ABSTRACT
Among the puruṣārthas, the recognized Hindu life values, the highest position was always accorded to mokṣa, variously translated as liberation, emancipation, or salvation from rebirth. (The noun mokṣa, as also its synonym mukti, is derived from the Sanskrit verbal root muc, to liberate, to make free. Someone who has found mokṣa/mukti is called a mukta [m]/muktā [m]/muktā[f].) Hindus were convinced that humans needed most of all an orientation towards the absolute, that one had to be guided by a great idea that transcended the petty concerns of everyday life, a goal that made life as a whole meaningful and worthwhile. Thus it is not surprising that much of Hindu literature is concerned with mokṣa and the ways to find it.
