In this episode of “5 Minutes”, Dr. Robert Svoboda explores the meaning of freedom through the Sanskrit concepts of mukti, moksha, and swatantra.
There are several Sanskrit words for freedom. Dr. Svoboda begins with the words mukti, mukta, and moksha, all of which come from the same root. They refer to being delivered from or emerging out of bondage.
A common Sanskrit expression is ṛṇa-mukta, which literally means free from debt. On the external level, it refers to freedom from financial debt, but it can also indicate freedom from karmic debt or freedom from other forms of obligation. By extension, mukti and moksha have come to mean freedom from all ṛṇānubandhanas—the bonds created by karmic debts and obligations.
If you reach the point where you have worked through all of your karmas and karmic bindings, then you can truly be said to be free.
This is reflected in the four puruṣārthas: dharma, artha, kāma, and moksha. Dharma is knowing your purpose in the world. Artha is understanding what you need in order to fulfill that purpose. Kāma concerns the desires that are appropriate for you to fulfill. Moksha is freedom from obligation, freedom from duty, desire, and every form of binding. It is the fourth puruṣārtha because it represents the state reached after fulfilling the responsibilities of human life and becoming free from all such identifications.
Dr. Svoboda then turns to another Sanskrit word for freedom: swatantra. Here, swa means self, while tantra does not refer to ritual practices. In this context, tantra means functioning.
He points to the Charaka Saṃhitā, where vāyu is described as supporting both the yantra, the structures of the body, and the tantra, the functions of the body. Swatantra, therefore, means self-functioning.
The degree to which you are free is the degree to which you are not limited by anything else. If you are free from debt, the bank no longer tells you what to do. If you are free from military service, a superior officer no longer directs your actions. If you become free from the need to eat and drink and are able to live on air alone, you have become free from some of the obligations imposed by the human body.
To whatever extent you are able to act independently, to that extent you are swatantra.
Dr. Svoboda concludes by reflecting on the meaning of his own name. In Czech, Svoboda means freedom or liberty. He notes that the first part of the name, svo, is related to swa, meaning self, while boda can be related to bodhi or buddhi—the capacity to discern clearly, without disturbance or distortion.
When you become able to discern things accurately and perfectly, that too is a form of freedom. Self-knowledge, he says, is ultimately the highest kind of liberty.