Mumukshu - Base & Intermediate Levels - Part 1 of 3

An one-pointed intense desire for mokSha is mumukShutvaM. ( Here I have used the word ‘mokSha’ instead of ‘brahman-realisation’. The former is the layman’s understanding of it and the Acharya also follows the same; so I shall also go by the same tradition).

But even those who may not have that intensity of anguish for mokSha, he accepts them, with a gracious mind, as base level (*manda*) and intermediate level (*madhyama*) and in the next shloka enthuses them.

In all SAdhanAs and upAsanAs, there are three levels – manda, madhyama, and uttama (top) – and accordingly practitioners are spoken of as ‘mandA-dhikAri’, ‘madhyamA-dhikAri’ and ‘uttamA-dhikAri’.

In advaita-SAdhanA, only those who have reached a reasonable top level will have the deep desire for mokSha. In other words, only an uttamAdhikAri throws away all other desires and focusses on mokSha as the single goal.

(Continued...)