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A jīvanmukta, literally meaning 'liberated while living',[1] is a person who, in the Jain and Vedānta philosophy, has gained complete self-knowledge and self-realisation and attained kaivalya (enlightenment) or moksha (liberation), thus is liberated while living and not yet dead.[2][3] The jivanmukt being is termed as sayogi-kevali (enlightened one with the body) or Arihant in Jainism. The state is the aim of moksha in Vedānta, Yoga and other schools of Hinduism, and it is referred to as jīvanmukti.[4][5][6]
Jīvanmuktas are also called ātma-jnāni (self-realized) because they are knowers of their true self (ātman) and the universal self, hence also called Brahma-jñāni. At the end of their lives, jīvanmuktas destroy remaining karmas and attain parāmukti (final liberation) and become parāmukta. When a jīvanmukta gives his insight to others and teaches them about his/her realisation of the true nature of the ultimate reality (Brahman) and self (Atman), taking the role of a guru to show the path of Moksha to others, then that jīvanmukta is called an avadhūta. Some avadhūtas also achieve the title of Paramahamsa. When a rishi (seer / sage) becomes a jīvanmukta then that rishi is called Brahmarshi.
According to popular tradition, some examples of jivanmuktas are Parshvanatha, Mahāvīra, the Buddha, Adi Śankarā, Dnyāneshwar, Kabīr, Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, Rāmakrishna Paramahansa, Ramana Maharshi, Vedānta Deśika, Swāminārāyan, Nisargadatta Maharaj, and Swami Ramdas. They are believed to have realized the Self (atman) within their lifetime by traveling the path of pure spirituality. After achieving enlightenment and the state of jivanmukti, they are regarded to have negated their karma. According to their followers, they are said to have retained their bodies to disseminate their wisdom to the masses. After their death, they are believed to have attained paramukti.
- ^ The Vivekacūḍāmaṇi of Śaṅkarācārya Bhagavatpāda: An Introduction and Translation edited by John Grimes "A mukta is a mukta, with or without a body.110 It may be said that a knower of the Self with a body is a Jivan Mukta and when that person sheds the body, he attains Videhamukti. But this difference exists only for the onlooker, not the mukta."
- ^ Gavin Flood (1998), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521438780, page 92-93
- ^ Klaus Klostermaier, Mokṣa and Critical Theory, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pages 61-71
- ^ Andrew Fort and Patricia Mumme (1996), Living Liberation in Hindu Thought, ISBN 978-0-7914-2706-4
- ^ Norman E. Thomas (April 1988), Liberation for Life: A Hindu Liberation Philosophy, Missiology, Volume 16, Number 2, pp 149-160
- ^ Gerhard Oberhammer (1994), La Délivrance dès cette vie: Jivanmukti, Collège de France, Publications de l'Institut de Civilisation Indienne. Série in-8°, Fasc. 61, Édition-Diffusion de Boccard (Paris), ISBN 978-2868030610, pages 1-9