Namaste,
A cirañjIvI (ciraMjIvI, cirajIvI) is long-lived or eternal, and the term is applied to viSNu, and to the saptaRSi, and especially those of the sAvarNi manvantaram (strictly the eighth manvantaram, which is to come; but generally indicating all future manvantarANi), and also to mArkaNDeya RSi.
The saptaRSi of the (eighth) sAvarNi manvantaram will be: vAsiSTha vyAsa, bhAradvAja ashvatthAma, gautama kRpAcArya, bhArgava rAma, vaishvAmitra gAlava, Atreya dIptimAn, and kAshyapa ruru.
But the title cirañjIvI is also given to a popular group of seven immortals, including: vyAsa, ashvatthAma, kRpAcArya, parashu rAma, vibhISaNa, hanumAn, and bali.
Añjaneya was born from cira añjanA, and so hanumAn is cirAñjaneya.
añjanam refers to an equivocal expression, a double entendre or pun; and añjana and jyeSThA (the ancient shakti of the south-west, the realm of nirRti and nAgAH) are both names used to indicate a small house-lizard.
And bali is the name of indra in the sAvarNi manvantaram.
There is much punning and word-play in the tale of Añjaneya, and the cirañjIvI hanumAn (the prANAtman or vital-breath) is a favorite rhetorical device. hanumAn represents the pañcaprANa, the pañcabhUta, and the immortal pañcAkshara; hanumAn delivers the punch-line, and indeed, hanumAn is the pañca itself, the ancient pAshupatAstra of shiva.
The mythic assemblage of seven cirañjIvinaH is obviously based on the seven sAvarNi RSayaH, but with a southern slant (including hanumAn and vibhISaNa, and rAma in his axe-wielding mode).
In the sense that cirañjIvI is applied to viSNu, it is synonymous with avatAra (this seems to be the sense Atanu has taken), and thus any notion of attaining moksha is inappropriate, and the avatAra is born cirañjIvI. In other cases, however, the title refers particularly to the saptaRSi, and other immortalized mortals who are also expected to reappear (from the clouds, or from a cave in the himalaya) in a subsequent age.
In general, a cirañjIvI RSi has considered the veda with mImAMsA and sAMkhya, while a mokshI siddha has considered the AtmA with vedAnta and yoga.
And then there are the cirañjIvI siddhAH who dwell as virtual immortals in bhuvarloka by their own siddhi (generally attained with tantra, which is heavily influenced by the alchemical logic of vaisheSika); although, unlike the RSayaH of maharloka, they do not live beyond the end of a kalpa.
At the conclusion of each kalpa, such aerial cirañjIvI will either have moksha and finally ascend to brahmaloka, or their souls will again be returned to the earth of mRtyuloka (i.e. bhUloka, the mortal realm) during the next kalpa. This is the pattern for last judgment, and mortal existence itself is the archetype for descent to hell.
And the best prescription for immediate moksha (avoiding the purgatory of bhuvarloka, and the dualistic risk of final judgment) is a perfect blend of vedAnta, yoga, and nyAya, which all boils down to jñAna yoga .
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