Vivekachudamani - Post 33

  Verse 27   

अहंकारादिदेहान्तान् बन्धानज्ञानकल्पितान् ।
स्वस्वरूपावबोधेन मोक्तुमिच्छा मुमुक्षुता ॥ २७ ॥

ahaṃkārādidehāntān bandhānajñānakalpitān |
svasvarūpāvabodhena moktumicchā mumukṣutā || 27 ||

Mumukshutva is the impatient and burning desire to release oneself by realizing the real nature of one's Self from all bondages of egoism to the body and so on , which are bondages created by ignorance.

 

So far, we have dealt with:-

(1) Discriminative capacity to separate the Real from the unreal, 

(2) Capacity to detach ourselves completely from the false which we have now rightly understood as unreal, 

(3) Calmness, self-control, inner peace, forbearance, faith and self-centeredness, which are the positive qualities of the head and heart to be consciously developed. Now, last in the series, 

(4)  A complete definition of the spirit of seeking that is essential in every neophyte is given. 

The burning aspiration of a seeker should not be an idle enthusiasm to gain some unknown goal through some mysterious intervention of a God or a Teacher. He should definitely know what are his limitations and also the causes for them. He must be clear about his goal and the various techniques and paths by which he can attain it. All these points are hinted at in this small, pithy verse. 

He who has understood the logic of the true philosophical concept of the Self and the explanation as given in Vedanta of his seeming sense of finitude and limitations is the true seeker. 

Therefore, it is evident that a mumukshu is not a blind seeker vaguely wanting some unknown pleasure or development within himself by the practice of some pseudo spiritual activities, pursued only at a given time during the day. 

 

Swami Sivananda writes

Mumukshutva is aspiration or burning desire to attain God-realization or Self-realization. God is the one true aim of all human aspirations. Aspiration is earnest longing or an earnest wish for that which is above one's present reach or attainment, especially for what is noble, pure and spiritual. 

 

To aspire is to rise or reach upward. To aspire is to have an earnest desire, wish or longing for something high and good not yet attained, and is usually accompanied by endeavor to attain it.

 

Mumukshutva is intense desire for liberation or deliverance from the wheel of birth and death with its concomitant evils of old age, disease, delusion and sorrow.

 

If one is equipped with the previous three qualifications, -Viveka, Vairagya and Shad Sampat - Mumukshutva will come by itself. The mind moves towards the source of its own accord, because it has lost its hold on external objects. It has no resting place in this objective universe.

 

Purification of the mind and mental discipline is the rock-bottom foundation of yoga. When this is effected, the longing for liberation dawns by itself.

 

Mumukshutva must be of a burning type. If burning Mumukshutva is coupled with burning Vairagya, Self-realization will come within the twinkling of an eye.

 

Generally the vast majority of people have got a dull type of Vairagya and Mumukshutva so they do not succeed in their attempts.

 

If one finds that he has not got burning Mumukshutva he must practice the other three Sadhanas vigorously till he acquires intense longing for attaining salvation or immortality.

 

Analogy for Mumukshutva is that of the man under water. Suppose you keep the head of a person immersed in water. He will be struggling for breath. He will intensely desire to get out of the water, so that he can breathe. Such intense desire for God-realization is called Mumukshutva. 

 

Love.