Sanskrit for “release,” generally used in the context of release or freedom from the cycle of rebirth (samsāra). Some Indian philosophic systems use different terms, having slightly different connotations related to their own metaphysical assumptions, in place of moksa. Thus, Sānkhya and Yoga use kaivalya, “isolation” (of the personal self from the material world); Nyāya and Vaieika use apavarga, which means much the same thing. Buddhism occasionally uses moksa, but more frequently uses nirvāna, which signifies extinction of the fire of desire, which, for it, is the cause of bondage. The Vedānta schools generally use the term moksa.

R.W.B.

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