'After tyaga (renunciation) Comes Peace'

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'After tyaga (renunciation) Comes Peace'

 

DR C A REDDY

 

The author is a professor in the Department of Microbiology and

Molecular Genetics. Michigan State University, USA.

 

'By tyaga Alone'

 

'Neither by work nor by progeny nor by riches can immortality be

attained. Only through renunciation one becomes immortal.' These

well-known words from the Mahanarayana Upanishad (4.12.14) and

Kaivalya Upanishad (1.2.4) declare the glory of renunciation as the

only means to attain immortality. The purpose of glorifying

renunciation is to stress the cardinal importance of renunciation

for the attaining the bliss that is the Self.

 

The true meaning of the word tyaga is to give up the tendency to

possess the fruits of actions (karma-phala tyaga), and not the

action itself. Says the Bhagavad-Gita (12.12), 'tyagat-shanti-

anantaram' meaning that peace instantly follows renunciation. In

other words, by tyaga or renunciation, giving up of results of

actions is what is meant.

 

According to Sri Ramakrishna, the central theme of Bhagavad Gita is

this tyaga. Playing a pun on the word tyaga, he said if one repeats

Gita a number of times, it reverses the word and it becomes tagi--

meaning tyaga. Much of the eighteenth chapter of the Gita is devoted

to tyaga and its various dimensions. Gita repeatedly emphasizes

tyaga as giving up the claim over the fruits of one's actions. The

clarion call of the Gita is to do diligently action as per one's

station in life with detachment and as an offering to God. The way

to salvation (mukti) is through renunciation of selfishness and

doing actions for the common good. Actions (karmas) that we do

should be done as our offering to God. The results of our actions

(karma phala) are the Prasada (sanctified food) that we receive from

Him.

 

Tyaga is a vital part of human life. One may not formally give up

the world but the spirit of renunciation is needed to truly bring

purposefulness in life. Religious traditions across the world stress

the importance of cultivating a sense of sacrifice. It is not in

vain that they glorify detachment and a spirit of giving up. For 'it

is only in giving that we receive,' as the Bible too exhorts. Swami

Vivekananda rightly placed the ideal of renunciation before the

Ramakrishna Order and coined a new term to state the ancient idea.

He called it as 'atmano mokshartham, jagad hitaya cha,' which

means 'for one's own spiritual liberation and for the welfare of the

world.' Another great saint puts the same thing as, 'Help ever, but

hurt never.' To be a tyagi (renunciate) means not to be a bhogi

(enjoyer). A pleasure seeker is far away from the highest Truth for,

his selfish desires keep him locked in his little world of sensory

pleasures and he fails to see the real purpose of life.

 

Enjoying Through tyaga

 

Isha Upanishad begins by saying, 'tena tyaktena bhunjitha'--enjoy

the world through giving up the fruits of actions. Its simple

meaning is that when a person acts without a sense of egoism, he is

freed from the sense of possessiveness which otherwise binds one.

This attitude towards action makes life more enjoyable. Actions

performed in the spirit of detachment transform bhoga into tyaga.

This makes a person gradually learn the lesson of sharing with

others. This sense of sacrificing, however, comes only when a

person's identifi- cation with the body (dehatma-bhava) is reduced

and he realizes that in essence he or she is divine (atma-bhava).

That is how one learns to do all one's actions as a service to God.

 

A powerful story from the Mahabharata aptly illustrates this spirit

of renunciation. Swami Vivekananda too referred to this in his Karma

Yoga. A mongoose at the court of Emperor Yudhishthira narrates the

story soon after Yudhishthira completed a great ritualistic

sacrifice (yajna). The mongoose told of a devout Brahmin who lived

with his wife, son, and daughter-in-law at a time of great famine.

The family had to go without food for days together. One day, they

were able to collect with great difficulty some maize and prepared a

meal. As soon they sat down to eat the meal there came a guest who

was extremely hungry. The Brahmin, the dutiful householder that he

was, offered him his share of the food. The man ate it all but was

still hungry. Then, in turn, the Brahmin's wife, son, and daughter-

in-law gave him their shares. At last the guest was satisfied. He

then said: 'Blessed is your hospitality. Your most admirable and

unprecedented tyaga has earned you a place in heaven. Behold the

heavenly chariot, ascend it and go to heaven.' So saying, the

mysterious guest disappeared. Having narrated the story, the

mongoose continued: I was present nearby that day. I rolled in joy

on the ground where some flour was scattered and that part of my

body which touched the flour, turned golden. I have been wanting to

make my whole body golden, and visited many places where great

yajñas are conducted. That is why I have come to attend this yajna.

But, alas, even here the rest of my body failed to turn golden. The

tyaga of the Brahmin remains unequalled.

 

How Tyaga Helps Cultivate Higher Values

 

Ancient Vedic rishis exhorted everyone to develop a spirit of non-

attachment and to strive to become men of values rather than

becoming men possessing valuables. As says the Chandogya Upanishad

(3.14.1), sarvam khalvidam brahma--'everything in this universe is

Brahman' (the ultimate truth). By implication, it means all our

earthly possessions (house, job, family, friends, property, and

everything else) are a result of God's grace on us and in reality

nothing is truly ours. This means we should give back at least in

some measure what we have received. Hence all men of spirituality

tell us to at least make a conscientious effort to offer our

services to others. One way to do this is to set aside a portion of

our earnings to help the needy and to promote activities that are

helpful to the society in general.

 

Acharya Shankara says in his well-known verses titled Bhaja

Govindam, 'Money needs to be shared with the more needy.' Explaining

this a monk once coined a fascinating phrase: 'If you dare to care,

be willing to share.' Sharing includes not only money and materials

but also knowledge, time, and skills of various kinds. Knowledge

gained through education gets enriched and purposeful only when it

is shared with others. It is common among the followers of many

religions, to ask the faithful to donate a part of their earnings

(money or materials) for the service of those who are in need. All

people may not actually follow it in reality but as a goal it is

indeed laudable.

 

A voluntary restraint on one's desires, being more frugal with one's

expenses, and spending the money thus saved for helping the needy is

part of practice of tyaga. We can decide as to what and how much we

really need. Most people cannot find the difference between need and

greed. Hence wastage has become one of a hallmarks of the affluent

societies. Except man, no other creature on earth takes more from

this planet than what it really needs. It is often mentioned that

the U.S. population accounts for about 6% of the world's population

but consumes 45% of the world's natural resources. In general, there

is a direct correlation between affluence (per- sonal or national)

and the extent of wastage.

 

Learning to Serve

 

Modern man's greed and insatiable selfish desires have caused

multifarious ecological problems around the world and has led to the

extinction of hundreds of different species of plants, animals and

birds. This can be set right only the practice of tyaga in every day

life. Raising money and resources for the needy is also a form of

tyaga.

 

Another way to practice renunciation is to set aside time for

serving members of the family, community, country, and humanity as a

whole. We should save our time by not indulging in personal

pleasures and instead channel it in the service of others. No act of

service is trivial. Tyaga should thus make one serve and service is

what is badly needed in today's world.

 

Renunciation, truly speaking, is the best way to seek the good of

oneself as well of others. The well-known prayer, 'May all beings in

all the world be happy,' has tyaga as its basis.

" gopi krishna " <gopi