Advaita Vedanta

Bandha and Moksha — Bondage and Liberation in Maya

In Advaita Vedanta, both bondage and liberation are within the realm of Maya — the Atman is eternally free, and neither bondage nor liberation truly applies to it.

One of Advaita's most paradoxical teachings: both Bandha (bondage) and Moksha (liberation) are within the framework of Maya — they apply to the apparent individual (Jivatman), not to the Atman itself. The Atman is nitya mukta (eternally free) — it was never actually bound, so strictly speaking it cannot be liberated either. What we call 'liberation' is the recognition that what we took to be bondage was always only apparent. This creates a curious pedagogical situation: the teacher must use the language of liberation (to give the student something to aim for) while knowing that liberation is ultimately the recognition that there was never bondage. Shankara navigates this by distinguishing between the standpoint of Avidya (where bondage and liberation are real) and the standpoint of Brahma Jnana (where neither applies). Nisargadatta Maharaj expressed this most sharply: 'Liberation is not the result of some achievement. The very notion of liberation implies bondage. Abandon even liberation.'

The Atman is never bound and never liberated. To speak of liberation is to speak from the standpoint of ignorance — but even so, it must be spoken.

Mandukya Upanishad Karika, Mandukya Upanishad Karika 2.32

Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein's 'ladder' metaphor in the Tractatus — 'my propositions serve as elucidations in the following way: anyone who understands me eventually recognizes them as nonsensical, when he has used them — as steps — to climb up beyond them' — describes precisely the Advaita pedagogical use of liberation language: it is the ladder that is thrown away once the top is reached.

Mandukya Upanishad Karika

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