The Secret Doctrine of Goddess Lalita
(Sri LalitaAṣṭottara Rahasyārthamu)
7. paśupāśa vimōchanī 8.muktidā
She who liberates the ignorant from bondage.
She who gives liberation.
Devi appears in the form of a Guru to give Self-Knowledge, which is the essence of the scripture. This nāma describes how this Knowledge benefits us. The benefit is paśupāśa vimōchanī, freedom from the bondage of ignorance. That which is bound by a pāśaṃ (rope) is a paśu (beast). This includes four-legged and two-legged creatures like animals and humans. Humans are bound by many ropes (kleśa-s) or afflictions: avidyā (ignorance), asmitā (ego), rāga (likes), dveṣa (dislikes), and abhīnavesa (fear of death). These afflictions are the five ropes that bind us in saṃsāra. The first affliction, avidyā, is the lack of knowledge that I and everything I perceive are One (Consciousness). Like a thick curtain, avidyā veils our true nature, which is Pure Consciousness. As a result, we perceive Consciousness as limited to our body. This ignorance leads to asmitā (ego) and the feeling of separateness. This feeling of separateness is the second rope that binds us in saṃsāra.
Likes and dislikes are the two additional ropes that bind us. We are happy when our desires are satisfied and miserable when they are not. As long as we are identified with the body, we are subjected to likes and dislikes. Obsession with our likes and dislikes strengthens our identification with the body and our fear of death. This is the fifth affliction. avidyā is tamas (ignorance), asmitā is moham (infatuation), rāga is mahāmoha (attachment), dveṣa is tāmisram (darkness), and abhīnavesa is andha tāmisram (dense darkness). These five afflictions are the five hells that humans are trapped in. While the first affliction (avidyā) is somewhat visible to us, the last one (abhīnavesa) is completely invisible.
Bound by these five afflictions, the jīva is reduced to a beast. The first affliction, avidyā, is the source of the other afflictions. If avidyā is removed, the rest of the afflictions will fall away on their own. ātmajñāna (Self-Knowledge) is the only means for getting rid of avidyā. The moment Devī graces the jīva with Self-Knowledge, along with avidyā, the rest of the kleśa-s disappear. The jīva is freed from the beast-like qualities that bind it in saṃsāra.
This freedom is liberation. It is the mokṣa that Devi bestows on us. Hence, Devi is revered as muktidā, the one who liberates. Several questions might arise at this point. Is it really possible to attain mokṣa, for instant Knowledge to arise? Isn’t Knowledge a vṛtti, a thought-modification, a mental activity? Even if the mind attains Self-Knowledge, can it really dissolve the physical world? Don’t we need to make some physical effort to get rid of the world after the Knowledge arises?
There is no scope for such doubts to arise. Knowledge of the Self is not like other types of knowledge. Even if it is a vṛtti, it is not khaṇḍa (divisive) vṛtti. It is the undifferentiated vṛtti of the Infinite Consciousness. It is devoid of all divisions (names and forms). It permeates not only the mind of the seeker, but also everything he or she perceives. Names and forms lose their separate existence. Consciousness alone remains. Names and forms derive their existence from Consciousness, and have no existence of their own. Therefore, the moment the Knowledge of the Self arises, ignorance disappears. Together with ignorance, the world, also disappears. Therefore, no separate effort is required to get rid of the world when Knowledge arises. The instant Knowledge arises, one is free from bondage, and the moment one is free from bondage, one is liberated!