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Upanishads · Muktikā 1.17
॥
Devanāgarī
अन्ये वेदान्तवाक्यार्थविचारात्परमर्षयः । सालोक्यादिविभागेन चतुर्धा मुक्तिरीरिता
Transliteration (IAST)
anye vedāntavākyārthavicārātparamarṣayaḥ | sālokyādivibhāgena caturdhā muktirīritā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अन्ये वेदान्त-वाक्य-अर्थ-anye vedānta-vākya-artha-others — from examining the meaning
विचारात् परम-ऋषयःvicārāt parama-ṛṣayaḥof the words of vedānta, the highest sages
सालोक्य-आदि-विभागेनsālokya-ādi-vibhāgenaby division into sālokya and the rest
चतुर्-धा मुक्तिः ईरिताcatur-dhā muktiḥ īritāliberation is called fourfold
Translation
«…and others, the highest sages, — from examining the meaning of the words of vedānta. By division into sālokya and the rest liberation is called fourfold…»
Version
1c46a658cd11 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Hanumān ends his question by pointing to four kinds of liberation, and it is worth naming them in advance, for the next eight verses are devoted to them. Sālokya — «oneness of world»: dwelling in the same world as him. Sārūpya — «oneness of form»: a form like his form.
Sāmīpya — «closeness». Sāyujya — «union, merging». This list is basic in Vaishnava usage, and it was cited at Dattātreya (1.12); there it was said that it accepts the first three and rejects the fourth.
Worth noting, however, that this book ends the list precisely with sāyujya and sets it above the rest; and so it must be examined with care. Add what is worth saying of the division itself, for it is, I think, the best thing conceived about liberation. It describes the ultimate through distance: in the same world, resembling, close, merged.
That is, the question asked is not «what will become of me» but «how close will I be»; and the measure taken is not a state but a relation. The Vaishnava side holds it precisely for this: every other list measures by what a person has lost, and this one — by where he has ended up. Add that it is worth noting here: the list is called īritā, «named, proclaimed»; that is, this too is an opinion, not the final word. The final word will be spoken by Rāma himself, and it will be different.