Advaita Mukti in the Bhagavatam

Advaita Mukti in Bhagavata

In this chapter of the Bhagavata, Mukti is described as:

श्रीमद्भागवतपुराणम्/स्कन्धः २/अध्यायः १०

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मुक्तिर्हित्वान्यथारूपं स्वरूपेण व्यवस्थितिः ॥ ॥ ६ ॥

Giving up the false idea of taking oneself to be a bound individual with body, etc., and remaining as one’s true self is liberation.

Mukti is similarly described in Advaita as follows:

ब्रह्मात्मना संस्थिति – र्मुक्तिर्नो शतकोटिजन्मसु कृतैः पुण्यैर्विना लभ्यते ॥ २ ॥

Viveka Choodamani 2.

Here in the Bhagavata itself the true nature of the soul thus is indicated thus:

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सर्ववेदान्तसारं यद् ब्रह्मात्मैकत्वलक्षणम् ।
वस्तु अद्वितीयं तन्निष्ठं कैवल्यैकप्रयोजनम् ॥ १२ ॥ 12.13.12

The real nature of the Atman is the Advaitic Brahman alone.

मुक्तिर्हित्वान्यथारूपं स्वरूपेण व्यवस्थितिः ॥ ॥ ६ ॥ Sridhara Swamin’s interpretation of this sentence is as follows:

अन्यथारूपम् अविद्याध्यस्तं कर्तृत्वादि हित्वा स्वरूपेण ब्रह्मतया व्यवस्थितिर्मुक्तिः |

Mukti is to abandon the samsari nature born of ignorance and the attendant bhoktrutva (enjoyership), which is based on ignorance, and actually remain as Brahman without any of these erroneous attributes.

This kind of liberation does not require going to another world. If one has to stay in any of the worlds for liberation, then the soul must have the nature of living in that world as its inherent inseparable nature. And in that world, if various pleasures and enjoyments are natural to the soul, the nature of the Atman should have that Bhokritva etc as its inherent nature.

But the Atman is not taught in this way in the scriptures.

For example, the Bhagavad Gita in the 2nd chapter describes the Atman as:

नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः ।
न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ॥ २३ ॥

अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्लेद्योऽशोष्य एव च ।
नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः ॥ २४ ॥

अव्यक्तोऽयमचिन्त्योऽयमविकार्योऽयमुच्यते ।
तस्मादेवं विदित्वैनं नानुशोचितुमर्हसि ॥ २५ ॥

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वाभविता वा न भूयः ।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥ २० ॥

The soul cannot be destroyed by anything. Atma is omnipresent. The soul has no maladies like birth-death, disease, etc. All this exists only if there is a body. But in the 13th chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, the Atman is described as being devoid of all the various bodily senses and their attributes.

Om Tat Sat