अथ ह ऋभुं भगवन्तं निदाघः पप्रच्छ जीवन्मुक्तिलक्षणमनुब्रूहीति । तथेति स होवाच । सप्तभूमिषु जीवन्मुक्ताश्चत्वारः । शुभेच्छा प्रथमा भूमिका भवति । विचारणा द्वितीया । तनुमानसी तृतीया । सत्त्वापत्तिस्तुरीया । असंसक्तिः पञ्चमी । पदार्थभावना षष्ठी । तुरीयगा सप्तमी । प्रणवात्मिका भूमिका अकारोकारमकारार्धमात्रात्मिका । स्थूलसूक्ष्मबीजसाक्षिभेदेनाकारादयश्चतुर्विधाः । तदवस्था जाग्रत्स्वप्नसुषुप्तितुरीयाः । अकारस्थूलांशे जाग्रद्विश्वः । सूक्ष्मांशे तत्तैजसः । बीजांशे तत्प्राज्ञः । साक्ष्यंशे तत्तुरीयः । उकारस्थूलांशे स्वप्नविश्वः । सूक्ष्मांशे तत्तैजसः । बीजांशे तत्प्राज्ञः । साक्ष्यंशे तत्तुरीयः । मकारस्थूलांशे सुषुप्तविश्वः । सूक्ष्मांशे तत्तैजसः । बीजांशे तत्प्राज्ञः । साक्ष्यंशे तत्तुरीयः । अर्धमात्रास्थूलांशे तुरीयविश्वः । सूक्ष्मांशे तत्तैजसः । बीजांशे तत्प्राज्ञः । साक्ष्यंशे तुरीयतुरीयः । अकारतुरीयांशाः प्रथमद्वितीयतृतीयभूमिकाः । उकारतुरीयांशा चतुर्थी भूमिका । मकारतुरीयांशा पञ्चमी । अर्धमात्रातुरीयांशा षष्ठी । तदतीता सप्तमी । भूमित्रयेषु विहरन्मुमुक्षुर्भवति । तुरीयभूम्यां विहरन्ब्रह्मविद्भवति । पञ्चमभूम्यां विहरन्ब्रह्मविद्वरो भवति । षष्ठभूम्यां विहरन्ब्रह्मविद्वरीयान्भवति । सप्तमभूम्यां विहरन्ब्रह्मविद्वरिष्ठो भवति । तत्रैते श्लोका भवन्ति । ज्ञानभूमिः शुभेच्छा स्यात्प्रथमा समुदीरिता । विचारणा द्वितीया तु तृतीया तनुमानसा
atha ha ṛbhuṃ bhagavantaṃ nidāghaḥ papraccha jīvanmuktilakṣaṇamanubrūhīti | tatheti sa hovāca | saptabhūmiṣu jīvanmuktāścatvāraḥ | śubhecchā prathamā bhūmikā bhavati | vicāraṇā dvitīyā | tanumānasī tṛtīyā | sattvāpattisturīyā | asaṃsaktiḥ pañcamī | padārthabhāvanā ṣaṣṭhī | turīyagā saptamī | praṇavātmikā bhūmikā akārokāramakārārdhamātrātmikā | sthūlasūkṣmabījasākṣibhedenākārādayaścaturvidhāḥ | tadavasthā jāgratsvapnasuṣuptiturīyāḥ | akārasthūlāṃśe jāgradviśvaḥ | sūkṣmāṃśe tattaijasaḥ | bījāṃśe tatprājñaḥ | sākṣyaṃśe tatturīyaḥ | ukārasthūlāṃśe svapnaviśvaḥ | sūkṣmāṃśe tattaijasaḥ | bījāṃśe tatprājñaḥ | sākṣyaṃśe tatturīyaḥ | makārasthūlāṃśe suṣuptaviśvaḥ | sūkṣmāṃśe tattaijasaḥ | bījāṃśe tatprājñaḥ | sākṣyaṃśe tatturīyaḥ | ardhamātrāsthūlāṃśe turīyaviśvaḥ | sūkṣmāṃśe tattaijasaḥ | bījāṃśe tatprājñaḥ | sākṣyaṃśe turīyaturīyaḥ | akāraturīyāṃśāḥ prathamadvitīyatṛtīyabhūmikāḥ | ukāraturīyāṃśā caturthī bhūmikā | makāraturīyāṃśā pañcamī | ardhamātrāturīyāṃśā ṣaṣṭhī | tadatītā saptamī | bhūmitrayeṣu viharanmumukṣurbhavati | turīyabhūmyāṃ viharanbrahmavidbhavati | pañcamabhūmyāṃ viharanbrahmavidvaro bhavati | ṣaṣṭhabhūmyāṃ viharanbrahmavidvarīyānbhavati | saptamabhūmyāṃ viharanbrahmavidvariṣṭho bhavati | tatraite ślokā bhavanti | jñānabhūmiḥ śubhecchā syātprathamā samudīritā | vicāraṇā dvitīyā tu tṛtīyā tanumānasā
"Then Nidagha asked the Lord Ribhu: 'expound to me the mark of liberation while living.' 'Very well,' he said. Of the seven stages, four are liberated while living. Good desire is the first stage; examination is the second; thinning of the mind is the third; attainment of the pure is the fourth; non-attachment is the fifth; cessation of the perception of objects is the sixth; going to the fourth is the seventh. This stage consists of the pranava: of 'a', 'u', 'm', and the half-syllable... One wandering in the [first] three stages is a seeker of liberation; in the fourth, a knower of brahman; in the fifth, the best of knowers; in the sixth, the most excellent; in the seventh, the very best of knowers of brahman."
be07e155bed2 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The fourth chapter begins, and it is the most orderly passage in the whole book: the teaching of the sapta-bhumika, "the seven stages of knowledge." This teaching belongs not to this book alone: it is set out in the Yoga-vasishtha and from there spread into many works; here it is given in condensed form. Let us list the stages with their gloss, for they will be examined one by one in the following verses.
Shubheccha, "good desire": a person first wants to get out. Vicharana, "examination": he begins to sort things out and read. Tanumanasi, "thinning of the mind": the pull toward objects grows subtler.
Sattvapatti, "attainment of the pure": the mind settles into purity. Asamsakti, "non-attachment": it no longer clings to anything. Padartha-bhavana, "cessation of the perception of objects": objects stop appearing of themselves.
Turyaga, "going to the fourth": one alone remains. Worth noting too is where the line is drawn: four are called jivan-mukta, that is, the stages from the fourth to the seventh; while the first three are still mumukshu, "seekers of liberation." Let us add what the Vaishnava side says of this ladder.
It does not reject it and finds much that is true in it; but it builds its own, and builds it differently, for its ascent is measured not by diminishing, but by increasing. Its ladder, cited when reading the Jabala-darshana (10.4), is this: shraddha (trust), sadhu-sanga (company), bhajana-kriya (practice), anartha-nivritti (the diminishing of hindrances), nishtha (steadfastness), ruchi (taste), asakti (attachment), bhava (feeling), prema (love). Let us compare the two lists and see the chief difference.
Here the fifth stage is a-samsakti, "non-attachment"; there the seventh is asakti, "attachment." That is, the same word stands in the two ladders with opposite signs; and this difference is not verbal, but a matter of design: one leads to clinging to nothing, the other to clinging to one thing. Let us add that the division of the pranava into 'a', 'u', 'm', and the half-syllable, and the four states corresponding to each, discussed when reading the Mandukya and the Tarasara (2.3); the construction here is the same, only applied to the stages.