Narayanasramam

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Vairaagya - Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

 

Dispassion, vairaagya, is a quality that cannot be dispensed with in any

spiritual instruction, for ascetics as well as householders. True,

Bhagavadgeeta, ever since it has transpired, has remained a spiritual

gospel. And the reason for it is obvious. Its tone, content, message and

emphasis have consistently adhered to the true spiritual notes

throughout.

 

Those who take Geeta as a Gospel of Action and would like to rejoice in worldly

or secular pursuits in an exclusive manner, should not fail to reflect on this

fact and moderate their thoughts and addictions. Let it be clear that dispassion

is a quality that always enriches everyone – a spiritual seeker as well as a

secular person. That alone adorns the Soul-wisdom and renders the seeker strong,

wholesome and

independent.

 

To all sensory objects, which verily includes the entire world with all its

contents, says Krishna, the attitude should be that of dispassion. Do not crave

for any sensory object. Let not world objects be the seeker's master. Let them

be, if at all, subservient to the seeker. Looking at the bounteous world, seeing

the thrills and allurements it provides, let no servility be allowed to creep

into the mind.

 

To be spiritual is not to look for one's delight and fulfillment in

the objects of the world. The mind that causes delight through any

object of the world can also provide delight without such object.

Delight in reality belongs to the mind alone. It is verily the

mind's own gift. It may be occasioned by an external medium or

spontaneously generated internally.

 

People in general, due to ignorance, seek to satiate their senses by

courting the sensory objects. This habit prevails till one grows to be a

saadhaka. When the spirit of saadhana takes over the mind, the focus

shifts from the objects to the Inner Spirit. Krishna is quite emphatic

on this, although he is speaking to a fighter in the battlefield.

 

What is vairaagya? It is the direct impact of knowing the perishable

nature of the world – its contents, sentient and insentient alike.

This one plight of perishability is sufficient to question man's

attraction towards them. At the same time, the spirit that enlivens the body is

not perishable. Should not then the Imperishable Spirit within be dearer than

the external perishables?

 

Krishna also explains how to make such dispassion grow stronger. While

presenting a precept, how to make it work is also clearly shown. This is where

our scriptural treatises excel. Ponder repeatedly and well over the trouble and

torment associated with birth, death, old age as well as disease. Worldly life

abounds in all these. In fact, these are fates and plights any living being has

to course through.

 

What does Krishna mean? Think of any one's birth. Neither is birth a

creation of the born one, nor is it an event brought about fully by

another. To marry and live in the company of each other is very much in keeping

with the scheme and process of Nature. As a natural corollary of married life,

children too are born, making the couple their parents.

 

Except undergoing the biological processes leading to conception and

birth of a child, the parents do not have any creative role as such in

forming the physical body of the off-spring. Everything takes place

governed by Nature's laws and processes. In fact, an animal baby and

a human baby are born alike. Only in their potentials and possibilities, Nature

has built in some distinctions and differences.

 

None can predict with certainty what kind of a child will be born, with what

character, looks and intelligence. Death is the last phase of life. It is

definite that the born will die, but none can say when and how. As the growth of

the foetus after conception results in birth of the child, so too the growth

following birth leads to the old age. How many are there for whom old age is a

crowning maturity and fulfillment? Every one seems to curse and lament over old

age and the disadvantages it brings. Disease is another factor that intrudes

into life. Grief of various kinds is a sure constituent of life.

 

Thus, observed well, human life in the world does consist of a variety

of defects or evils. Should not one be mindful of these? A good seeker

cannot but reflect upon these. Krishna exhorts us to do so. Such a habit or

pursuit will go to generate, strengthen and deepen dispassion in the mind.