An Introduction to Indian Philosophy

by Satischandra Chatterjee

according to the Mīmāṁsā, consciousness and other mental states are not inherent in the soul. They arise only when the soul is related to objects through the body and the organs. The liberated soul, being dissociated from the body and, therefore, from all the organs including manas, cannot have any consciousness: nor can it, therefore, enjoy bliss. Liberation is then desirable not as a state of bliss, but as the total cessation of painful experience. It is a state where the soul remains in its own intrinsic nature, beyond pleasure and pain.30 The soul in its intrinsic state (svastha) can be defined only as substance having existence and a potentiality for consciousness—though no actual consciousness. Some later Bhāṭṭas hold, however, like the Advaitins, that liberation is an experience of joy31