Five types of liberation

All types of Yoga or spiritual practices in general aim at liberation or mukti. Liberation is said to be of five types viz. salokya mukti, samipya mukti, sarupaya mukti, sayujya mukti and kaivalya mukti.

As per Hindu mythology various god heads have their own worlds that is ruled by them. For example, world associated with Lord Shiva is Shivaloka and that of Lord Vishnu is Vishnuloka. These worlds are considered devoid of pain and sorrow. When a spiritual practitioner due to merit of his sadhana becomes fit to live the loka or world of a particular deity he is said to have attained Salokya Mukti.

If a practitioner because of its great devotion and sadhana is chosen to live close to his worshipped deity say as his favorite servant or assistant then he is said to have attained Samipya Mukti. For example, Lord Shiva has many ganas but only few of them such as Nandi, Veerabhadra, Bhringi and Shringi are always close to him assisting him in his tasks.

A further advanced form of liberation is Sarupya Mukti in which a devotee becomes same as his worshipped god head in appearance. He, however, is still has a separate existence. For example, certain Shiva ganas have clothing, trident and moon just like Lord Shiva. They radiate with the same brilliance as that of the Lord but still they are not the Lord themselves.

In the above three types of liberation though a practitioner is freed from pain, sorrow and sufferings he still has a separate existence. In Sayujya Mukti, however, a devotee becomes one with the Lord. He merges with his worshipped deity.

The first four types of liberation viz. Salokya, Samipya, Sarupya and Sayujya are attained only after the death of the devotee. That means in order to liberate he needs to shed his body. The last type of mukti, Kaivalya, is the supreme form of liberation wherein a practitioner is liberated while living. He is just like any other person in terms of his bodily appearance or behavior but he breaks the cycle of birth and death. Kaivalya mukti is extremely difficult to attain and only Yogis with highest caliber are blessed with it. It is this mukti that Maharshi Patanjali has described in the fourth chapter (Kaivalya Pada) of his famous work Patanjali Yoga Sutras.