Jivanmukta vs Videhamukta: The Real Meaning of Vimukta and Vimucyate
Question
“Sister, this comes up about jivanmukta—and also mukta and vimukta. Is there any special difference between them?”
Answer
Yes, there is a difference. Here, two words are used: “vimuktaś ca vimukte”—so the text is using more than one term on purpose.
When a person is still living in a human body and takes refuge in some spiritual practice, three things are said:
They do not grieve.
Meaning: whatever situation comes in life, they don’t become sorrowful.“Vimukta” — they become free from inner distortions (vikāras).
This means liberation from things like: lust, anger, greed, attachment, likes-dislikes, criticism, praise, blame, competition—so many kinds of distortions.
Becoming free from these is called vimukta.Then another word comes: “vimucyate.”
Vimucyate means they become free even from body-identification—not only free from distortions, but free from the constant sense, “I am the body.”
So the meaning is different:
Vimukta = free from vikāras (inner impurities/distortions)
Vimucyate = free from deh-bhān (the feeling of “I am the body”)
When someone becomes free from distortions, our scriptures use a technical term for that: Jivanmukta—meaning liberated from vikāras while living.
And another term in our scriptures is Videhamukta.
Videhamukta means becoming free from body-consciousness (deh-bhān).
We’ve all read the story of King Janaka—he became videhamukta. And that does not mean he “left the body” and the matter ended. He became free even from body-identification—so elevated that he was free from distortions and also free from deh-bhān, yet he continued ruling the kingdom.
Because if videha-mukti meant “leaving the body,” then how could he rule? He became videhamukta while ruling—meaning he became free from deh-bhān even while living and functioning.
“Videha” literally means “without body,” meaning free from body-identification. That’s why the scriptures add a qualifier—so you don’t misunderstand it as “the body was abandoned.” They attach that special prefix to make it clear: it means a special kind of “body-freedom”—freedom from the sense of the body, not physically dropping the body.