What are Moksha, Nirvana and Gati in Hinduism?

You have posed a very nice question!

The last death in this world is termed as Nirvana. After achieving Nirvana, there is no rebirth. This state is considered as Moksha, wherein the Soul is free from the cycle of birth and death. Until the person does not achieve Nirvana, he continues to wander from one Gati (a life form) to another.

Therefore, every living being, at the end of its life, achieves either a Gati or the ultimate Nirvana! As long as one has to continue taking birth, he goes to some or the other Gati after death, and when one becomes entitled to Nirvana, then there is no further birth.

There are four different Gatis (life forms) in this worldly life:

Dev Gati – where Celestial Beings reside

Narak Gati – where Hellish Beings go

Manushya Gati – where one is born as a Human Being

Tiryanch Gati – Animal kingdom comprising of all Birds, Animals, Insects and Plants

All Gatis (life forms) are treacherous because ultimately they don’t give happiness forever. Only in the state of Moksha can a person be happy 24 hours a day!

Gati is based on Merit and Demerit Karmas

In this worldly life, everyone achieves a life form based on his or her merit karmas and demerit karmas. If the person has caused great pain to others in present life, he binds such demerit karma that will take him to Tiryanch (Animal) Gati in his next life; and when one has caused most extreme pain to someone, one is forced to go to Narak (hell) Gati. In both these states, the person binds lot of demerit karmas (Paap). If people cheat others or hurt others, then they will go to Tiryanch Gati and become an animal and if they kill someone, then they could even go to the Seventh Hell!

On the other hand, if the person gives lot of happiness to others without thinking about one’s own self, he binds enormous merit (Punya) karma which takes him to Dev Gati, where he’s born as a Celestial Being and he enjoys good amount of luxuries and comfort. And if one has performed good and bad deeds, having done more of good deeds, one binds more of a mix of merit and demerit karma, with more of merit karma, and gets born as a ‘Human’ in the Manushya Gati.

Moksha is possible only from Manushya Gati

Of all, Manushya Gati is invaluable, for it is only from this Gati that one can achieve ultimate liberation; one achieves Nirvana and goes to Moksha. In no other form can this happen; even from Dev Gati, one has to come back to ‘human’ form and only then can achieve Moksha - such is the law of Nature!

Once the living being is born in ‘human’ form, with the help of his accumulated merit karma, one happens to meet Gnani, the Enlightened One, who has the power to destroy the person’s demerit karma, such that one attains Self-Realization. After gaining the knowledge of the Self, following the instructions of Gnani, one then is able to become free from birth and death. Until that time, the living being keeps wandering in different life forms!

Self-Realization is the knowledge that frees a person from birth and death

Akram Vignan is a spiritual science that reveals the stepless path to Self-Realization, wherein our wrong belief of, “I am the body” leaves and the right belief that, “I am a Pure Soul” sets in, just by the grace of Gnani, the Enlightened One. After gaining this right belief, as one follows the instructions of Gnani, the awareness of Soul increases, the bound karma wither off, and ultimately attains Nirvana and proceeds to Moksha.

Journey from Gati to Nirvana to Moksha

We all are really a Pure Soul. But there are coverings of karma on this Soul, due to which we have to wander in this world. Every living being is in journey, moving from one gati to another, experiencing the fruits of one’s own karma. And one day, in Manushya Gati, as one happens to meet a Gnani, the Enlightened One, one comes to know really, ‘who am I?’ Following the words of gnani, as one applies this knowledge in his daily life, the binding of new karma be it merit or demerit, stops. And when the fruits of all already bound karma are experienced, and there is no more karma that remains pending, only Absolute Soul remains. This is when the Soul leaves the mortal body for the last time - this event is termed as Nirvana. The Soul is liberated from the cycle of birth and death, its journey gets completed and it leaves for its ultimate destination, which is called moksha!

Thus, the ultimate purpose of human life, having been born in Manushya Gati, is to meet Gnani, the Enlightened One, and with his divine grace, attai
Self-Realization!!! Go for it at your earliest convenience!

To explore more, visit: https://www.dadabhagwan.org/path-to-happiness/spiritual-science/the-science-of-karma/