MOKSHA

Nirvāṇa as Moksha

Uttaradhyana Sutra provides an account of Gautama explaining the meaning of Nirvāṇa to Kesi a disciple of Parsva.

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There is a safe place in view of all, but difficult of approach, where there is no old age nor death, no pain nor disease. It is what is called Nirvāṇa, or freedom from pain, or perfection, which is in view of all; it is the safe, happy, and quiet place which the great sages reach. That is the eternal place, in view of all, but difficult of approach. Those sages who reach it are free from sorrows, they have put an end to the stream of existence. (81-4)

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In Hinduism, Moksha is the liberation from the cycle of birth and death and one's worldly conception of self. A person reaches the state of Nirvana only when Moksha is attained. The Union with the supreme being Brahman and this experience of blissful ego-lessness is termed Nirvana. In Advaita Vedanta philosophy, however the concepts of Moksha and Nirvana are nearly analogous with certain views overlapping.

The word Nirvana was first used in its technical sense in Buddhism, and cannot be found in any of the pre-Buddhist Upanishads. K. N. Upadhaya in his work "The Impact of Early Buddhism on Hindu Thought" says he believes the use of the term in the Bhagavad Gita to be a sign of early Buddhist influence upon Hindu thought.