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60-504: The text is structured into five chapters, as a discourse between yogin Nidagha and Vedic sage Ribhu . The first chapter presents a series of questions such as "Who am I? How did the universe come about? what is the meaning of birth, death and life? what is freedom and liberation?" The text then discusses its answers, after attributing the knowledge to goddess Annapurna . The text is notable for describing five types of delusions, asserting

120-675: A general of the Yadava king Ramacandra donated a village to a yogi in 13th-century. Near Mangalore, that later became a hub of Nath yogis, a monastery and temple was dedicated to yogis in the 10th century. David Lorenzen states that the Nath yogis have been very popular with the rural population in South Asia, with medieval era "tales and stories about Nath yogis such as Gorakhnath, Matsyendra, Jalandhar, Gopichand, Bharthari, Kanhapa and Chaurangi" continuing to be remembered in contemporary times, in

180-460: A group of early Buddhist tantrikas from Bengal ( mahasiddhas , siddhacaryas ), the alchemists of medieval India ( rasa siddha ), and a mainly north Indian group known as the Nath siddhas . The Nath siddhas are the only still existing representatives of the medieval Tantric tradition, which had disappeared due to its excesses. While the Nath siddhas enjoyed persistent popular success, they attracted

240-416: A parāmukta. Thus, a jīvanmukta has a body while a parāmukta is bodyless and pure. When a jīvanmukta attains the state of nirvikalpa samādhi then he or she can become a parāmukta by his or her own will. A jīvanmukta who has attained the state of nirvikalpa samādhi, will, at an appropriate time, consciously exit from their body and attain parāmukti. This act of consciously and intentionally leaving one's body

300-475: A self-realized person, a jīvanmukta, there is no ichhā-prārabdha but the two others, anichhāa and parechhā , remain, which even a jīvanmukta has to undergo. According to the Advaita school, for those of wisdom, prārabdha is liquidated only by experience of its effects; sancita ("accumulated karmas") and āgami ("future karmas") are destroyed in the fire of jñāna ("knowledge"). The term parāmukti

360-532: A term generally applied to a practitioner ( sādhaka , sadhu ) who has, through his practice ( sadhana ), realized his dual goal of superhuman powers ( siddhis , 'realizations', 'perfections') and bodily immortality ( jivanmukti ). Archeological evidence suggests that in some contexts and regions, yogi of the Nath Siddha tradition were respected and recognized in India. For example, inscriptions suggest

420-437: A videhamukta experiences these only after death. There are four stages for becoming a jīvanmukta: 1. Sālokya – living in the same world 2. Sārūpya – having the same form 3. Sāmīpya – being close to 4. Sāyujya – merging into STAGE 1. The first stage is called sālokya — corresponding to the waking state of consciousness (jāgratā) — the realization that the entire vast universe of billions of galaxies and universes

480-521: A yogi and yogini. One view asserts restraint in sexual activity, towards monk - and nun -like asexuality, as transmutation away from worldly desires and onto a spiritual path. It is not considered, states Stuart Sovatsky, as a form of moralistic repression but a personal choice that empowers the yoga practitioner to redirect his or her energies. The second view, found particularly in Tantra traditions according to David Gordon White , asserts that sexuality

540-457: Is a state that transforms the nature, attributes and behaviors of an individual, claim these ancient texts of Hindu philosophy. For example, according to Nāradaparivrājaka Upanishad, the enlightened individual shows attributes such as: Ādi Śankara explains that nothing can induce one to act who has no desire of his own to satisfy. The supreme limit of vairāgya ("non-attachment"), is the non-springing of vāsanā s in respect of enjoyable objects;

600-487: Is all pervaded by the Divine Consciousness. (Viṣṇu means That which pervades the entire universe and everything in it.) It is the undifferentiated Ocean of Being. When this stage is achieved then the person is freed from the idea that the world is separate and independent from us and that it is an ultimate source of abiding pleasure and joy. STAGE 2. The second stage is sarūpya or sadhārmya — corresponding to

660-511: Is an additional means for a yogi or yogini to journey towards and experience the bliss of "one realized god-consciousness for oneself". In the second view, sexuality is a yogic practice, and one broadly revered through the lingam – yoni iconography of Shiva – Parvati , the divine yogi–yogini in Hindu mythology. Both a yogi and a philosopher are seekers of an absolute truth. But they differ in their modes of approach. A philosopher advances in

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720-408: Is an adjective derived from a combination of Sanskrit noun जीव jīva , "life", and the past participle of the verb मुच् (much, or IAST muc), "to liberate". Monier-Williams gives the meaning "emancipated while still alive". Jīvanmukti ( Sanskrit : जीवन्मुक्ति: ), the corresponding abstract noun means, "liberation during life, liberation before death", or "emancipation while still alive". This

780-418: Is believing in the distinction between Jiva (living being) and god as if they have different forms. The second delusion, asserts the text, is equating agency (actor-capacity, person-ego) as Self. Assuming Jiva as equivalent and permanently attached to body is the third delusion, states the text. The fourth delusion is to assume the cause of the universe to be changing, and not constant. The fifth delusion, asserts

840-422: Is born of awareness, asserts the text, and the soul is Brahmanic bliss, a state of inner calm no matter what, one of contemplation, of tranquil aloneness, of perpetual quiescence. It is the mind that craves and clings for objects and sensory impulses, leading to bondage to the object and whoever controls the object, states the text. This causes suffering and the lack of true bliss. The awareness of this inner process,

900-569: Is called "sage" (muni). They wear clothes made of yellow rags fluttering in the wind, or perhaps more likely, they go naked, clad only in the yellow dust of the Indian soil. But their personalities are not bound to earth, for they follow the path of the mysterious wind when the gods enter them. He is someone lost in thoughts: he is miles away. The term yogin appears in Katyayana Shrauta-sutra and chapter 6 of Maitri Upanishad, where

960-568: Is called an avadhūta. Some avadhūtas also achieve the title of Paramahamsa . When a rishi (seer / sage) becomes a jīvanmukta then that rishi is called Brahmarshi . According to popular tradition, some examples of jivanmuktas are Parshvanatha , Mahāvīra , the Buddha , Adi Śankarā , Dnyāneshwar , Kabīr , Chaitanya Mahāprabhu , Rāmakrishna Paramahansa , Ramana Maharshi , Vedānta Deśika , Swāminārāyan , Nisargadatta Maharaj , and Swami Ramdas . They are believed to have realized

1020-621: Is called as mahāsamādhi . In the śramaṇic traditions, the jīvanmukta is called an arhat in Buddhism and arihant in Jainism. The Advaita school holds the view that the world appearance is owing to avidyā (ignorance) that has the power to project i.e. to superimpose the unreal on the real ( adhyāsa ), and also the power to conceal the real resulting in the delusion of the jīva who experiences objects created by his mind and sees difference in this world, he sees difference between

1080-469: Is commonly used to refer to final liberation, which occurs upon the death of the body of someone who has attained Jīvanmukti or Kaivalya during his or her lifetime. It implies the ultimate release of the soul ( ātman ) from saṃsāra and karma and merger of the ātman in Brahman . So when a jīvanmukta dies he becomes a paramukta. In the Hindu view, when an ordinary person dies and his physical body disintegrates,

1140-508: Is even-minded, states verse 1.54. Chapter 2 of the Upanishad describes the state of Jivanmukti, that is "spiritual liberation or freedom in the current life". It is a state, asserts the text, of non-attachment, neither of inactivity, nor of clinging to activities. Freedom is the inner sense of being active when one wants to and without craving for the fruits thereof, and it is the inner sense of not being active when one doesn't. His occupation

1200-491: Is everywhere in the world, all is one supreme sky, devoid of all duality, the free is being you, yourself, the Self and nothing else, states verse 2.39. The best renunciation, asserts the text, is through the virtue of knowledge to the state of Aloneness, as it reflects the state of pure universal Being where all is the manifestation of one Atman alone. Chapter 3 of the text describes the example of sage Mandavya who with yoga as

1260-443: Is fearless, cannot be subjugated nor depressed, he does not care about after life, is never attached to anything. He is a silent man, yet full of activity, quiet but delightful in his self, asserts the text. He knows, states the text, that "I am self that is the spirit, I am all, all is me, Brahman is the world, the world is Brahman, I am neither the cause nor the effect, vast and never finite". He knows, "I am That", states verse 5.74 of

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1320-516: Is freed from awareness of external objects and is no longer aware of any difference between the inner ātman and Brahman, or between Brahman and the world. He knows that he is the same as Brahman and has an experiences infinite consciousness. "Vijnātabrahmatattvasya yathāpūrvam na samsrtih" – "there is no saṃsāra as before for one who has known Brahman". There are three kinds of prārabdha karma : Ichha ("personally desired"), anichhā ("without desire") and parechhā ("due to others' desire"). For

1380-567: Is intimacy with the Divine — corresponding to the unconscious dreamless state of consciousness – God-realization occurs when the nature of the saguṇa īśvara is cognized and one surrenders to Him/Her. When this stage is achieved, the person is freed from all self-effort to achieve liberation, from religion and its bondage, and the relinquishes all self-imposed burdens – achieving a state of equanimity, tranquility, abiding joy and peace. STAGE 4. The final stage sāyujya — communion with, or unification with

1440-450: Is liberated while living and not yet dead. The jivanmukt being is termed as sayogi-kevali (enlightened one with the body) or Arihant in Jainism. The state is the aim of moksh a in Vedānta , Yoga and other schools of Hinduism, and it is referred to as jīvanmukti . Jīvanmuktas are also called ātma- jnāni (self-realized) because they are knowers of their true self ( ātman ) and

1500-607: Is listed at number 70 in the Telugu language anthology of 108 Upanishads of the Muktika canon, narrated by Rama to Hanuman . The text consists of five chapters, with a cumulative total of 337 verses. The text opens with yogin Nidagha meeting the one who knows Brahman , the Vedic sage Ribhu, paying respects and then asking, "teach me the truth about Atman (soul, Self)". Ribhu begins his answer, in verses 1 to 12, by disclosing

1560-453: Is neither doing nor non-doing, his true occupation is Self-delight. The truly free doesn't want anything or anyone, he is "steadfast, blissful, polished, simple, sweet, without self-pity", and he works and lives because he wants to, without "craving for what is yet to be, or banking on the present, or remembering the past", is a " Jivanmukta (liberated in life)" states verses 2.28–29. Inner peace Though standing, walking, touching, smelling,

1620-565: Is the only meaning given in authoritative dictionaries of classical Sanskrit, including Monier-Williams. Other translations, not found in standard dictionaries and therefore presumably of more modern date, include "self realization", "living liberation", "enlightenment", "liberated soul", or "self liberation". The various texts and schools of Hinduism describe the jīvanmukti state of existence as one of liberation and freedom reached within one's life. Some contrast jīvanmukti with videhamukti (moksha from samsāra after death). Jīvanmukti

1680-559: The Advaita Vedanta doctrine of non-duality and oneness of all souls and the metaphysical Brahman , defining spiritual liberation as being unattached to anything and freedom from inner clingings. The text describes Jivanmukti – achieving freedom in this life, and the characteristics of those who reach self-knowledge. The author and the century in which Annapurna Upanishad was composed is unknown. Manuscripts of this text are also found titled as Annapurnopanisad . This Upanishad

1740-661: The Annapurna Upanishad . Yogi A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga , including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions . The feminine form, sometimes used in English, is yogini . Yogi has since the 12th century CE also denoted members of the Nath siddha tradition of Hinduism , and in Hinduism , Buddhism and Jainism , a practitioner of tantra . In Hindu mythology,

1800-468: The ātman ("the individual self") and Brahman ("the supreme Self"). This delusion caused by ignorance is destroyed when ignorance itself is destroyed by knowledge. When all delusion is removed there remains no awareness of difference. He who sees no difference between Self and Brahman is said to be a jīvanmukta. A jīvanmukta experiences infinite knowledge, infinite power, and infinite bliss while alive and also after death i.e., after becoming parāmukta, while

1860-554: The 11th and 12th centuries, when Buddhists in South India converted to Nath siddha traditions and helped establish Shiva Hindu temples and monasteries. Jivanmukta Traditional A jīvanmukta , literally meaning 'liberated while living', is a person who, in the Jain and Vedānta philosophy, has gained complete self-knowledge and self-realisation and attained kaivalya (enlightenment) or moksha (liberation), thus

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1920-584: The Absolute Godhead — corresponding to the Turīya or inconceivable and inexpressible fourth state of consciousness – a merging with the Godhead bordering on complete identity. When this stage is achieved, then the person becomes a complete jīvanmukta and gets absolute freedom from rebirth and suffering — this is the final stage of Brahma-nirvāna. The Advaita philosophy rests on the premise that noumenally

1980-521: The Absolute alone exists, Nature, Souls and God are all merged in the Absolute; the Universe is one, that there is no difference within it, or without it; Brahman is alike throughout its structure, and the knowledge of any part of it is the knowledge of the whole ( Brihadarānyaka Upanishad II.4.6-14), and, since all causation is ultimately due to Brahman, since everything beside Brahman is an appearance,

2040-553: The Atman is the only entity that exists and nothing else. All elements emanated from the Atman ( Taittirīya Upanishad II.1) and all existence is based on Intellect ( Aitareya Upanishad III.3). The universe created by Brahman from a part of itself is thrown out and re-absorbed by the Immutable Brahman ( Mundaka Upanishad I.1.7). Therefore, the jīva (the individual self) is non-different from Brahman (the supreme Self), and

2100-659: The Deccan, western and northern states of India and in Nepal. In some contexts, adds White, the term yogi has also been a pejorative term used in medieval India for a Nath siddha, particularly on the part of India's social, cultural and religious elites. The term siddha has become a broad sectarian appellation, applying to Saiva-devotees in the Deccan ( Maheśvara siddhas ), alchemists in Tamil Nadu ( siddhars or sittars ),

2160-422: The Self ( atman ) within their lifetime by traveling the path of pure spirituality . After achieving enlightenment and the state of jivanmukti , they are regarded to have negated their karma . According to their followers, they are said to have retained their bodies to disseminate their wisdom to the masses. After their death, they are believed to have attained paramukti . Jīvanmukta ( Sanskrit : जीवन्मुक्त )

2220-432: The Upanishad, is to presume the unchanging Reality in the universe to be different from the cause of the universe. These five delusive premises, asserts the text, prevents the understanding of Self. Verses 1.22 to 1.39 of the text discuss the soul and one's true identity as that "which is the indestructible, infinite, Spirit, the Self of everything, integral, replete, abundant and partless", translates Warrier. Self-knowledge

2280-572: The attenuation of such mind, and the refocussed concentration on the soul leads to "inner cool" and "self love". The Upanishad states that just like one walks through an active crowd in a market, aware only of one's loved ones and goals, and unaware of those unrelated, in the same way, the one with self-knowledge is like a village in the forest of life. A Self-knower is not swung either by sorrow or by joy, he beholds all living beings as his own self, he fears no one, and other people's possessions means nothing to him. They are inwardly withdrawn, and to them

2340-409: The city, the country side and the forest are spiritually equivalent. They have an inner thirst, asserts the Upanishad, and the world is forever interesting to those with self-knowledge. The Annapurna Upanishad , through sage Ribhu in verse 1.40, asks the yogin to introspect, "who am I? how is the universe brought about? what is it? how does birth and death happen?" It is this sort of questions, asserts

2400-567: The conventional sense of the word. The Nath Yogis were targets of Islamic persecution in the Mughal Empire . The texts of Yogi traditions from this period, state Shail Mayaram, refer to oppressions by Mughal officials such as governor. The Mughal documents confirm the existence of Nath Yogis in each pargana (household neighborhoods), and their persecution wherein Nath Yogis were beheaded by Aurangzeb . According to David Lorenzen,

2460-520: The dreaming state of consciousness – realization that every being is interconnected and all "apparently" separate jīvas are embodiments of the One Divine Consciousness. When this stage is achieved then the person gets the freedom from ahaṅkāra - the notion of self-identity and the notion of difference from the other, thus being able to cultivate empathy with all and universal compassion for all beings. STAGE 3. The third stage sāmīpya —

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2520-420: The god Shiva and the goddess Parvati are depicted as an emblematic yogi–yogini pair. Traditional In Classical Sanskrit , the word yogi ( Sanskrit : masc yogī , योगी ; fem yoginī ) is derived from yogin , which refers to a practitioner of yoga. Yogi is technically male, and yoginī is the term used for female practitioners. The two terms are still used with those meanings today, but

2580-480: The heights of spiritual bliss to the heaviness of earth-bound labor. This is true of man in general and the [Vedic] Keśin in particular, but the latter has mastered and transformed these contrary forces and is a visible embodiment of accomplished spirituality. He is said to be light and enlightenment itself. The Keśin does not live a normal life of convention. His hair and beard grow longer, he spends long periods of time in absorption, musing and meditating and therefore he

2640-598: The implied context and meaning is "a follower of the Yoga system, a contemplative saint". The term sometimes refers to a person who belongs to the Natha tradition. They usually belong to Shaiva tradition, but some Natha belong to the Vaishnava tradition. In both cases, states David Lorenzen, they practice yoga and their principal god tends to be Nirguna , that is a god that is without form and semi- monistic , influenced in

2700-405: The liberated one, devoid of all clingings, gets rid of servitude to desires and dualities; he is at peace. A shoreless ocean of excellences, he crosses the sea of sufferings, because he keeps to this vision, even in the midst of vexed activities. — Annapurna Upanishad 4.63–4.64 He reaches this state because "all the world is his Self alone", self-realization is the plenitude that

2760-415: The means to withdraw the self from the senses, reached self-knowledge. This description, states Andrew Fort, is representative of Yogic Advaita themes. Chapter 4 states that those who seek and know the Self have no interest in supernatural Siddhi powers, they are more childlike because they enjoy the childlike inner freedom. In verse 39 the Upanishad states "Without sound reasoning it is impossible to conquer

2820-536: The medieval era by the Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism, Madhyamaka school of Buddhism, as well as Tantra and Yogic practices. The Yoga-Bhashya (400 CE), the oldest extant commentary on the Yoga-Sutra offers the following fourfold classification of yogis: A yogi or yogini aspires to Brahmacharya (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मचर्य), which means celibacy if single, or non-cheating on one's partner. There have been two parallel views, in Hindu texts, on sexuality for

2880-431: The mind". The verses 4.40 to 4.92 of the text describe the state of a liberated person, as one who has achieved tranquility in his soul and has destroyed the craving and clinging processes of the mind. The text, in chapter 5, continues its description of the liberated person with self-knowledge and free spirit. The one with free spirit, asserts the text, knows his soul to be of the "nature of light, of right knowledge", he

2940-401: The non-springing of the sense of the "I" (in things which are the ānatman ) is the extreme limit of bodhā ("awakening"), and the non-springing again of the modifications which have ceased is the extreme limit of Uparati ("abstinence"). The jīvanmukta gains divine and infinite knowledge and has complete self-knowledge and Self-realization. A jīvanmukta, by reason of his ever being Brahman,

3000-487: The path of rational logic (theory) and wants to intellectually understand the Truth. A yogi advances in the path of self discipline (practice) and aspires to spiritually realize truth. —Akshaya Banerjea, Philosophy of Gorakhnath A yogi or yogini lives by other voluntary ethical precepts called Yamas and Niyamas . These include: According to David White, [S]iddha means 'realized, perfected one',

3060-412: The person's unresolved karma causes his ātman to pass on to a new birth; and thus the kārmic inheritance is reborn in one of the many realms of samsāra . However, when a person attains jīvanmukti, he is liberated from kārmic rebirth. When such a person dies and his physical body disintegrates, his cycle of rebirth ends and he become one with Brahman. That person is said to have achieved parāmukti and become

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3120-779: The religious groups in Hinduism that militarized and took up arms following the Muslim conquest of India , to resist persecution, appeared among the Nath or Kanphata yogis, often called simply yogis or jogis. The warrior ascetics were institutionalized as a religious order by Gorakhnath and were expanding in the 13th century, after the establishment of the first Islamic Sultanate in India. They interacted and cooperated with fakirs of Sufi Muslims. The yogis feature prominently in Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire period official documents, states David White, both in terms of impressing

3180-634: The ruling elite in the Muslim administration and awards of receiving land grants in some cases such as by Akbar , as well as those yogis who targeted the elite merchants and disrupted the business of administrative Islamic elites in urban areas. In other cases, yogis from the Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism traditions of Hinduism marshaled armed resistance against the Mughal and British colonial armies. The history of Nath yogis has been diverse, such as in

3240-466: The scorn of the elite classes. According to White, the term yogi , has "for at least eight hundred years, been an all-purpose term employed to designate those Saiva specialists whom orthodox Hindus have considered suspect, heterodox, and even heretical in their doctrine and practice". The yoga as practiced by these Yogis, states White, is more closely identified in the eyes of those critics with black magic, sorcery and sexual perversions than with yoga in

3300-407: The source of his knowledge, which he attributes to goddess Annapurna, calling her the ruler of the world, the goddess of fulfillment, desire and humanity. Ribhu states that he reached the goddess using the prayers developed by the group of female monks. After many days of prayers, states Ribhu, the goddess Annapurna appeared, smiling. She asked him what boon he wanted, and Ribhu replied, "I want to know

3360-729: The term yogi refers to an adherent of yoga . The earliest evidence of yogis and their spiritual tradition, states Karel Werner , is found in the Keśin hymn 10.136 of the Rigveda , though with the terminology of Rudra who evolved into Shiva worshipped as the lord of Yoga in later Hinduism. The Hindu scripture Rigveda uses words of admiration for the Yogis, whom it refers to as Kesin, and describes them as follows (abridged): Carrying within oneself fire and poison, heaven and earth, ranging from enthusiasm and creativity to depression and agony, from

3420-414: The text, that leads one to investigate one's real nature, cure meaningless feverishness of mind, and comprehend the temporariness of life. Renounce all the cravings and objects, obliterate all clingings, states the text in verses 1.44 to 1.57, and assimilate the answers that remain. Mind is the source of bondage, mind liquidates mind, and mind helps attain freedom, asserts the text. The one with self-knowledge

3480-784: The truth about soul". The goddess just vanished, giving him silence, and the introspection in this silence, states Ribhu, revealed him the Self-knowledge. Self love But the lover of the inner Self, though operating through the organs of action, is unaffected by joy and sorrow, he is said to be in Samahita (harmony). He who, as a matter of course and not through fear, beholds all beings as one’s own Self, and others’ possessions as clods of earth, alone sees aright. — Annapurna Upanishad 1.37–38 Translated by AGK Warrier The Annapurna Upanishad asserts, in verses 1.13 to 1.15, that delusions are of five kinds. The first

3540-437: The universal self, hence also called Brahma-jñāni . At the end of their lives, jīvanmuktas destroy remaining karmas and attain parāmukti (final liberation) and become parāmukta . When a jīvanmukta gives his insight to others and teaches them about his/her realisation of the true nature of the ultimate reality (Brahman) and self ( Atman ), taking the role of a guru to show the path of Moksha to others, then that jīvanmukta

3600-429: The word yogi is also used generically to refer to both male and female practitioners of yoga and related meditative practices belonging to any religion or spiritual method. The term yogini is also used for divine goddesses and enlightened mothers, all revered as aspects of the mother goddess , Devi . A yogi should not be confused with someone practicing asceticism and excessive self-mortification. In Hinduism

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