उपनिषद् · Jābāladarśana 1.3
॥
देवनागरी
भगवन्ब्रूहि मे योगं साष्टाङ्गं सप्रपञ्चकम् । येन विज्ञातमात्रेण जीवन्मुक्तो भवाम्यहम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
bhagavanbrūhi me yogaṃ sāṣṭāṅgaṃ saprapañcakam | yena vijñātamātreṇa jīvanmukto bhavāmyaham
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
भगवन् ब्रूहि मे योगंbhagavan brūhi me yogaṃLord, tell me the yoga
स-अष्ट-अङ्गं स-प्रपञ्चकम्sa-aṣṭa-aṅgaṃ sa-prapañcakamwith eight parts, with all its particulars
येन विज्ञात-मात्रेणyena vijñāta-mātreṇawhich, merely known
जीवत्-मुक्तः भवामि अहम्jīvat-muktaḥ bhavāmi ahamliving-liberated I become
अनुवाद
"Lord, tell me the yoga with eight parts and with all its particulars, — knowing which, I become liberated while living."
संस्करण
5dac66874eae · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The question contains the goal, and the goal is named precisely: jivan-mukta, "liberated while living." This notion is worth unpacking, because it is one of the most disputed in Indian literature, and the Vaishnava tradition accepts it only with reservations. Jivan-mukti means that liberation is attained not after death, but now: a person walks, eats, and speaks, but the knot is already untied. The body lives out what was set in motion earlier — as a potter's wheel keeps turning after the potter's hand has lifted away.
The dispute is over whether this is possible, and both sides deserve honest naming. The nondualist side answers decisively: yes, for the bonds consist in ignorance, and ignorance is removed by knowledge instantly; and as soon as a person knows he is brahman, he is free, even though the body remains. The Vaishnava side answers differently, and the difference here is not stubbornness but a different understanding of the bond. The bond, by its reckoning, consists not in ignorance but in a will turned away: a person knows, and still wants what is his own. Hence it cannot be removed by the delivery of information; and hence its books speak of gradual stages — shraddha, sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya, anartha-nivritti, nishtha, ruchi, asakti, bhava, prema (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.4.15–16).
But it too acknowledges something like liberation while living, naming it differently. The Bhagavatam says a devotee "even while dwelling in the body, is called liberated" — jivan-muktah sa uchyate (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.2.187) — and explains: free is one who does everything for His sake, not one who has stopped distinguishing. The difference between the two descriptions is small in appearance and great in consequence. By the first, the liberated one does nothing further, for there is no one to do anything. By the second, he does all the same things, but for another; and hence his liberation is recognized not by inaction, but by a change of purpose.