Life of a Jeevan Mukta

 A Day in the Life of a Jeevan Mukta — Verse 81, Śivananda Lahari

कञ्चित्कालमुमामहेश भवतः पादारविन्दार्चनैः

     कञ्चिद्ध्यानसमाधिभिश्च नतिभिः कञ्चित्कथाकर्णनैः ।

कञ्चित् कञ्चिदवेक्षणैश्च नुतिभिः कञ्चिद्दशामीदृशीं

     यः प्राप्नोति मुदा त्वदर्पितमना जीवन् स मुक्तः खलु ॥ ८१॥

 

ಕಂಚಿತ್ಕಾಲಮುಮಾಮಹೇಶ ಭವತಃ ಪಾದಾರವಿಂದಾರ್ಚನೈಃ

ಕಂಚಿದ್ಧ್ಯಾನಸಮಾಧಿಭಿಶ್ಚ ನತಿಭಿಃ ಕಂಚಿತ್ಕಥಾಕರ್ಣನೈಃ ।

ಕಂಚಿತ್ಕಂಚಿದವೇಕ್ಷಣೈಶ್ಚ ನುತಿಭಿಃ ಕಂಚಿದ್ದಶಾಮೀದೃಶೀಂ

ಯಃ ಪ್ರಾಪ್ನೋತಿ ಮುದಾ ತ್ವದರ್ಪಿತಮನಾ ಜೀವನ್ ಸ ಮುಕ್ತಃ ಖಲು ॥ 81 ॥

kañcit kālam umā–maheśa bhavataḥ pādāravindārcanaiḥ
kañcid dhyāna–samādhibhiś ca natibhiḥ kañcit kathā–karṇanaiḥ ।
kañcit kañcid avekṣaṇaiś ca nutibhiḥ kañcid daśām īdṛśīṁ
yaḥ prāpnoti mudā tvad–arpita–manā jīvan sa muktaḥ khalu ॥ 81 ॥

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Translation:
For some moments, O Lord — consort of Uma — he devotes himself to the worship of Your lotus feet;
For some, he dwells in meditation and stillness; for some, he bows and listens to Your sacred tales;
For some, he simply gazes upon You; for some, he sings Your praise in verse.
He who thus spends his days — joyfully, with his mind offered wholly unto You —
verily, he is liberated even while living.

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Interpretation:
To the realized one (jeevan mukta), liberation is not a distant state but a way of being.
His hours flow not in bondage but in remembrance —
some spent in service, some in silence,
some in surrender, and some in song.
Each act, each breath, becomes worship.
Such a life, immersed in the Divine through every fleeting moment,
is indeed freedom — not after death, but here, now, alive.