Acharya Vaani
shrImadAnandatIrthArya mukhanissR^itaM
sarvakAmAnvApnoti brahmaNA saha muktigaH .
paryeti tatra jaxaMshcha krIDanratimavApnuyAt .
kAmAnnI kAmarUpI sannimAnlokAMshcha sa~ncaran .
Aste gAyansAma mukta ityAdishrutisadbalAt .
akAmassyAtkathaM muktaH . A.V 3.4.4
Do the liberated have desires?
In the previous statement “cetanasya tvasuptasya kutradR^iShTA hyakAmatA” we concluded by inference that no living being is free from desires. But the liberated are said to have no desires. In such a case, how can we generalize that all living beings have desires?
To this we reply. Even the liberated have desires. The shruti passages “so.ashnute sarvAkAmAn saha brahmaNA vipashcitA“, “sa tatra paryeti jaxankrIDan ramamAnAH“, “imAn lokAn kAmAnnI kAmarUpyanusa~ncaran etat sAma gAyanAste“, “sa ekadhA bhavati” all imply that even the liberated do have desires.
Like stones, if the liberated were to be without desires, how come then that the shruti “saH sarvAn kAmAn ashnute – the liberated enjoys all pleasures” talks about their enjoyment of various objects? This enjoyment cannot happen without a desire to do so. Also the shruti “sa tatra paryeti ” talks about the liberated strolling happily. This also cannot happen without a desire to do so. There are even more shruti passages such as “sa yadi pitR^ilokakAmaH – if one desires to see his parents, at once his parents would appear” which explicitly talk about the liberated having desires. Therefore it is not correct to assume that the liberated are without any desires.
