Jivanmukti in Transformation: Embodied Liberation in Advaita and Neo-Vedanta.

• Author: OLIVELLE, PATRICK
• Position: Review

J[bar{i}]vanmukti in Transformation: Embodied Liberation in Advaita and Neo-Ved[bar{a}]nta. By ANDREW O. FORT. Albany: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, 1998. Pp. 251. $19.95 (paper).

This book takes up a topic that the author has pursued for many years. It picks up a theme that was the focus of Living Liberation in Hindu Thought, edited by Fort and Patricia Mumme in 1996. The focus of Fort's new book, however, is narrower and restricted to the Advaita Ved[bar{a}]nta tradition.

The book is divided into three parts. The first deals with j[bar{i}]vanmukti in traditional Advaita Ved[bar{a}]nta, exploring the development of the idea in texts and authors that predate [acute{S}]amkara: upanisads, Bhagavad Git[bar{a}], Brahmas[bar{u}]tras, and Gaudap[bar{a}]da; in [acute{S}]amkara's own writings; in the writings of [acute{S}]amkara's contemporaries and disciples--Mandana, Sure[acute{s}]vara, Sarvajn[bar{a}]tman, and Vimukt[bar{a}]tman; and finally, in later scholastic Advaita--Prak[bar{a}]s[bar{a}]tman, Citsukha, Madhus[bar{u}]dana Sarasvat[bar{i}], Prak[bar{a}]s[bar{a}]ndanda, Sad[bar{a}]nanda, and Dharmar[bar{a}ja. The second part describes j[bar{i}]vanmukti as presented in what Fort calls "Yogic Advaita," including R[bar{a}]m[bar{a}]nuja, S[bar{a}]mkhya-Yoga, Yogav[bar{a}] sistha, Vidy[bar{a}]ranya's Jivanmukti-viveka, the later Upanishads, and Madhus[bar{u}]dana's G[bar{u}]dh[bar{a}]rthadipik[bar{a}]. The last part focuses on jivanmukti in modern and contemporary adherents of Advaita, both scholarly exponents such as Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan, and those claiming to be or widely regarded as modern-day j[bar{i}]vanmuktas, such as Ramana Maharshi, Candrasekharendra Sarasvati, and Aurobindo.

The breadth of its coverage is certainly impressive. Even though the historical sections are of necessity based on textual material, Fort's discussions of contemporary figures, especially Ramana and Candrasekharendra, are supplemented by extensive interviews. This is the first book-length discussion of a concept that is found in several Indian religions but is central in Advaita Ved[bar{a}]nta. Fort highlights several issues related to j[bar{i}]vanmukti, including the theoretical problem of a liberated individual continuing to exist in the embodied state and the ethical issues relating to such an individual's antinomian existence and social service. His writing is straightforward and simple, a truly refreshing trait in an area of scholarship that tends to...