*** Read Part 1 ***

Note that there has been some discussion on Part 1 and there may be some overlap with this new (concluding) part.

Reasoning

The reasoning behind the differentiation (between enlightenment and liberation) is straightforward:

• The scriptures tell us that we are already Brahman.
• Since Brahman is eternally free, so must we be.
• Initially, the jīva does not know this.
• Consequently, the teaching of a qualified guru is needed.
• If it were something that is ‘produced’ (i.e. not existing before), it could not be permanent.
• Mokṣa is ‘nitya siddha’, ever accomplished. It is automatically ‘acknowledged’ when the knowledge triggers akhaṇḍākāra vṛtti.
• It is not ‘produced’ by the teaching, since mokṣa is already the case and something that is permanent cannot be produced. ‘Liberation’ is a figurative concept in the sense that there is never any real bondage.
• The notion that we are bound is a mistaken superimposition (adhyāsa) that is sublated (bādha) by the teaching.

There is extensive support for these definitions, from both scriptures and Śaṅkara bhāṣya-s, emphasizing that the realization of our already existing reality as Brahman (liberation) comes only from knowledge. It is the efficacious attainment of that knowledge that is called ‘enlightenment’ as explained by the metaphor of the ‘tenth man’.

On the Eternal Nature of Mokṣa

1. In the Brahmasūtra Bhāṣya (3.4.52), Śaṅkara confirms that “liberation cannot be a product of anything… it being realized through knowledge as a fact eternally present in its own right”.
2. In his bhāṣya on Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (1.4.7), he says:
   “Attainment of the Self is nothing other than knowledge of the Self. Attainment is not here, as it is in other contexts, attainment of something that one does not already possess, because there is here no difference between the attainer and that which he desires to attain… Being eternally attained by nature, the only impediment to its possession is ignorance… Therefore, attainment of the Self can never be anything other than removal of ignorance regarding it through right knowledge.”
3. In reality, “there is no dissolution, no creation, nor is anyone bound, no one who seeks liberation, nor anyone who is liberated”, says Gauḍapāda in kārikā 2.32. Śaṅkara adds: “When creation and dissolution are not there (utpatti-pralayayoḥ abhāvāt), there can be neither bondage nor freedom from bondage etc. (baddha-adayaḥ na santi). This is the absolute truth (iti eṣā paramārthatā)”.

Enlightenment is the event in the mind

1. In his Bhagavad Gītā bhāṣya (2.21), Śaṅkara makes it clear that the mind is an instrument in the attainment of enlightenment:
   “The śruti says ‘It is to be realized through the mind alone, (following the instruction of the teacher)’ (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.4.19). The mind that is purified by the instructions of the scriptures and the teacher, control of the body and organs etc. becomes the instrument for realizing the Self.”

• The same pronouncement occurs in Kaṭha Upaniṣad (2.1.11):
  “By mind alone could this (Brahman) be obtained; then there is no difference here at all. He goes from death to death who sees any difference here.”

Liberation

1. “Really there is no such distinction as liberation and bondage in the self, for it is eternally the same; but ignorance regarding it is removed by the knowledge arising from the teachings of the scriptures.” (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad bhāṣya 4.4.6, Madhavananda translation)
2. Śaṅkara is certainly translated in such a way that enlightenment and liberation may be confused. For example, in the same commentary as above :
   “The cessation of ignorance alone is commonly called liberation… just as the disappearance of the snake from the rope when the erroneous notion about its existence has been dispelled“. (Madhavananda translation). The Self is eternally pure, conscious and free (nitya-śuddha-buddha-mukta-svabhāvaḥ).
3. Regarding liberation, from the vyāvahārika standpoint this can only happen on death of the body-mind, when the prārabdha karma expires. And, without a mind, there can be no knowledge. Śaṅkara says (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad bhāṣya 3.9.28):
   “There can be no knowledge in the state of liberation where body, sense and motor organs as well as the mind do not remain to make it possible. Liberation means separation from the body, absolute separation. And where the body is not, the organs, external or internal, too are not. For the support of these is the body. So knowledge is impossible in the state of liberation. If knowledge could be possible without the body and the organs, there would be no need to have them. Besides, there can be no knowledge in the state in which everything has become one.”
4. And, in his bhāṣya on the Brahmasūtra, he says (1.1.4):
   “there can be no question of liberation becoming impermanent, for in it is revealed the reality of the eternally free Self, after eliminating from the Self the idea of Its being under the bondage (of birth and death), fancied on It through ignorance.”
   Śaṅkara says: “mokṣah nāma nitya-siddhaḥ” – liberation is something already accomplished.
   It is eternal; not something to be produced (na je mokṣaḥ kaścidutpādyaḥ); merely the cessation of ignorance (avidyā-nivṛtti-mātram).
5. And (still in BSB 1.1.4) he says: “If it be argued that the unembodied state itself is the effect of dharma – it is not so, because of It being the natural state (of the Self) as gathered from the scriptural passages: Ka. U. 1.2.22, Mu. U. 2.1.2, Br. U. 4.3.15, and so on. Therefore, it is ascertained that the unembodied state, which is termed ‘liberation’, is eternal and distinct from the result of the sacrificial act that is to be performed.”
6. (Still in BSB 1.1.4) In the long section beginning “yasyā tu utpādyo mokṣah”, he argues that, if mokṣa (in the sense of liberation) were the result of an action, it would fall into one of four categories: utpādya – produced; vikārya – modified; āpya – obtained; saṃskārya – result of purification. He goes on to argue that it cannot be any of these. It is consequently nitya siddha.
7. That he may appear to use mokṣa in the sense of enlightenment can be seen in Upadeśa Sāhasrī 4.5. Here, he says: “sa necchann api mucyate” – he is freed without desiring it. ‘Sa mucyate’ literally means ‘he gains mokṣa’; i.e. as a result of gaining Self-knowledge.
   Even so, Śaṅkara does not think that anything ‘new’ is being obtained. It signifies the acquiring of Self-knowledge and consequently the recognition of the absence of saṃsāra. I.e. it is a pedagogical statement.

Conclusion

Liberation is not the acquisition of anything new; it is the eternally existing reality of the Self, ever accomplished. The jīva does, however need to acquire this ‘Self-knowledge’ intellectually and, once he has done so, is said to be enlightened. Śaṅkara does not teach that we ‘become free’; he teaches that we were never bound. We gain knowledge, not freedom. Liberation is the eternal nature of the Self, while enlightenment is the recognition of this.