Salvation as Moksha
Liberation is Moksha and Moksha is what all Hindus strive for, it
is ultimate bliss and awareness. Hindu salvation- Moksha is a liberation from
this life-death circle.
Dhanjibhai
Fakirbhai, a devout Hindu Bhakti family of
Baroda (Gujarat), who became a Christian as a young man asserts that more than
the karma marga, bhakti marga, and Jnana marga there is one more marga which is
the prema yoga, the way of love. This leads to nothing less than salvation or
moksha. The relationship between man and God is one of love. Sin is the
rejection of God’s love. And what is this love? He explains that it is the
self-sacrificing suffering of God on behalf of the good of his creatures. As
such, the proper response of man to God’s love can only be repentance and
humble acceptance in faith. Jesus Christ is love incarnation and new birth is
the change of heart to love others and God. This will be a effective way of
articulating salvation in Indian context.
J.
Appasamy develops the thought that
fellowship with God does not consist in the harmony of the individual soul with
the divine soul in thought and imagination, in purpose and will, in humble deed
and adoring devotion. This quality of life which the Bible, particularly John’s
Gospel, calls eternal life, is what Appasamy calls moksha. Of the three Hindu
margas — jnana marga, bhakti marga and karma marga — it is bhakti marga which
maintains this kind of personal communion. Appasamy obviously chooses bhakti
marga as the only way to attain moksha. Appasamy says: (Moksha) is a real
harmony with the holy and righteous Father. It is a personal experience which,
however, in its higher reaches transcends the personal. It is a corporate
experience, man mingling with his fellow-men in order to attain the heights of
God’s love. It begins even in this life and does not wait for an indefinite
future.
Such
an interpretation of moksha not only preserves the personalities of both God
and man but also gives human beings a social dimension which probably is an
addition to the original meaning of the term.
Salvation as Liberation
A.P. Nirmal refers Jesus
Christ as Dalits. He argues that the servility of Dalits should not be
glorified as that of Christ as it was an imposed humility, whereas the serving
nature of Jesus was his preferred option to save others. This salvation brings
liberation from their suffering and emancipated from their bondage According to
Maria Arul Raja, God deliberately took on vulnerable human flesh to show
complete solidarity with the suffering masses as well as restoring their lost
human dignity. Jesus is viewed as the Messiah in relation with his suffering to
provide salvation to the marginalized including the Dalits. For James Massey,
God preferred to be born as a poor person and this reflects the fact that in
our context Jesus is a Dalit who is the savior of Dalit and liberate them.
According to Felix Wilfred, he argues that for, in traditional Indian
society, since the Dalits were treated as untouchables, they were segregated
from the main village, and they had to confine themselves to habitations in a
separate place outside the village. Here the Dalits identify their plight with
the situation of Jesus, cast out and killed outside the gates of Jerusalem and
bring salvation to those who are oppressed and liberate them wholly.
K.Thanzauva presents Jesus
in the light of the tribal understanding as the one who brings liberation from
the bondage of socio-economic plight and even for their political dimensions.
He asserts that Jesus is the only savior who liberates the tribal from their
various bondage of fear, oppression and social life.
Rev. Darsanglien
Ruolngul in his book “The Advance of the Gospel” clearly articulated that Jesus Christ and his
message of hope enlightened the tribal people (his people- Hmar), it bring
salvation from darkness to light and this salvation diagonally enriched their
intellectuals, ways of living and it become a catalyst and agents of liberation
from the bondage of innumerable captivity like oppression and poverty, and most
importantly the aspect of liberation from the bondage of sin which is darkness
and salvation leads to light and this gospel light spread like a wild fire and
flows out immensely to other community even to the larger part of the
world.
.jpg)
.jpg)