Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori

FOUR AIMS OF BEING 151
mārga. Unless and until there is renunciation on entrance
upon the path of return, where inclination ceases (nivṛ
tti-marga), man must work for the ultimate goal by
meritorious acts (dharma), desires (kāma), and by the
lawful means (artha) whereby the lawful desires which
give birth to righteous acts are realized. Whilst on the
pravṛ tti-mārga “the trivarga should be equally cultivated,
for he who is addicted to one only is despicable”
(dharmārthakāmāh samameva sevyāh yo hyekasaktah
sa jano-jaganyah). 1
MOKṢ A
Of the four aims, moksa or mukti is the truly ultimate
end, for the other three are ever haunted by the
fear of Death, the Ender. 2
Mukti means “loosening” or liberation. It is advisable
to avoid the term “salvation,” as also other Christian
terms, which connote different, though in a loose sense,
analogous ideas. According to the Christian doctrine
(soteriology), faith in Christ’s Gospel and in His Church
effects salvation, which is the forgiveness of sins
mediated by Christ’s redeeming activity, saving from
judgment, and admitting to the Kingdom of God. On
the other hand, mukti means loosening from the bonds
of the saṃsara (phenomenal existence), resulting in a
union (of various degrees of completeness) of the embodied
spirit (jīvātmā) or individual life with the Supreme
Spirit (paramātmā). Liberation can be attained by spiri-
1 As, for instance, a householder, who spends all his time in worship to
the neglect of his family and worldly estate. The Śāstra says, “either one
thing or theother; when in the world be rightly of it; when adopting the specifically
religious life, leave it”—a statement of the maxim “be thorough.”
2 Viṣṇu-Bhāgavata, IV., xxii, 34, 35.