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Chapter 17: Statement of the Pupil's Enlightenment
Moksha Kahyo Nij Shuddhatä, Te Päme Te Panth; Samajävyo Sankshepamän, Sakal Märga Nirgranth.
Liberation is self-purification; the way it is attained is the path; the entire path of the disentangled has thus been explained in brief.
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Explanation & Discussion:
Now the pupil turns to liberation and its path, which are the fifth and sixth Fundamentals. The Guru said in stanza 113 that uninterrupted awareness of the Self is omniscience. Since liberation necessarily follows it, that itself was termed as liberation. The pupil has correctly grasped this concept, and therefore states that the purity of the soul is liberation. In other words, the infinite purity of knowledge, perception, and bliss, which are the inalienable attributes of the soul, constitutes liberation. As such, it is obvious that the way such purity can be achieved, is the path of liberation. The pupil feels exhilarated that the Guru has explained in brief, the entire path of liberation, which was laid down at length by the omniscient Lords.
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The term Nirgranth denotes one who is disentangled or who has no knots. Knots can be external as well as internal. The inclination towards and attachment to the body, relatives, and other situations are the external knots; while anger, ego, deception, greed, etc. are the internal ones. All such knots constitute bondage, and a spiritual aspirant should endeavor to get extricated therefrom. The omniscience emerges only when all types of bondage are eradicated. This obviously involves uprooting the knots. Since the omniscient Lords have already accomplished this, they are free from the knots or any other
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