of the world also to be invariably accompanied by some sort of pain, he comes to lose all interest in, and longing for, pleasures also; (3) he thereupon turns his attention towards Liberation; (4) he ceases to perform such acts as are prohibited and which lead to trouble, as also those that are prescribed only as leading to some sort of happiness here or hereafter; (5) he attenuates all previously acquired Merit and De-merit by undergoing the experiences resulting from them; (6) he destroys the sole receptacle or abode of his experiences by the knowledge of the Soul, as aided by such qualities as Contentment, Self-control and so forth, all of which are laid down in the scriptures as tending to put a stop to the further return of the Soul into this world; it is only when all this has come about that the Soul becomes free, liberated.

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All this may appear to be inconsistent with *Prabhākara’s* own declaration (in *Bṛhatī*, p. 235) to the effect that ‘the Soul is purely the actor and experiencer’; which apparently means that there is no freedom for the Soul from *Action* and *Experience*, so that there can be no Liberation. But there is no real inconsistency; like *Shabara*, *Prabhākara* has confined himself to the *Man of Action*—i.e., the Soul engaged in activity, and has taken no notice of one who has transcended Action.

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*Shankara Mishra* in his *Vādivinoda* (p. 40) has the following note:—According to *Prabhākara*, Liberation is the *Prāgabhāva*—absence before appearance—of Pain along with the total absence of *Pain*; that is a state in which there is no Pain and no likelihood of (appearance) of Pain. This is the view of *Vallabhāchārya* also. According to *Bhaṭṭa*, Liberation consists in the appearance of everlasting Happiness. According to *Tridaṇḍin* it consists in the fusion of the *Jīvātman* into *Paramātman*. According to *Shankarāchārya*, it is the direct realisation, *Sākṣātkāra*, of the non-duality of Brahman. He goes on to remark that according to the *Līlāvatī*, as according to the *Mīmāmsaka*, there is no possibility of all personalities ever attaining *Mokṣa*.

C. Liberation according to Kumārila

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The *Bhaṭṭa* view of Liberation is summed up in *Shlokavārtika* (*Sambandhākṣepa-parihāra*, 108—110) thus:—“For those who have understood the real nature of the Soul, all their past *Karma* having become exhausted through experience, and there being no further Karmic residum left to wipe off, there comes no further body; as it is only for the experiencing of the reactions of past *Karma* that the Soul is burdened with the Body; therefore the seeker for Liberation should not do any such act as has been forbidden or even what has been enjoined for certain purposes; (as both these would bring about Karmic reaction which would have to be expiated by experience); but he should continue to perform the compulsory acts, as the omission of these would involve sin, which would have to be expiated by painful experience through a physical Body." The Nyāyaratnākara and the Kāśikā (Shlo. Vā. Atma., 106) go on to add—" Liberation must consist in the destruction of the present body and the non-production of the future body."

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Knowledge is not the direct cause of Liberation, which is purely *negative* in character; all that Knowledge does is, as shown above, to lead to the stoppage of further *embodiment* of the Soul; it cannot lead to the expiation of past karma, which can be brought about only by experience. There is no means of knowledge, Pramāṇa, indicating Knowledge to be the cause of Liberation. The Veda also does not enjoin 'knowledge' as leading to Liberation. The injunction that 'the Soul should be known' is not meant for the purposes of Liberation; in fact all that the knowledge of the Soul does is to bring about the activity of man towards acts conducive to results which accrue only to a lasting entity like the Soul,—such results, for instance, as Heaven and the like; apart from these latter, there is no result that follows from the Knowledge of the Soul. If Liberation is regarded as consisting in the experiencing of pleasure, then it is only a form of 'Heaven'; but Heaven being something transient, such Liberation cannot be lasting. An effect that is brought about by a cause must be evanescent. Hence we conclude that when all Karmic residua have become exhausted, and there is no further Body for the Soul,—such a Soul becomes liberated through the mere fact of there being no cause left which could bring about a Body for such a Soul. There can be no justification for Liberation being regarded as ever-lasting, permanent, except the fact that it is purely negative in character. (*Shloka-vārtika-Sambandhākṣēpaparihāra* 101—107.)

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The *Shāstradīpikā* (p. 145) is not sure regarding this being or not being Kumārila's 'own opinion,' *Svamata*.

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The *Nyāyaratnākara* (on 102 above) explains that there are two kinds of Soul-Knowledge:—(1) Knowledge of Soul as an entity distinct from the Body, etc.; and (2) that Knowledge which takes the form of worship and meditation; it is the former Knowledge that is meant by Kumārila when he says that it has not been enjoined as leading to Liberation. The other kind, in the form of Worship and Meditation, does lead to Liberation.

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This view appears to have the direct support of Kumārila also, who says:—

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‘As for the *Knowledge of the Soul*, it is both *Kratvartha*—helpful to the *Sacrifice*, and *Puruṣārtha*—helpful to man; in as much as, unless one knows the Soul, he cannot undertake the performance of a sacrifice which is laid down as leading to results after death; and we find such Vedic texts as—‘The Soul, free from evil, is to be sought after, etc., etc.,’—which lay down the *Knowing of the Soul* as to be acquired through reflection, etc., and as leading to both kinds of results—Happiness and Liberation. Then again there is the text—“He obtains all desires and passes beyond all sorrows,” which speaks of all the eight mystic Perfections (of *Yoga*) accruing to the person knowing the Soul; and then lastly there is the text—“Passing his life thus, he reaches the regions of *Brahman* and from there never returns,” which directly speaks of Liberation (as resulting from Soul-Knowledge)’.—(*Tantravārtika-Translation*, p. 321, under Sū. 1.3. Adhikaraṇa, 9.)

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