Vimoksha, Vimokṣa: 15 definitions

Introduction
In Hinduism
1. Vyakarana
2. Purana
In Buddhism
Languages
1. Sanskrit
2. Kannada
See also

Introduction:

Vimoksha means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit. 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.

The Sanskrit term Vimokṣa can be transliterated into English as Vimoksa or Vimoksha, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

In Hinduism

Vyakarana (Sanskrit grammar)

Source: Wikisource: A dictionary of Sanskrit grammar

Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष).—Liberation of the last letter (especially a class consonant) of a word from phonetic modifications by coalescence with the initial letter of the following word, or liberation of modification of a consonant or vowel standing at the end of a verse or sometimes even in the middle of a verse; e.g. तत् नो मित्रः, सम् यौमि, संमधुमतीर्मधुमतीभिः पृच्यन्ताम् शुक्रं दुदुह्रे अह्नयः (tat no mitraḥ, sam yaumi, saṃmadhumatīrmadhumatībhiḥ pṛcyantām śukraṃ duduhre ahnayaḥ); cf. V. Pr.I.90,91.

context information

Vyakarana (व्याकरण, vyākaraṇa) refers to Sanskrit grammar and represents one of the six additional sciences (vedanga) to be studied along with the Vedas. Vyakarana concerns itself with the rules of Sanskrit grammar and linguistic analysis in order to establish the correct context of words and sentences.

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

Source: archive.org: Shiva Purana - English Translation

Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष) refers to the “process of release” (from animal-hood), according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.5.9 (“Śiva’s campaign”).—Accordingly, as Śiva said to the Gods: “O excellent gods, you will not fall even in your animal-hood. Let it be heard, and let the process of release (vimokṣa) from animal-hood be practised. He who performs the divine rite of Pāśupata will be released from animal-hood. I promise this to you. Be attentive. O excellent gods, there is no doubt about it that those who perform my Pāśupata rite will become liberated. He who renders service perpetually or for twelve years, becomes relieved of animal-hood. Hence O excellent gods, perform this divine rite. You will be released from animal-hood. There is no doubt about this”.

context information

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.

In Buddhism

Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)

Source: Wisdom Library: Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra

Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष) refers to the “eight liberations”, according to the 2nd century Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra chapter 32. In all, eight vimokṣas. They ‘turn the back’ on the five objects of enjoyment (kāmaguṇa) and [they ‘reject’] or eliminate the mind of attachment (saṅgacitta) towards them; this is why they are called ‘turning the mind and rejecting’ (vi-mokṣa).

The eight Vimokṣas according to Daśottarasūtra, Kośavyākhyā, Daśasāhasrikā, Śatasāhasrikā, Mahāvyutpatti:

1) First vimokṣa: Being [in the sphere of subtle form], he sees visibles; this is the first vimokṣa.

2) Second vimokṣa: Not having the notion of inner visibles, he sees outer visibles; this is the second vimokṣa.

3) Third vimokṣa: Producing the pleasant vimokṣa, he abides in this absorption; this is the third vimokṣa.

4) Fourth vimokṣa: By means of complete transcendence of notions of form, disappearance of notions of resistance, rejection of notions of multiplicity, he thinks: “Space is infinite” and he penetrates into the sphere of infinity of space and abides there in the manner of the gods attached to this sphere; this is the fourth vimokṣa.

5) Fifth vimokṣa: Further, having completely transcended the sphere of infinity of space, he thinks: ‘Consciousness is infinite”, he penetrates into the sphere of infinity of consciousness and abides there in the manner of the gods attached to this sphere; this is the fifth vimokṣa.

6) Sixth vimokṣa: Further, having completely transcended the sphere of infinity of consciousness, he thinks: “Nothing exists”, he penetrates into the sphere of nothing at all and abides there in the manner of the gods who are attached to it; this is the sixth vimokṣa.

7) Seventh vimokṣa: Further, having completely transcended the sphere of nothing at all, he penetrates into the sphere of neither identification nor non-identification and abides there in the manner of the gods who are attached to it; this is the seventh vimokṣa.

8) Eighth vimokṣa: Further, having completely transcended the sphere of neither identification nor non-identification, the cessation of notions and sensations being realized, he penetrates into it and abides there; this is the eighth vimokṣa.

Source: academia.edu: A Study and Translation of the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā

Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष) refers to the “eight liberations”, according to the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā: the eighth chapter of the Mahāsaṃnipāta (a collection of Mahāyāna Buddhist Sūtras).—Accordingly as The Lord said: “O Śāriputra, from innumerable aeons ago (asaṃkhyeya-kalpa), the Bodhisatvas in the Mahāvyūha universe have been in accordance with the [perfection of] giving as adorned with generosity, [...] have played with every [four] meditations, [eight] liberations (vimokṣa), concentrations, attainments of meditation, and supernormal knowledge as adorned with meditation, have been free from all habits of vice which is succeedingly originated because of karmic impressions as adorned with knowledge, [...]”.

context information

Mahayana (महायान, mahāyāna) is a major branch of Buddhism focusing on the path of a Bodhisattva (spiritual aspirants/ enlightened beings). Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. There are many sūtras of which some of the earliest are the various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.

Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

Source: Brill: Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions (tantric Buddhism)

Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष) refers to the “(four) liberation (faces)”, according to the Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī by Vilāsavajra, which is a commentary on the Nāmasaṃgīti.—Accordingly, [while describing Mahāvairocana]—“And then [the Sādhaka should visualise] Mahāvairocana on the principal seat, generated by means of the syllable āḥ. [Why has he four faces?] Since consciousness—which is of the nature of the Dharma-Sphere since, by its nature, it lacks such forms as the grasped [i.e., the subject-object duality]—is four-faced. [This is] because the four liberation faces [/doors] (catur-vimokṣa-mukha)—emptiness and the rest—are the cause of the origination of all meditative concentrations, [and this in turn is] because their ground is the Dharma-Sphere. [...]”.

context information

Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.

General definition (in Buddhism)

Source: Wisdom Library: Dharma-samgraha

1) Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष, “liberation”) or Aṣṭavimokṣa refers to a set of “eight liberations” as defined in the Dharma-saṃgraha (section 59):

one having form perceives forms as empty,
not perceiving forms internally, one perceives forms externally as empty,
one perceives being resolved on beauty as empty,
one perceives the sphere of endless space as empty,
one perceives the sphere of endless consciousness as empty,
one perceives the sphere of nothingness as empty,
one perceives the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception as empty,
one perceives the sphere of the cessation of perception and feeling as empty.

The Dharma-samgraha (Dharmasangraha) is an extensive glossary of Buddhist technical terms in Sanskrit (e.g., vimokṣa). The work is attributed to Nagarjuna who lived around the 2nd century A.D.

2) Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष, “liberation”) or Trivimokṣa refers to the “three liberations” as defined in the Dharma-saṃgraha (section 73):

śūnyata (empty),
animitta (signless),
apraṇihita (desireless).

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष).—

1) Release, liberation, freeing; सा त्वं सर्वविमोक्षाय तत्त्वमाख्याहि पृच्छतः (sā tvaṃ sarvavimokṣāya tattvamākhyāhi pṛcchataḥ) Mahābhārata (Bombay) 5.19.19.

2) Discharging, shooting.

3) Final emancipation or beatitude.

4) Gift, bestowal (of wealth); वसुनां च विमोक्षस्य (vasunāṃ ca vimokṣasya) Rām.2.23.38.

Derivable forms: vimokṣaḥ (विमोक्षः).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary

Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष).—m. (Sanskrit id., Pali vimokkha), release, salvation. As in Pali, there are three, or eight, vi°; the three are in Pali suññato, animitto, appaṇihito vi°, ex- plained Vism. 658, and in Dharmasaṃgraha 73 śūnyato 'nimitto 'praṇihitaś ca; in Mahāvyutpatti 1541—4, three vi°-mukhāni, approach- es, entrances to…, listed as śūnyatā-, animittaṃ (sc. °mukham), apraṇihitaṃ; references to the three (or three- fold) vi° (often followed by -mukha, or corruptly -sukha), Lalitavistara 9.6; 181.20; 205.3; 359.22; 374.10; Gaṇḍavyūha 472.9; in Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra 163.4 vimokṣa-traya seems, however, to mean the opposite of the three saṃgati (q.v. 2), which seems to mean the three saṃdhi (q.v. 6); the eight vi° explained at length Mahāvyutpatti 1510—1518 (corresp. to Pali vimokkha); more briefly, and with accidental omission of the third, Dharmasaṃgraha 59; references to 8 vi°, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka 150.2; 180.1 (prose, read aṣṭavi- mokṣā(ḥ) with mss., [bahuvrīhi], possessing the 8 vimokṣa, exactly like ṣaḍabhijñā(ḥ) just before; note in ed. and em. wrong); 202.11; Avadāna-śataka ii.69.2; Bodhisattva-vimokṣa means a Mahāyāna method of salvation; various fanciful names are given to such mystical (and not specifically described) methods; e.g. in Gaṇḍavyūha 261.4 a ‘night-goddess’ claims to have learned the Bodhisattva-vi° called samanta- bhadraprītivipulavimalavegadhvaja. See also vimukti.

--- OR ---

Vimokṣā (विमोक्षा).—name of a dhāraṇī: Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā 50.4 (prose).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष).—m.

(-kṣaḥ) 1. Liberation, freedom, being or letting loose. 2. Discharging, shooting. 3. Final emancipation. E. vi before mokṣa the same.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष).—[vi-mokṣ + a], m. 1. Letting loose. 2. Deliverance (from embarrassment), Chr. 54, 19. 3. Dismissing unhurt, [Mānavadharmaśāstra] 8, 316. 4. Final emancipation, [Bhagavadgītā, (ed. Schlegel.)] 16, 5; [Vedāntasāra, (in my Chrestomathy.)] in Chr. 217, 7.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष).—[masculine] getting loose, opening ([intransitive]); loosening, setting free, sending forth, shooting off, giving, bestowing; release etc. = vimukti.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1) Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष):—[=vi-mokṣa] [from vi-mokṣ] m. the being loosened or undone, [Pāraskara-gṛhya-sūtra]

2) [v.s. ...] release, deliverance from ([ablative] or [compound]), [Mahābhārata; Rāmāyaṇa] etc.

3) [v.s. ...] liberation of the soul id est. final emancipation (sometimes 8, sometimes 3 kinds are enumerated cf. [Dharmasaṃgraha 59] and 73), [Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa; Bhagavad-gītā] etc.

4) [v.s. ...] letting loose, setting at liberty (a thief), [Manu-smṛti viii, 3, 16]

5) [v.s. ...] giving up, abandoning, [Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā-prātiśākhya; Mahābhārata]

6) [v.s. ...] letting flow, shedding (of tears), [Mahābhārata]

7) [v.s. ...] gift, bestowal (of wealth), [Rāmāyaṇa]

8) [v.s. ...] discharge (of arrows), [Mahābhārata]

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Vimokṣa (विमोक्ष):—[vi-mokṣa] (kṣaḥ) 1. m. Liberation.

[Sanskrit to German]

Vimoksha in German

context information

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.

Kannada-English dictionary

Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Vimōkṣa (ವಿಮೋಕ್ಷ):—

1) [noun] = ವಿಮುಕ್ತಿ [vimukti].

2) [noun] a kind of tree.

context information

Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.

Relevant text

Search found 13 books and stories containing Vimoksha, Vimokṣa, Vimoksa, Vimokṣā, Vi-moksha, Vi-mokṣa, Vi-moksa, Vimōkṣa; (plurals include: Vimokshas, Vimokṣas, Vimoksas, Vimokṣās, mokshas, mokṣas, moksas, Vimōkṣas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Class 5: The eight liberations (vimokṣa) < [Class (5) liberations, (6) masteries and (7) totalities]

Preliminary note to liberations, masteries and totalities < [Class (5) liberations, (6) masteries and (7) totalities]

Objects and distribution of the vimokṣas, abhibhus and kṛtsnas < [Class (5) liberations, (6) masteries and (7) totalities]

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Verse 49

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1.3. Four kinds of Gazes (drsti) < [Chapter 4 - Tantric Cult in Hevajra Tantra]

1.2. Mantras (used for invoking the Buddhas) < [Chapter 4 - Tantric Cult in Hevajra Tantra]

1.5. The Four Energy Centres (cakra) < [Chapter 4 - Tantric Cult in Hevajra Tantra]

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Chapter 15 - Country of Chu-li-ye (Chulya or Chola) < [Book X - Seventeen Countries]

Chapter 21 - Country of Kien-t’o-lo (Gandhara) < [Book II - Three Countries]