Longing for Freedom, Mumuksutva

by Swami Dayananda Saraswati

What is mumuksutva?
mokso me bhüyäditi icchä.

The mumuksu is the person who wants mokña,
moktum icchuù. He wants to be free. And he understands that this is exactly what one wants in life, purusärtha. That is very clear. And that desire to be free is very predominant, so all other desires and pursuits subserve this main pursuit. They should
subserve. When that is the main thing in my life, everything subserves it, naturally. It is automatic. You need not do anything about it. That is viveka. When the viveka is so complete, the understanding so complete, that this becomes the main thing and everything else subserves it, that person is a mumuksu. And his status is called mumuksutva.

So it is not just a desire for a moksa. Even curiosity can give rise to a desire, but mumuksutva is not a desire for moksa that is one among many desires. There can be
many desires, with the desire for moksa being one of them. The whole mind is full of desires, and if one of them is moksa, now and then it gets some attention. This
is where viveka is required. That is why he uses the word, 'mumuksutvam'—it reveals that the whole person is convinced. You are very clear about you want in life. You have turned into a mumuksu. And once you are a mumuksu, your status is called mumuksutva. And this pursuit does not in any way stand opposed to any other pursuit either.

Mokña is not like anything else, so any other pursuit of the mumukñu is also linked to the pursuit of mokña. A mumukñu is someone who has undergone a change, like a devotee. When a devotee takes up a job, it is the devotee who is an officer. It is not that the devotee is displaced by the officer. The officer is an officer and the devotee is a devotee; it is not like that. The devotee is different. He is someone who has discovered devotion to Éçvara, and therefore, that person, the devoted person, is going to be there in the officer, in the husband, in whatever role he plays; he is going to be everywhere. A devotee is a wife, and a devotee is the mother too and the sister. The devotee is always present, as we will see more clearly later. So too, with this mumuksu. And his condition, his disposition of mind is called mumukñtva. Therefore he says that this mumukstva is a desire, a longing, icchä. For what? "May I gain moksa," mokso me bhüyäd. That means you have to choose moksa. And the reason you have to choose is that you are already free, mukta. When you are already a liberated person, and yet want to be free, you have to choose moksa. It is in the choice that the pursuit begins. You have to choose.

The four-fold means, sädhana-catusöaya, for equipping oneself for moksa are viveka, vairägya, çama dama, etc., and mumukstva. Viveka, vairägya, çama dama, etc., are not enough. That mumukstva is very important. You have to choose moksa. And the reason you have to choose is that you are already free, mukta. It is in the choice that the pursuit begins. You have to choose. Why is it mentioned separately? Because when mumukstva is there, if anything is lacking in terms of the other qualifications, you will get that. It is like wanting to do a Ph.D. You equip yourself with the all the things that are necessary to earn the Ph.D., because that is the goal. Once you have that basic aim, you will do the
course work, you will do everything that is necessary to qualify yourself to get that Ph.D. It is the same here. Mumukstva is the main thing. When it is there, viveka is already there, so naturally, anything that is lacking anywhere will be gained by you. Mumukñtva has to be separately mentioned because a person can have çama, dama, etc., without being a mumuksu. And there can be a mumuksu without çama, without dama, without
uparama, etc., but he will make sure he takes care of those things

Once he has this fourfold qualification, sädhanacatuñöaya, he is an adhikärin, an eligible student. And it is this eligibility, on the part of the student, that makes the pramäëa very fruitful.

The Vedantic teaching, which is the pramäëa that is handled by a teacher, is fruitful in enlightening a person without requiring any other aid. And it doesn't require any other help, only when the person has this fourfold qualification. Ätman is always ready, and if
you are also ready as a person, with the required mind, then the pramäëa will do the job. Like opening the eyes and seeing, the exposure to the teaching will make one free from ignorance of oneself. If these qualifications are lacking in any area, the knowledge can either be denied or inhibited. Knowledge itself can be denied, or the knowledge happens, but at the same time, there is some inhibition so that one doesn't enjoy
the fruits of that knowledge. And then, if all the conditions are met, uninhibited knowledge can take place, because the pramäëa , the means of knowledge, is there, and the object of knowledge is there. So the Vedantic teaching being a pramäëa is proved when the person has the eligibility for it. Then there is nothing that can deny that, so the adhikärin has to be pointed out. Otherwise, people will say, "I listened to Vedanta
and I didn't understand that I am Brahman, therefore, Vedanta is not a pramäëa." That is not valid. It is like saying, "I don't understand calculus, therefore, there is no calculus." That is why one has to be eligible. After that, after gaining this fourfold qualification
fully, they become adhikärins, eligible, qualified students. Qualified for what? Tattva-viveka, discriminative understanding, viveka, of what is true, tattva.

Excerpt from the forthcoming Tattvabodha, Arsha Vidya Research and Publications, 2009