Kaivalya: 22 definitions
Introduction:
Kaivalya means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
Alternative spellings of this word include Kaivaly.
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana IndexKaivalya (कैवल्य).—The state of becoming one with the Brahman; one gets this at Benares;1 arises from jñāna.2
The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.
Yoga (school of philosophy)
Source: WikiPedia: YogaKaivalya (कैवल्य) is the ultimate goal of Rāja-yoga and means “solitude”, “detachment” or “isolation”, a vrddhi-derivation from kevala “alone, isolated”. It is the isolation of puruṣa from prakṛti, and subsequent liberation from rebirth. The terms kevala, kaivalya, or kaivalya-mukti are encountered in the Upaniṣads, including the Śvetāśvatara (I and VI) Kaivalya (25), the Amṛtabindu (29) and the Muktikā (1.18, 26, 31) Upaniṣads.
The Yogatattva-upaniṣad (16-18) reads, “kaivalya is the very nature of the self, the supreme state (paramam padam). It is without parts and is stainless. It is the direct intuition of the Real-existence, intelligence and bliss. it is devoid of birth, existence, destruction, recognition, and experience. This is called knowledge.”
Yoga is originally considered a branch of Hindu philosophy (astika), but both ancient and modern Yoga combine the physical, mental and spiritual. Yoga teaches various physical techniques also known as āsanas (postures), used for various purposes (eg., meditation, contemplation, relaxation).
Samkhya (school of philosophy)
Source: Shodhganga: Prakrti and purusa in Samkhyakarika an analytical reviewKaivalya (कैवल्य, “isolation”) refers to “isolation or absolute freedom”. The isolation (kaivalya) of puruṣa is inferred on the basis of its being totally opposite of the three guṇas. What is kaivalya? Vācaspti replies that kaivalya (isolation) denotes total absence of three types of sorrow (duḥkha). Gauḍapāda analyses the concept of kaivalya in more simple and clear manner. He says “kaivalya is the property of being isolated, having detached from others. That means the isolated element (puruṣa) is distinct from the three guṇas”. As the puruṣa is totally opposite of the three guṇas, so isolation (kaivalya) i.e total absence of the three types of sorrow (duḥkha) is natural in case of puruṣa. Absence of three guṇas (atraiguṇya) denotes absence of pleasure, pain and bewilderment (sukhaduḥkhamoharahittva).
Source: ORA: Amanaska (king of all yogas): (samkhya philosophy)Kaivalya (कैवल्य) refers to “(the state of) isolation”, according to the Sāṅkhyakārikā.—In Brahmanical literature, udāsīna often means a neutral person, such as in the compound; “friends, neutrals and enemies”. [...] Also, udāsīna has been used in the Sāṅkhyakārikā to qualify the individual soul (puruṣa). After describing the qualities of the Puruṣa as the state of witnessing, isolation (kaivalya), neutrality, awareness and non-agency in Kārikā 19, the Sāṅkhyakārikā (20) then qualifies Puruṣa as udāsīna.
Samkhya (सांख्य, Sāṃkhya) is a dualistic school of Hindu philosophy (astika) and is closeley related to the Yoga school. Samkhya philosophy accepts three pramanas (‘proofs’) only as valid means of gaining knowledge. Another important concept is their theory of evolution, revolving around prakriti (matter) and purusha (consciousness).
Vaishnavism (Vaishava dharma)
Source: VedaBase: Śrīmad BhāgavatamKaivalya (कैवल्य) refers to “merging in the existence of the Lord”, according to the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.23.—[...] There are others, namely jñānīs and yogīs, who want the benediction of merging into the existence of the Lord. This is called kaivalya. [...] Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Prabhu, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya, described that kaivalya is no better than a hellish condition of life, and as for the delights of the heavenly planets, they are factually will-o'-the-wisps, or phantasmagoria. They are not wanted by devotees. Devotees do not even care for the positions held by Lord Brahmā or Lord Śiva, nor does a devotee desire to become equal with Lord Viṣṇu. As a pure devotee of the Lord, Pṛthu Mahārāja made his position very clear.
Source: Pure Bhakti: Bhagavad-gita (4th edition)Kaivalya (कैवल्य) refers to “oneness, or mukti”. (cf. Glossary page from Śrīmad-Bhagavad-Gītā).
Vaishnava (वैष्णव, vaiṣṇava) or vaishnavism (vaiṣṇavism) represents a tradition of Hinduism worshipping Vishnu as the supreme Lord. Similar to the Shaktism and Shaivism traditions, Vaishnavism also developed as an individual movement, famous for its exposition of the dashavatara (‘ten avatars of Vishnu’).
Vedanta (school of philosophy)
Source: Shodhganga: Siva Gita A Critical StudyKaivalya (कैवल्य, “liberation”) refers to “absolute oneness, aloneness, perfect detachment, freedom”.—Kaivalya is the term used by Patañjali and others in the yoga tradition to name the goal and fulfillment of yoga, the state of complete detachment from transmigration. It is virtually synonymous with mokṣa.
Vedanta (वेदान्त, vedānta) refers to a school of orthodox Hindu philosophy (astika), drawing its subject-matter from the Upanishads. There are a number of sub-schools of Vedanta, however all of them expound on the basic teaching of the ultimate reality (brahman) and liberation (moksha) of the individual soul (atman).
Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)
Source: Google Books: ManthanabhairavatantramKaivalya (कैवल्य) refers to “liberation”, according to the Manthānabhairavatantra, a vast sprawling work that belongs to a corpus of Tantric texts concerned with the worship of the goddess Kubjikā.—Accordingly, “[...] I will now expound the sixfold introduction to the differentiated (sakala aspect). The Śāmbhava (state), supreme and tranquil, is above the six (Wheels). It is liberation (kaivalya), unique (kevala), tranquil, devoid of the Five Voids and beneficial. It is consciousness, supreme and pure. It is the inexplicable (kiñcit) Śāmbhava (state) that is pure consciousness (cinmātra). It is supreme. It is the supreme Nirvāṇa, the body made of consciousness along with Śiva. The subtle, pure consciousness of the Person is said to be subtle and omnipresent. (Thus) consciousness is said to be of three kinds, Individual (āṇava), Empowered (śākta), and Śāmbhava.
Shakta (शाक्त, śākta) or Shaktism (śāktism) represents a tradition of Hinduism where the Goddess (Devi) is revered and worshipped. Shakta literature includes a range of scriptures, including various Agamas and Tantras, although its roots may be traced back to the Vedas.
Pancaratra (worship of Nārāyaṇa)
Source: archive.org: Catalogue of Pancaratra Agama TextsKaivalya (कैवल्य) refers to “admission to paradise”, as discussed in chapter 1 (Jñānapāda) of the Padmasaṃhitā: the most widely followed of Saṃhitā covering the entire range of concerns of Pāñcarātra doctrine and practice (i.e., the four-fold formulation of subject matter—jñāna, yoga, kriyā and caryā) consisting of roughly 9000 verses.—Description of the chapter [śāstrāvatāra]: The setting is Kaṇva’s hermitage where sages, who have already mastered the Vedas and allied literatures, have gathered to ask what they must do to gain admission to paradise [kaivalya]. There, they are told to listen to Saṃvarta, who relates to them the technique of worship which leads to kaivalya. [...]
Pancaratra (पाञ्चरात्र, pāñcarātra) represents a tradition of Hinduism where Narayana is revered and worshipped. Closeley related to Vaishnavism, the Pancaratra literature includes various Agamas and tantras incorporating many Vaishnava philosophies.
Languages of India and abroad
Marathi-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionarykaivalya (कैवल्य).—n S Becoming one with the Deity; absorption into the Divine essence.
Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-Englishkaivalya (कैवल्य).—n Becoming one with the Deity, absorption into the Divine essence.
Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionaryKaivalya (कैवल्य).—[kevalasya bhāvaḥ ṣyañ]
1) Perfect isolation, soleness, exclusiveness.
2) Individuality; Bhāgavata 5.3.17.
3) Detachment of the soul from matter, identification with the supreme spirit.
4) Final emancipation or beatitude; Bhāgavata 1.8.27.
5) Everlasting disappearance of the three pains; कैवल्यं माध्यस्थ्यम् (kaivalyaṃ mādhyasthyam) Sāṃkhyakārikā 19.; कैवल्यार्थं प्रवृत्तेश्च (kaivalyārthaṃ pravṛtteśca) ibid. 17.
Derivable forms: kaivalyam (कैवल्यम्).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryKaivalya (कैवल्य).—mfn.
(-lyaḥ-lyī-lyaṃ) Sole, only. n.
(-lyaṃ) 1. Eternal emancipation, future happiness. 2. Exclusiveness, individuality. E. kevala alone, free from all fetters, ṣyañ affix of the abstract.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English DictionaryKaivalya (कैवल्य).—i. e. kevala + ya, n. 1. Complete absorption in the thought of the universal unity, absolute happiness, [Vedāntasāra, (in my Chrestomathy.)] in
Kaivalya (कैवल्य).—[neuter] exclusiveness, absolute oneness, eternal happiness, beatitude.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Kaivalya (कैवल्य):—n. ([from] kevala), isolation, [Vāmana’s Kāvyālaṃkāravṛtti]
2) absolute unity, [Vedāntasāra; Bhāgavata-purāṇa]
3) perfect isolation, abstraction, detachment from all other connections, detachment of the soul from matter or further transmigrations, beatitude, [Mahābhārata; Kapila’s Sāṃkhya-pravacana; Sāṃkhyakārikā] etc.
4) for vaikalya, [Rājataraṅgiṇī vii, 1149]
5) mf(ā)n. leading to eternal happiness or emancipation, [Mahābhārata xiii, 1101.]
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English DictionaryKaivalya (कैवल्य):—(lyaṃ) 1. n. Eternal emancipation; individuality. a. Sole, only.
Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)Kaivalya (कैवल्य) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Kevalia.
[Sanskrit to German]
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
Hindi dictionary
Source: DDSA: A practical Hindi-English dictionaryKaivalya (कैवल्य) [Also spelled kaivaly]:—(nm) the Ultimate Realisation, Eternal Emancipation, Perfect Liberation.
...
Kannada-English dictionary
Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpusKaivalya (ಕೈವಲ್ಯ):—
1) [noun] perfect isolation; absolute loneliness.
2) [noun] the state of being one with the Supreme; complete freedom from conditioned state of existence within the universe which are conjured by prakṛti, the divine nature.
3) [noun] in Sāṃkhya system of philosophy, the realisation of the final freedom of the individual.
4) [noun] in Yōga system, the final state of purity.
5) [noun] one of the Upaniṣads.
6) [noun] an important place.
7) [noun] the state of being perfectly pure.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with (+3): Kaivalyaballi, Kaivalyabodha, Kaivalyadani, Kaivalyadayaka, Kaivalyadayini, Kaivalyadipika, Kaivalyadyupanishada, Kaivalyakalikatantra, Kaivalyakalpadruma, Kaivalyam, Kaivalyananda, Kaivalyananda sarasvati, Kaivalyananda yogindra, Kaivalyapada, Kaivalyapati, Kaivalyaratna, Kaivalyartha, Kaivalyasaudhanihshreni, Kaivalyasaudhanihshrenika, Kaivalyashrama.
Ends with: Nitkaivalya, Videhakaivalya.
Full-text (+145): Kaivalyadipika, Nitkaivalya, Kaivalyatantra, Kaivalyopanishad, Kaivalyam, Dirghavishvavedasakaivalyadipika, Kaivalyapati, Kevalia, Kaivalyabodha, Kaivalyadayini, Kaivalyaballi, Kaivalyakalpadruma, Videhakaivalya, Kaivalyananda, Kaivalyadayaka, Kaivalyendra, Sarvashramin, Madhyasthya, Ninnayam, Bhutayoni.
Relevant text
Search found 113 books and stories containing Kaivalya; (plurals include: Kaivalyas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Yoga-sutras (with Bhoja’s Rajamartanda) (by Rajendralala Mitra)
Sūtra 4.33 < [Fourth Chapter (Samadhi Pada)]
Sūtra 2.25 < [Second Chapter (Sadhana Pada)]
Sūtra 3.50 < [Third Chapter (Vibhuti Pada)]
Yoga-sutras (with Vyasa and Vachaspati Mishra) (by Rama Prasada)
Sūtra 4.34 < [Book 4 - Absolute Independence (Kaivalya)]
Sūtra 3.54 < [Book 3 - Attainment (Vibhūti or Siddhi)]
Sūtra 3.49 < [Book 3 - Attainment (Vibhūti or Siddhi)]
Siddhanta Sangraha of Sri Sailacharya (by E. Sowmya Narayanan)
Yoga-sutras (Ancient and Modern Interpretations) (by Makarand Gopal Newalkar)
Sūtra 4.34 [ Kaivalya] < [Book IV - Kaivalya-pāda]
Sūtra 2.25-26 < [Book II - Sādhana-pāda]
Sūtra 3.50-51 < [Book III - Vibhūti-pāda]
The concept of Yoga in Yoga Upanishads (by Philomina T.L)
5. The Concept of Mokṣa (or Kaivalya) < [Chapter 2 - Principal Tenets of Yoga]
16. The Achievements of Yoga < [Chapter 4 - The contents of the Yogopaniṣads]
4. Mokṣa or Kaivalya (according to the Major Upaniṣads) < [Chapter 3 - The Reflections on Yoga in the Major Upaniṣads]
Cidgaganacandrika (study) (by S. Mahalakshmi)
Verse 53 [Ṣaḍadhvātīta and Bheda Bhāva] < [Chapter 2 - Second Vimarśa]
Related products
