Ānanda (Hindu philosophy)

In the Hindu Vedas, Upanishads and Bhagavad gita, ānanda signifies eternal bliss which accompanies the ending of the rebirth cycle.

Those who renounce the fruits of their actions and submit themselves completely to the divine will, arrive at the final termination of the cyclical life process (saṃsāra) to enjoy eternal bliss (ānanda) in perfect union with the godhead.

[3] Perhaps the most comprehensive treatise on 'ānanda' is to be found in the Ananda Valli of Taittiriya Upanishad, where a gradient of pleasures, happiness, and joys is delineated and distinguished from the "ultimate bliss" (ब्रह्मानंद)- absorption in Self-knowledge, a state of non-duality between object and subject.

[4] This essential description of 'ānanda' as an aspect of the non-dual Brahman is further affirmed by Adi Shankaracharya commentary[5] on the Brahma Sutras, Chapter 1, Section 1, Shloka 12, आनन्दमयोऽभ्यासात्.

[7] According to the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, ananda is that state of sublime delight when the jiva becomes free from all sins, all doubts, all desires, all actions, all pains, all sufferings and also from all physical and mental ordinary pleasures.