Sambodhi 1989 Vol 16

Author(s): Ramesh S Betai, Yajneshwar S Shastri
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 59

50
the finite cannot subsist on its own and therefore it is unreal on its own and becomes real only iit' reference to the Infinite. Radhakrishnan rightly states:
"When we are delivered in lifc, our condition is that of the Jivanmukta,, who is freed from the bonds of conditional existence. His appearance continues without much outer change. His embodied state does not affect the bcing whom it clothes, as he has complete control over the bodily fraine and knows its externality."'24
Intellect hclps man upto a certain stage to get over this conditioned state and then intuition works. When the finite attains to the Infinite, the Suprenje, man reaches the final aim and therefore end of all spirifual life, and of all philosophical pursuit. The Upanişadic thinking probes deep and subtle when it separates the individual or finite Self from the Atman that is infinite and from Brahman, though in fact all attain to unity in realisation and ultimately all doubts are set at rest in this philosophical pursuit.
Release-Moksa
By this time we liave noted that wliat is necessary before man enters llic spiritual attainment is negation of the ego and fixation in the Divine ground, that free man from conditional existence and sarisāru. In this context Radhakrishnan deals with the question of final release or mokşa, popularly known as liberation. The question is taken up by him after hc deals with the questions of ethics and religion in the Upanişads. This is because, to the Upanişads, the highest state of religious consciousness and realisation is Mokşa. Man is liberated froni saisāra, from the ego, from the conditioned existence; this release is complete disintegration of individuality, giving up of isolation and yet it is not mere nothing. 1 Man's desire for self-realisation is in fact a desire for mok şa. Perfection, from imperfection, Infinite from the finite is tlic goal of man in his spiritual, philosophical sādhanā. In fact it is the fullest expression of the Self, it is realisation of 'what is. That is the reason why the highest state of Ananda, of rapture and ecstasy, is a state iu which man becomes one with the creator. Naturally this condition of the highest bliss is the condition of freedom. Our thinking, language, conception, worldly experience etc. are too poor to describe it. It is therefore described in the Upanişads by metaphors; it cannot possibly be described in precise, clear terms. That is vagueness in the opinion of Radhakrishnan, but we must add that the Upanişads had no alternative. It was therefore natural that it should lead to different