Maya is never just a metaphysical idea. The way a tradition speaks about Maya reveals its entire orientation regarding how bondage is understood, how practice unfolds, how sadhana is preached, and how moksha itself is imagined. When these definitions are placed side by side, it becomes clear that differences are not superficial. They go right to the heart of what liberation means. Now, it naturally raises a difficult question. If moksha is described differently in different sampradayas, then is moksha actually the same, or are we simply using one word for very different ends?
At a fundamental level, all traditions agree on a few essential points. Bondage is not the natural state of being. It is removable. Liberation, once attained is irreversible. Moksha is not heaven, pleasure, or reward, but freedom from compulsion, fear, and suffering born of limitation. In this sense, moksha everywhere signifies the end of samsara.
Where traditions diverge is not in the goal of freedom, but in the diagnosis of bondage. And that diagnosis is inseparable from how Maya is understood.
In Advaita Vedanta, bondage arises from ignorance of one’s true nature. The jiva mistakes itself to be finite, while in truth it is Brahman. Maya here is described as anirvacaniya because it is indescribable, neither it’s real nor unreal, possessing the power to veil truth and project multiplicity. The world is not denied, but it is not ultimately real; it is mithya. Moksha, therefore, is not something to be achieved, but something to be realised. Liberation occurs when the veil collapses and non-dual awareness alone remains. The world loses its binding force, even if it continues to appear.
Vaishnava traditions approach the problem differently. Bondage is not a confusion of identity, but forgetfulness of Bhagavan. Maya is Krishna’s own shakti. It binds the jiva not by falsifying existence, but by turning love away from its source. Liberation does not dissolve individuality, because individuality is essential for devotion. Even when Krishna declares that He is present in all beings and all existence, this is understood as sovereignty and indwelling, not identity. Moksha here is eternal relationship, belonging, loving, serving and not dissolving individuality.
Trika shifts the axis altogether. Bondage is neither ignorance nor separation, but contraction of infinite freedom. Maya is not an illusion and not a veil; it is a tatva, a mode of shakti through which the infinite appears as finite. Nothing is false, not the world, not individuality, not even bondage itself. Liberation is recognition (pratyabhijna) the sudden clarity that one was always Shiva, only temporarily self-contracted. Moksha here is not withdrawal from manifestation, but complete freedom within it.
When asked whether moksha is the same across traditions, the answer depends on the level at which the question is asked. In lived experience, moksha is not uniform. Advaita points toward non-dual stillness. Vaishnava paths speak of loving devotion and eternal relationship. Trika speaks of sovereignty, play, and freedom. These are not stylistic variations of the same state, but distinct modes of liberated being.
Yet, moksha is the same everywhere.
There is no karmic compulsion, no fear, no ignorance-driven suffering, and no return to samsara. Freedom is complete in every case. What differs is not freedom itself, but how freedom is lived. This does not imply multiple truths. Truth is not fragmented; it is approached from different existential questions. Advaita asks what one is in essence. Vaishnava traditions ask whom one loves and belongs to. Trika asks for recognition. These questions are not rivals. They open into different orientations of the same release.
Moksha, then, is one freedom, but not one experience. The understanding of Maya shapes the path, the path shapes realization, and realization unfolds according to the posture of consciousness that led there. In that sense, the destination is already encoded in the journey. Not all reach the same silence, not all sing the same song, but all are free.
And if the question of which Sampradaya being accurate still occurs, reread the blog piece or we can connect on the WhatsApp group.
Yours,
Brahmamayee.
