Mumukshu
Mumukshu, “one who wishes to be free”
Grammar: masculine noun and adjective, the desiderative of the root muc (to free): “one who wishes to be free”. Its pair is bubhukshu, “one who wishes to enjoy”.
Meaning: a seeker of moksha (release from the round of births), or mukti, as against the bubhukshu, the seeker of bhoga (enjoyment). In the Śaiva rites of the Agni Purāṇa the two keep different rules.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa sets the rules of the mumukshu beside those of the bubhukshu in the Pavitrārohaṇa, in dīkshā and in pratishṭhā.
In the Pavitrārohaṇa. On the night of the rite, after the vigil with music, the one who desires moksha, fasting and one-pointed, sleeps on a bed of bhasma, sacred ash; the one who desires bhoga sleeps after midnight on a seat of kuśa grass, remembering Bhagavān Śiva (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 78). When the pavitrakas (sacred threads) are offered, mumukshus offer them in the order ātma-tattva, vidyā-tattva, śiva-tattva, with mantras ending in svāhā; bubhukshus offer them in the order śiva-tattva, vidyā-tattva, ātma-tattva, with mantras ending in namaḥ. At the close, the one who desires bhoga prays to Bhagavān Śiva for the fruits his mind desires, and the one who desires moksha prays: “May my karma not be a cause of bondage” (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 79).
In dīkshā. Bhagavān Śiva teaches that dīkshā gives both bhoga and moksha. In the samaya-dīkshā, a śishya who desires mukti sits facing north, and one who desires bhukti sits facing east; only the part of the body above the ankles is on the seat. For the seeker of moksha the guru looks over the śishya’s limbs from the feet up to the śikhā; for the seeker of bhoga, from the śikhā down to the feet (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 81).
In pratishṭhā and the maṇḍalas. In the pratishṭhā of the liṅga, if the yajamāna is a mumukshu, the five kalās beginning with Nivṛtti and their lords beginning with Ajāta are placed by nyāsa instead of the five mūrtis (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 96). Īśvara teaches Skanda that the lotus diagram is of two kinds, asaṃsakta, with its petals not joined, and saṃsakta, with its petals joined; both give bhukti and mukti, and the asaṃsakta is suited to mumukshus (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 320).
Related terms: Bubhukshu · Moksha · Mukti · Bhoga · Dīkshā · Pavitrārohaṇa
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 78–79, 81, 96, 320