The literal meaning of the word mukti (Devanagari: मुक्ति ISO15919: mukti) is liberation.

Let us understand the concept of liberation with an example. A convict was sentenced to time in prison for a crime. After he has served his time in jail he is released from the prison. He is now a free man, having attained freedom or mukti from the prison.

Similarly, in the spiritual realm the same questions need to be addressed

• who is being punished?
• since when?
• by who?
• till when will this punishment go on?

So, let us first understand some salient points of spiritual philosophy. 

As per the philosophy explained in our scriptures, there are three eternal entities:
1. Jeev: we, the individual soul are a part of God’s Jeev-Shakti also known as the power of existence.
2. Maya: Maya is an inert power of God, possessing attributes that are contrary to those of God.
3. Brahma-Supreme God: God is Almightly, Omnipresent and Omnipotent. He is the master of the powers of Jeev and Maya.

God’s nature is sacchidanand,

• sat denoting unlimited life,
• chit denoting unlimited knowledge and
• anand denoting unlimited bliss.

Nature means svabhava which means the innate quality of an object e.g. the nature of fire is to emit light and to burn, the nature of water is wetness. Similarly the nature of God is unlimited bliss.

Maya is inert and it is called the external power of God. It is insentient, which means that it does not have an intellect, mind or senses, hence it cannot do anything on its own. The Supreme Lord is the doer of all the actions of Maya. Lord Krishna says in the Gita -

दैवी ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया ॥
daivī hyeṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā ॥

“This Maya, which is Mine, consists of the three gunas and no-one can overcome it  on their own. Only those, who are fully surrendered to Me are able to cross this ocean of Maya, by My grace.”

Jeev are sentient and are referred to as the neutral (तटस्थ​) power of God. The souls have eternally been given a free-will to either choose the area of Maya or the area of Brahma-Supreme God. Sansar-the material world made by Maya is full of illusive fascination (see How Can Maya Dominate Jeev?).

Jeev are equipped with a material mind and an intellect to discern right from wrong. Both mind and intellect are made by Maya therefore are material. Due to its kinship with Maya, the material mind is naturally attracted to the world of Maya . Thus, jeev have eternally turned away from God and have been searching for happiness in the area of Maya.

Consequently, due to Swaproopavarika Maya our minds are overpowered by ignorance and we start considering ourselves to be the body, forgetting our true identity as the soul. Thus, we consider all material objects or people related to the body, as our own and God, who is our origin and true well-wisher, appears to be so distant and non-important.

This is why all the jeev are trapped by Maya and have been suffering since eternity. Everyone desires freedom from the sufferings of this world, or in other words freedom from Maya. It is impossible to get rid of Maya in any other form of life except in human form. Yet, before aiming for mukti, we must understand the true nature of mukti.

There are five kinds of mukti, which can be categorized in two major categories –

• mukti of dualism: jeev remains separate from God
• mukti of non-Dualism: jeev merges into Nirakar Brahm

Mukti of Dualism

There are 4 types of mukti where the jeev maintains its individualism.

The devotees of Maha Vishnu aspire for these kinds of mukti. These devotees have a mind, intellect, senses and a body. Thus they enjoy the bliss of God’s beauty, association, attributes and abode. They remain in awe of His divinity.

Sarshti mukti

Sarshṭi mukti (Devanagari: सार्ष्टि ISO15919: sārṣṭi) desire to attain the majesty of Maha Vishnu.

Samipya mukti

Samipya mukti (Devanagari: सामीप्य ISO15919: sāmīpya) desire to attain unceasing association of Maha Vishnu.

Salokya mukti

Salokya mukti (Devanagari: सालोक्य ISO15919: sālokya) desire to live in the abode of Maha Vishnu.

Sarupya mukti

Sarupya mukti (Devanagari: सारूप्य ISO15919: sārūpya) desire to attain the beauty of Maha Vishnu like gate-keepers of Vaikunth lok; Jaya and Vijay.

Mukti of Non-Dualism

Sayujjya mukti

In scriptures there are many names for this mukti, namely  

• Sayujjya mukti (Devanagari: सायुज्ज्य​ मुक्ति ISO15919: sāyujjya​ mukti)
• Kaivalya mukti (Devanagari: कैवल्य मुक्ति ISO15919: kaivalya mukti)
• Ekatva mukti​ (Devanagari: एकत्व मुक्ति ISO15919: ​ekatva mukti)
• Moksha (Devanagari: मोक्ष ISO15919: mokṣa)

The followers of Gyan Marg do not believe in a Sakar Brahm of God, so they desire for liberation from Maya. 

Supreme Brahm Shri Krishna is the ocean of highest bliss.  The Nirakar Brahm is the effulgence of His divine body. Since, the light that emanates from His body is also divine, there is bliss in that too.

The gyanis find the bliss of Brahm to be so enchanting that they forget all about themselves and the miseries. They are eternally liberated from the bondage of Maya. So, the cycle of death and birth ends forever and they are liberated from the miseries of Maya once and for all.

Still, it is only an inkling of real bliss because they don't enjoy God. 

There are 3 parts [1] to enjoying anything;
• the one who enjoys (subject),
• the object (person or thing) which is enjoyed and
• enjoyment (the action).

Upon attainment of this mukti, the jeev, without mind, intellect, senses or body, merges into Nirakar Brahm forever. Since the enjoyer has become one with the bliss (object of enjoyment) there is no one to enjoy anything.

So, it is not wise to desire mukti in which the soul merges into Brahma () forever. In addition, once the soul merges into Brahma it can never come out of that state. Thus, the prospect of enjoying bliss in the future is also lost forever. The soul is liberated from sufferings but is unable to enjoy the bliss. Thus, only half the goal is achieved. This state can be compared to the state of eternal unconsciousness.

In a nutshell, it is unwise to desire for any of these 5 muktis. These souls see the all-majestic form of God with four arms and they lovingly respect their Lord. Also, they loose the opportunity to become His associates who have the privilege to enjoy His intimate pastimes.

God is the ocean of love and Jeev is an inseparable part of God. Being part of love our inherent desire is to attain love. Love is demonstrated by serving the beloved. So the concealed chief desire of human beings is “serving our beloved”. In the words of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu –
जीवेर स्वरूप होय कृष्णेर नित्य दास ।Jīvēra svarūpa hōya kr̥ṣṇēra nitya dāsa.
“the true identify of jeev is 'eternal servant' of Shri Krishna.”

The desire to have a loving intimate relationship [2] with Shri Krishna can be fulfilled since He assumes a human form to impart divine love to the aspiring souls. In this form He conceals His divine powers, so that a human being can love Him freely as his Master, friend, son or beloved. Per the desire of the devotee, Shri Krishna reciprocates the relationship and intensity of love. As He said in Gita.
ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम्॥ye yatha maan prapadyante taanstathaiv bhajaamyaham.
“The way in which soul lovingly relates to Me, I reciprocate those feelings.”

So, mukti means eternal freedom from material sufferings yet it is our greatest enemy in disguise. Like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said

… तारो मध्ये मोक्ष वांछा कैतव प्रधान​​taaro madhye moksh vaanchha kaitav pradhaan​​
“... of all the deceptions mukti is the greatest”.

It deprives humans from their prime goal of attaining love bliss for eternity. So, wisely love Shri Krishna as your beloved and attain the highest bliss forever.

भुक्ति-मुक्ति-स्पृहा यावत् पिशाची हृदि वर्तते । तावद् भक्ति-सुखस्यात्र कथम् अभ्युदयो भवेत् ॥१.२.२२॥
bhukti-mukti-spṛhā yāvat, piśācī hṛdi vartate, tāvad bhakti-sukhasyātra, katham abhyudayo bhavet
"If you desire for bhakti then totally uproot the desire for material enjoyment (Bhukti) or liberation (Mukti) from your mind or else bhakti will not take root.”