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Consciousness in the state of moksha

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Mani Varadarajan • March 13, 2001 


Dear Friends,

I have a doubt regarding Sri Ramanuja's opinion on an aspect of
moksha.  The question is as follows.  In the state of moksha,
the jIva is said to regain its true nature as a monadic centre
of infinite consciousness.  All identification with the body
ceases and the jIva is hereon blessed with the blissful vision of
the paramAtman which overflows into divine service. However, does
the jIva retain its memory of all its past births and its countless
individual identities? Or does the jIva lose all idea of this
identity and solely know itself as sesha of the paramAtman,
without reference to any past karmas?

>From what I gather, Sri Ramanuja does not explicitly present
his view on this matter. Can one of our knowledgable members 
inform me as to whether Sri Vedanta Desika has anything to
say about this, or whether Sri Ramanuja does hint at an
answer somewhere?

One vedAnta vAkya to consider is praSna upanishad 6.5:

   Just as rivers flowing toward the sea, having reached it,
   lose themselves in it, their names and forms are lost and
   there is only mention of the sea ...

Anyone who knows Sri Sankara's position on the matter from the
vyavahArika standpoint is also requested to provide input.

Thanks,
Mani






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