Moksha
Moksha, “release”
Grammar: masculine noun, from the root muc (to free, to release): “release”.
Meaning: release from the round of births and deaths; the fourth of the four purushārthas (the aims of human life), with dharma, artha and kāma.
In the scriptures: in the forest on the Akhaṇḍa mountain the ṛshis saw a great puṇya āśrama, the home of all four aims of life. To the east stood the Dharma āśrama, ringed with palāśa trees; to the west the Artha āśrama, full of sugarcane; to the south the Kāmya āśrama, among banana and aśoka trees; and to the north the Mokshāśrama, shining like pure crystal. At the end of the Kṛta yuga moksha dwells there, at the end of the Tretā kāma, at the end of the Dvāpara artha, and at the beginning of the Kali dharma. Because Bhagavān Vishṇu is made of the four purushārthas beginning with dharma, he bears the name Akhaṇḍa (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 62).
Bhagavān Vishṇu tells of his manifest forms at the tīrthas and holy places: by their darśana, touch, kīrtana and smaraṇa (remembrance), devas, men and sādhyas gain all four purushārthas (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 63). In his stotra to Bhagavān Vāmana, Brahmā praises him as “the moksha that those who go towards moksha reach” (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 66).
When Bali had worshipped his grandfather Prahlāda with bhakti, Prahlāda, the devotee of Hari whose every wish was fulfilled, became mokshagāmī (one bound for moksha) and went away content (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 68).
At the close of the Purāṇa, Pulastya Maharshi gives the salutation: “Namo namaḥ kāraṇa-vāmanāya! Namaskāra again and again to Vāmana, the cause of all! O Vibhu, who took the form of Vāmana to accomplish the work of the devas, namaskāra to you!” To the blessed ones who salute Bhagavān Vāmana by name in this way, keeping their niyama (discipline), Bhagavān Vishṇu, worshipped by the devas, grants the state of moksha (mokshapada) (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 69).
Related terms: Purushārtha · Dharma · Artha · Kāma · Mukti · Akhaṇḍa
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 62, 63, 66, 68, 69