Kaivalya
The Sanskrit term Kaivalya (in Devanagari कैवल्य) stands for liberation and is the ultimate goal in Raja Yoga .
etymology
Kaivalya is a Vrddhi derivative of kevala meaning self-centered, alone, isolated . Kaivalya can thus be translated as loneliness, segregation, detachment, detachment, isolation .
Definition and characterization
Kaivalya is defined as the separation of Purusha (human) from Prakriti (nature) with subsequent liberation from the cycle of rebirths .
People who have attained Kaivalya are in a permanent state of samadhi (fully integrated consciousness). This inner liberation is the real goal of yoga . People in this state have an intimate understanding of the world, but still keep a distance. You cannot be influenced, but you can very well exert influence on your part. They behave like normal people, but do not bear the burden of the world. They live in the world but are not subject to it. They are not free from sensory perception either, nor are they free from the body, but they are different. People in the state of Kaivalya are sure of themselves. Forces from the outside world, with which they are extremely familiar, no longer have any power over them.
According to the principles of yoga, all of creation has the sole purpose of providing us with the context in which we understand ourselves - to know what (and who) we are and what (and who) we are not. If we understand this, Kaivalya opens up and Prakriti takes a back seat, since she has now completed her task. The material world will then be experienced precisely for what it really is and no longer. Kaivalya is experienced as a continuum that opens up after old conditioning, behavioral patterns, habits and experiences have broken away.
Kaivalya in the yoga sutras
The 34 yoga sutras of Patanjali in Chapter IV deal with the psychological impressions that endless cycles of rebirths have left on us. The need to erase such impressions is also justified. The Kaivalya-realized yogi is represented as a personality who has shed all ties and attained absolute, true consciousness ( ritambhara prajna ), as described in the Samadhi Pada .
"... or viewed from another location, the power of pure consciousness settles in its very own, pure nature"
"Only the mind that emerges from meditation is free from impressions of karma "
“Since the wish to live has existed since ancient times, the impressions are also beginningless. The latter are held together by cause and effect , foundation and support. If these four disappear, so do the impressions. "
Kaivalya in the Upanishads
The terms kevala, kaivalya, kaivalya-mukti can also be found in the Upanishads , for example in the Svetasvatara Upanishad (I and IV), in the Kaivalya Upanishad (verse 25), in the Brahma-bindu-Upanishad (verse 29) and in the Muktika-Upanishad (I. 18, 26, 31). Verses 16-18 of the Yogatattva Upanishad say:
“Kaivalya is the fundamental nature of self, its highest level (paramam padam). It can't be broken down any further and it's flawless. It is direct intuition of the real - existence, intelligence and bliss ( Sat-Chit-Ananda ). It is neither born nor destroyed and it knows neither existence, nor recognition nor experience. This knowledge is true knowledge. "
Kaivalya in later Hinduism
With the strengthening of the powerful Vijayanagar empire in the 14th century (and thus Hinduism), Veerashaivism was able to spread in southern India. Some scholars of Veerashaivism such as Nijaguna Shivayogi (around 1500) tried to unite Veerashaivism with Shankara's Advaita . His best known work is Kaivalya Paddhati , a collection of svara cavhanas in the form of classic ragas .
Other well-known authors of this tradition besides Nijaguni Shivayogi Muppina Shadakshari, Mahalingaranga and Chidanandavadhuta. Kaivalya literature was written exclusively in Kannada .
Vijñānabhiksu was a 16th century Vedanta philosopher who wrote explicitly about Kaivalya in the fourth and final chapter of his Yogasārasamgraha .
The Kaval Dharma sect exists in Assam . With them, the highest state of being is called kevali , in which the bhagat loses all conscious contact with reality and only perceives the all-pervading being. Essential satras of the Keval sect are Moamara Satra and Kardoiguria Satra .