Why Seek Moksha?

The answer is: To end the sorrows of life. Moksha is the highest good (parama purusharth). It is the ultimate value. All the other values of life subserve the realization of the highest good. If you examine the state of human life, it is full of sorrow. Samsara is full of sorrow. So there is a practical need to overcome and destroy this sorrow. So Moksha is the master remedy for the ills of life. It is a state of protection beyond suffering. It is not conceptual, but it is the result of experience. Mere study will not enable us to attain it. It is a religious ideal. It is beyond logic. Moksha is eternal. There is no lapse from it once it is attained, no return from it (na cha punaravarti na cha punaravarti). It is so absolute, and not a means but an end. All the systems describe Moksha as their ideal. The Dwaitha system declares that Moksha is nothing but the intrinsic nature of the soul is revealed by the Grace of the God. In Mukthi the soul does not acquire any knowledge, strength, or bliss. It really means realizing our own latent intrinsic individuality which had been dormant. But how? The real individuality of the soul becomes manifest. When ones Avidya covering the soul falls by the Grace of the Lord. We can get rid of this bondage and recapture our innate individuality by Bhakthi. It is deep love of God inspired by and based on an adequate knowledge of the majesty of God. According to Sri Madhwacharya Bhakthi is an end in itself and is not a means. So the unalloyed, constant enjoyment of our own innate bliss is Mukthi.

© "Sri Madhwacharya Seva Sangha’s Newsletter (May, 2006), "Pajaka", 2 Valmiki Street, Gandhi Nagar, Saligramam, Chennai 600 093. Reprinted with permission.

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