The Moká¹£opÃÂya or Moká¹£opÃÂyaà ÂÃÂstra, also known as the YogavÃÂsiá¹£á¹Âha, is a Sanskrit philosophical text on salvation for non-ascetics (), written in Kashmir in the 10th century. The main part of the text forms a dialogue between Vasiá¹£á¹Âha and RÃÂma, interchanged with numerous short stories and anecdotes to illustrate the content. This text was later (11th to the 14th century) expanded, showing influences from the Saivite Trika school, resulting in the YogavÃÂsiá¹£á¹Âha, which became an orthodox text in Advaita Vedanta.
According to Slaje, the Moká¹£opÃÂya was written on the Pradyumna hill in à Ârënagar, Kashmir, in the 10th century. The Moká¹£opÃÂya was later (11th to the 14th century) modified, showing influences from the Saivite Trika school, resulting in the YogavÃÂsiá¹£á¹Âha, which became an orthodox text in Advaita Vedanta.
It has the form of a public sermon and claims human authorship and contains about 30,000 à Âloka's (making it longer than the RÃÂmÃÂyaá¹Âa). The main part of the text forms a dialogue between Vasiá¹£á¹Âha and RÃÂma, interchanged with numerous short stories and anecdotes to illustrate the content.
The Moká¹£opÃÂya expounds a monism ('advaita') that is different from Advaita Vedanta. It makes use of other Darà Âanas in an inclusive way. The text teaches that the recognition that cognitive objects are non-existent, leads to ultimate detachment, which causes an attitude of "dispassion and non-involvement with worldly things and matters", though still fulfilling one's daily duties and activities. It is only by one's own effort (pauruá¹£a) that one can be liberated from the bonds of existence. For one who knows the reality, "fate" (daiva) does not mean anything, something like "fate" does not exist and has, accordingly, no consequences at all.
Liberation is available for everyone, no matter their sex, caste or education, as long as one uses reason and maintains an active life in this world. To reach this liberation, one has to go through three stages: rational thinking and discernment (vicÃÂra), true understanding (jñÃÂna) and detachment (vairÃÂgya). VicÃÂra specifically involves knowledge that the world is non-existent. JñÃÂna is the true understanding of the atman as the ultimate reality, due to which one loses ahamkara. The last stage of vairagya is dispassionate and without a cause.
The Moká¹£opÃÂya Project supervised by professor Walter Slaje at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany is currently working on a critical edition of the Moká¹£opÃÂya. The project is embedded in the Centre for Research in the Historiography and Intellectual Culture of Kashmir (under the Patronage of the Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz). A commentary by BhÃÂskarakaá¹Âá¹Âha ("Moká¹£opÃÂya-á¹ÂëkÃÂ"; late 17th century) and more than thirty manuscripts in NÃÂgarë, à ÂÃÂradÃÂ, Grantha, and Telugu scripts are being used.
The goal of the project is a critical edition of the complete Sanskrit text, accompanied by a German translation, a philological commentary and a dictionary of its Sanskrit vocabulary.