Is moksha better than Paradise?

“He who has learnt the Veda from a family of teachers, according to the sacred rule, in the leisure time left from the duties to be performed for the Guru, who, after receiving his discharge, has settled in his own house, keeping up the memory of what he has learnt by repeating it regularly in some sacred spot, who has begotten virtuous sons, and concentrated all his senses on the Self, never giving pain to any creature, except at the tîrthas (sacrifices, &c.), he who behaves thus all his life, reaches the world of Brahman, and does not return, yea, he does not return.”

“The high-souled ones, who achieve the highest perfection, attaining to me, do not again come to life, which is transient, a home of woes. All worlds, O Arguna! up to the world of Brahman, are (destined) to return. But, O son of Kuntî! after attaining to me, there is no birth again.”

“All which passages establish the fact that so-called release differs from all the fruits of action, and is an eternally and essentially disembodied state. Among eternal things, some indeed may be 'eternal, although changing' (parinâminitya), viz. those, the idea of whose identity is not destroyed, although they may undergo changes; such, for instance, are earth and the other elements in the opinion of those who maintain the eternity of the world, or the three gunas in the opinion of the Sânkhyas. But this (moksha) is eternal in the true sense, i. e. eternal without undergoing any changes (kûtasthanitya), omnipresent as ether, free from all modifications, absolutely self-sufficient, not composed of parts, of self-luminous nature.”

“As the flowing rivers disappear in the sea, losing their name and their form, thus a wise man, freed from name and form, goes to the divine Person, who is greater than the great. He who knows that highest Brahman, becomes even Brahman. In his race no one is born ignorant of Brahman. He overcomes grief, he overcomes evil; free from the fetters of the heart, he becomes immortal.”

“Then Maitreyî said: 'Here thou hast bewildered me, Sir, when thou sayest that having departed, there is no more knowledge.' But Yâgñavalkya replied: 'O Maitreyî, I say nothing that is bewildering. This is enough, O beloved, for wisdom. 'For when there is as it were duality, then one sees the other, one smells the other, one hears the other, one salutes the other, one perceives the other, one knows the other; but when the Self only is all this, how should he smell another, how should he see another, how should he hear another, how should he salute another, how should he perceive another, how should he know another? How should he know Him by whom he knows all this? How, O beloved, should he know (himself), the Knower?'”

“He perceived that bliss is Brahman, for from bliss these beings are born; by bliss, when born, they live; into bliss they enter at their death.”

“And with equal certainty we know from Scripture that this Supreme Lord, when pleased by the faithful worship of his Devotees—which worship consists in daily repeated meditation on Him, assisted by the performance of all the practices prescribed for each caste and âsrama—frees them from the influence of Nescience which consists of karman accumulated in the infinite progress of time and hence hard to overcome; allows them to attain to that supreme bliss which consists in the direct intuition of His own true nature: and after that does not turn them back into the miseries of Samsâra.”

“Vâsudeva, having found his votary, bestows upon him his own mansion, blissful, undecaying, from whence there is no more return.”

“The release from samsâra means, according to Sankara, the absolute merging of the individual soul in Brahman, due to the dismissal of the erroneous notion that the soul is distinct from Brahman; according to Râmânuga it only means the soul's passing from the troubles of earthly life into a kind of heaven or paradise where it will remain for ever in undisturbed personal bliss.”

“Knowing Vishṇu, full of all excellences, the soul, exempted from transmigration, Rejoices in his presence for ever, enjoying painless bliss. Vishṇu is the refuge of liberated souls, and their supreme ruler. Obedient to him are they for ever; he is the Lord.”

“And emancipation is not won without the grace of Vishṇu, according to the text of the Náráyaṇa Upanishad: Through whose grace is the highest state, through whose essence he is liberated from transmigration, while inferior men propitiating the divinities are not emancipated; the supreme object of discernment to those who desire to be liberated from this snare of works.”

“From the absence of equality betwixt the released (in heaven) variance (jealousy, etc.,) does not arise between them; for all have attained to the direct knowledge of Brahman, and are free from defects or shortcomings, in which respect they are all equal; and there is the grace of the superiors to which the souls of lower grades are indebted.”

“And to all are (assigned) degrees according to the deeds which they (have done), and in order that (Allah) may recompense their deeds, and no injustice be done to them.”

“And We shall remove from their hearts any lurking sense of injury: (they will be) brothers (joyfully) facing each other on thrones (of dignity).”

“If, on the other hand, he were to realise that the effect of such activity would be the loss of personal existence, he surely would turn away as soon as somebody began to tell him about 'release.' And the result of this would be that, in the absence of willing and qualified pupils, the whole scriptural teaching as to final release would lose its authoritative character.—Nor must you maintain against this that even in the state of release there persists pure consciousness; for this by no means improves your case. No sensible person exerts himself under the influence of the idea that after he himself has perished there will remain some entity termed 'pure light!'”

“'When a man being asleep, reposing, and at perfect rest, sees no dreams, that is the Self, this is the immortal, the fearless, this is Brahman.' Then Indra went away satisfied in his heart. But before he had returned to the Devas, he saw this difficulty. In truth he thus does not know himself (his self) that he is I, nor does he know anything that exists. He is gone to utter annihilation. I see no good in this. Taking fuel in his hand he went again as a pupil to Pragâpati. Pragâpati said to him: 'Maghavat, as you went away satisfied in your heart, for what purpose did you come back?' He said: 'Sir, in that way he does not know himself (his self) that he is I, nor does he know anything that exists. He is gone to utter annihilation. I see no good in this.' 'So it is indeed, Maghavat,' replied Pragâpati; 'but I shall explain him (the true Self) further to you, and nothing more than this. Live here other five years.'”

The Lord, as the sage Kapila, says that His devotees do not accept any of five kinds of release, even when it is offered, without service to Him. The five are living in His world, sharing His powers, nearness to Him, a form like His, and oneness with Him.

“Those who know the three (branches of) knowledge, who drink the Soma juice, whose sins are washed away, offer sacrifices and pray to me for a passage into heaven; and reaching the holy world of the lord of gods, they enjoy in the celestial regions the celestial pleasures of the gods. And having enjoyed that great heavenly world, they enter the mortal world when (their) merit is exhausted. Thus those who wish for objects of desire, and resort to the ordinances of the three (Vedas), obtain (as the fruit) going and coming. To those men who worship me, meditating on me and on no one else, and who are constantly devoted, I give new gifts and preserve what is acquired by them.”

“'But they who living in a village practise (a life of) sacrifices, works of public utility, and alms, they go to the smoke, from smoke to night, from night to the dark half of the moon, from the dark half of the moon to the six months when the sun goes to the south. But they do not reach the year. 'From the months they go to the world of the fathers, from the world of the fathers to the ether, from the ether to the moon. That is Soma, the king. Here they are loved (eaten) by the Devas, yes, the Devas love (eat) them. 'Having dwelt there, till their (good) works are consumed, they return again that way as they came, to the ether, from the ether to the air. Then the sacrificer, having become air, becomes smoke, having become smoke, he becomes mist, 'Having become mist, he becomes a cloud, having become a cloud, he rains down. Then he is born as rice and corn, herbs and trees, sesamum and beans. From thence the escape is beset with most difficulties. For whoever the persons may be that eat the food, and beget offspring, he henceforth becomes like unto them.”

“Considering sacrifice and good works as the best, these fools know no higher good, and having enjoyed (their reward) on the height of heaven, gained by good works, they enter again this world or a lower one.”

“The high-souled ones, who achieve the highest perfection, attaining to me, do not again come to life, which is transient, a home of woes. All worlds, O Arguna! up to the world of Brahman, are (destined) to return. But, O son of Kuntî! after attaining to me, there is no birth again.”

“Let a Brâhmana, after he has examined all these worlds which are gained by works, acquire freedom from all desires. Nothing that is eternal (not made) can be gained by what is not eternal (made). Let him, in order to understand this, take fuel in his hand and approach a Guru who is learned and dwells entirely in Brahman.”

“The blessed state of Indra etc., is indeed restricted, and lasts, besides, for a time only. The worshippers achieve but that blessed state as is on a par with that of Indra etc., but when Indra and other deities reach the end of their happy state, they fall; with them do their worshippers necessarily also fall.”

Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said no one's deeds will save him. Asked whether that included him, he said: not even me, unless Allah covers me with His mercy. He then told them to do good deeds properly, sincerely and in moderation.

Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said that no one of you will be saved by his deeds. A man asked: not even you, Messenger of Allah? He said: not even me, unless Allah covers me with mercy from Him; but keep to what is right. Muslim's second chain has "with mercy from Him and grace", without the last words. The chapter heading, added by a later editor, reads: no one enters Paradise by his deeds, but by the mercy of Allah.

“(Namely) those whose lives the angels take in a state of purity, saying (to them), "Peace be on you; enter ye the Garden, because of (the good) which ye did (in the world)."”

On the hadith that no one enters Paradise by his deeds, al-Nawawi sets beside it the verses that tell the believers to enter the Garden for what they used to do (16:32; 43:72). He says they do not conflict. The verses mean that Paradise is entered because of deeds. But being enabled to do the deeds, being guided to sincerity in them, and having them accepted are by the mercy and favour of God. So it is true that no one enters by deeds alone, which is what the hadith mean. It is also true that he enters by deeds, that is, because of them, and they are themselves part of the mercy.

“He that doeth good shall have ten times as much to his credit: He that doeth evil shall only be recompensed according to his evil: no wrong shall be done unto (any of) them.”

“And those who are blessed shall be in the Garden: They will dwell therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure, except as thy Lord willeth: a gift without break.”

“Nor will they there taste Death, except the first death; and He will preserve them from the Penalty of the Blazing Fire,-”

“There no sense of fatigue shall touch them, nor shall they (ever) be asked to leave.”

“As to those who believe and work righteous deeds, they have, for their entertainment, the Gardens of Paradise, Wherein they shall dwell (for aye): no change will they wish for from them.”

“The high-souled ones, who achieve the highest perfection, attaining to me, do not again come to life, which is transient, a home of woes. All worlds, O Arguna! up to the world of Brahman, are (destined) to return. But, O son of Kuntî! after attaining to me, there is no birth again.”

“But there is another entity, unperceived and eternal, and distinct from this unperceived (principle), which is not destroyed when all entities are destroyed. It is called the unperceived, the indestructible; they call it the highest goal. Attaining to it, none returns. That is my supreme abode.”

“By (that) devotion he truly understands who I am and how great. And then understanding me truly, he forthwith enters into my (essence). Even performing all actions, always depending on me, he, through my favour, obtains the imperishable and eternal seat.”

“(Of them) there is non-return, according to scripture; non-return, according to scripture.”

“The exalted qualities of the soul—freedom from evil and sin and so on—which manifest themselves in the state of Release no doubt belong to the soul's essential nature; but that the soul is of such a nature fundamentally depends on the Supreme Person, and on him also depends the permanency of those qualities; they are permanent in so far as the Lord himself on whom they depend is permanent.”

Explains "except as thy Lord willeth": the people of the Garden stay there for ever, but their staying in bliss is not something necessary in itself. It is left to the will of God, so the favour is always His. On "a gift without break" he says the gift is uncut, as Ibn Abbas, Mujahid and others said. The words come after the mention of God's will so that no one should imagine a break, and they seal the verse with lasting and no ending. He also gives the view of al-Dahhak and al-Hasan al-Basri that the exception concerns sinful believers who were in the Fire and were brought out.

“As to the Righteous, they will be in the midst of Gardens and Rivers, In an Assembly of Truth, in the Presence of a Sovereign Omnipotent.”

“And with equal certainty we know from Scripture that this Supreme Lord, when pleased by the faithful worship of his Devotees—which worship consists in daily repeated meditation on Him, assisted by the performance of all the practices prescribed for each caste and âsrama—frees them from the influence of Nescience which consists of karman accumulated in the infinite progress of time and hence hard to overcome; allows them to attain to that supreme bliss which consists in the direct intuition of His own true nature: and after that does not turn them back into the miseries of Samsâra.”

“Nor indeed need we fear that the Supreme Lord when once having taken to himself the Devotee whom he greatly loves will turn him back into the Samsâra.”

“Knowing Vishṇu, full of all excellences, the soul, exempted from transmigration, Rejoices in his presence for ever, enjoying painless bliss. Vishṇu is the refuge of liberated souls, and their supreme ruler. Obedient to him are they for ever; he is the Lord.”

“All which passages establish the fact that so-called release differs from all the fruits of action, and is an eternally and essentially disembodied state. Among eternal things, some indeed may be 'eternal, although changing' (parinâminitya), viz. those, the idea of whose identity is not destroyed, although they may undergo changes; such, for instance, are earth and the other elements in the opinion of those who maintain the eternity of the world, or the three gunas in the opinion of the Sânkhyas. But this (moksha) is eternal in the true sense, i. e. eternal without undergoing any changes (kûtasthanitya), omnipresent as ether, free from all modifications, absolutely self-sufficient, not composed of parts, of self-luminous nature.”

“The state of mind consisting in firm understanding regarding steady contemplation does not belong to those, O son of Prithâ! who are strongly attached to (worldly) pleasures and power, and whose minds are drawn away by that flowery talk which is full of (ordinances of) specific acts for the attainment of (those) pleasures and (that) power, and which promises birth as the fruit of acts—(that flowery talk) which those unwise ones utter, who are enamoured of Vedic words, who say there is nothing else, who are full of desires, and whose goal is heaven.”

“Let a Brâhmana, after he has examined all these worlds which are gained by works, acquire freedom from all desires. Nothing that is eternal (not made) can be gained by what is not eternal (made). Let him, in order to understand this, take fuel in his hand and approach a Guru who is learned and dwells entirely in Brahman.”

“Then he should say: 'By the old age of the body, that (the ether, or Brahman within it) does not age; by the death of the body, that (the ether, or Brahman within it) is not killed. That (the Brahman) is the true Brahma-city (not the body). In it all desires are contained. It is the Self, free from sin, free from old age, from death and grief, from hunger and thirst, which desires nothing but what it ought to desire, and imagines nothing but what it ought to imagine. Now as here on earth people follow as they are commanded, and depend on the object which they are attached to, be it a country or a piece of land, 'And as here on earth, whatever has been acquired by exertion, perishes, so perishes whatever is acquired for the next world by sacrifices and other good actions performed on earth. Those who depart from hence without having discovered the Self and those true desires, for them there is no freedom in all the worlds. But those who depart from hence, after having discovered the Self and those true desires, for them there is freedom in all the worlds.”

“And he who desires the world of food and drink, by his mere will food and drink come to him, and having obtained the world of food and drink, he is happy.”

“Whatever object he is attached to, whatever object he desires, by his mere will it comes to him, and having obtained it, he is happy.”

“Thus does that serene being, arising from this body, appear in its own form, as soon as it has approached the highest light (the knowledge of Self). He (in that state) is the highest person (uttama purusha). He moves about there laughing (or eating), playing, and rejoicing (in his mind), be it with women, carriages, or relatives, never minding that body into which he was born.”

“Concerning the released soul Scripture states, 'He moves about there, laughing, playing, rejoicing, be it with women, or chariots, or relatives' (Kh. Up. VIII, 12, 3).”

“But by mere will (the released effect their purposes); because scripture states that.”

“It is a settled matter that those who through perfect knowledge have dispelled all mental darkness and are devoted to the eternally perfect Nirvâna do not return. And as those also who rely on the knowledge of the qualified Brahman in the end have recourse to that (Nirvâna), it follows that they also do not return.”

“Make me immortal in that realm of eager wish and strong desire, The region of the radiant Moon, where food and full delight are found. Flow, Indu, flow for Indra's sake. Make me immortal in that realm where happiness and transports, where Joys and felicities combine, and longing wishes are fulfilled. Flow, Indu, flow for Indra's sake.”

“(A voice will say:) "This is what was promised for you,- for every one who turned (to Allah) in sincere repentance, who kept (His Law), "Who feared (Allah) Most Gracious Unseen, and brought a heart turned in devotion (to Him):”

“There will be for them therein all that they wish,- and more besides in Our Presence.”

“Not frivolity will they hear therein, nor any taint of ill,- Only the saying, "Peace! Peace".”

“Allah hath promised to Believers, men and women, gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein, and beautiful mansions in gardens of everlasting bliss. But the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of Allah: that is the supreme felicity.”

“Allah hath promised to Believers, men and women, gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein, and beautiful mansions in gardens of everlasting bliss. But the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of Allah: that is the supreme felicity.”

“Some faces, that Day, will beam (in brightness and beauty);- Looking towards their Lord;”

Jarir reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) looked at the full moon one night and said: you will see your Lord as you see this moon, with no difficulty in seeing Him; so, if you can, let nothing make you miss the prayer before sunrise and the prayer before sunset. Al-Bukhari places it in the chapter on the verses about faces that look towards their Lord (75:22-23).

Suhayb reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said that when the people of Paradise have entered it, Allah asks whether they wish Him to give them anything more. They answer that He has already brightened their faces, admitted them to Paradise and saved them from the Fire. Then He lifts the veil, and nothing they have been given is dearer to them than looking at their Lord. Muslim places it in the chapter on affirming that the believers will see their Lord in the Hereafter.

Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said God has declared: I have prepared for My righteous servants what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has imagined. The report then invites the listener to recite Qur'an 32:17: no soul knows what joy is kept hidden for them.

“(This will be) their cry therein: "Glory to Thee, O Allah!" And "Peace" will be their greeting therein! and the close of their cry will be: "Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds!"”

“Not one of the beings in the heavens and the earth but must come to (Allah) Most Gracious as a servant.”

“With the exception of the origination and so on of the world all other lordly powers, as e. g. rendering one's self of atomic size, must belong to the released. The world-business, on the other hand, can belong to the everlastingly perfect Lord only.”

“To the devotee who constantly practises abstraction, O son of Prithâ! and who with a mind not (turned) to anything else, is ever and constantly meditating on me, I am easy of access.”

“Among thousands of men, only some work for perfection; and even of those who have reached perfection, and who are assiduous, only some know me truly.”

“At the end of many lives, the man possessed of knowledge approaches me, (believing) that Vâsudeva is everything. Such a high-souled man is very hard to find.”

“When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.”

“Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

“"Turn ye to our Lord (in repentance) and bow to His (Will), before the Penalty comes on you: after that ye shall not be helped.”

“(To the righteous soul will be said:) "O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction! "Come back thou to thy Lord,- well pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing unto Him! "Enter thou, then, among My devotees! "Yea, enter thou My Heaven!”

“Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other Than Allah, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy.”

“Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."”