The Spirit of Renunciation (Vairagya)

Divine Life Society Publication: Attaining Desirelessness – True Spiritual Living by Sri Swami Krishnananda

The yoga process is a process of education, which means to say, a gradual enlightenment, an awakening into the daylight of knowledge, and not merely groping in the night of darkness, though it may be that we are moving from one place to another place in that dark night. Any amount of movement in the dark night is not going to give us light. Shifting of the position of the body in darkness is not a solution. The solution is the rising of the sun.

And so, in the sutra in Patanjali's aphorisms, he says: drsta anusravika visaya vitrsnasya vasikarasamjna vairagyam (Y.S. 1.15). Vairagya, or the spirit of renunciation, is a mastery that we gain over the objects of sense, and is not merely a forgetful attitude of the mind in respect of objects of sense. What are the objects of sense? Drishta and anusravika are the words used: that which is seen, and that which is heard – both these are objects. We can cling to objects which are seen with the eyes, and also cling to things which are only heard by our mind. When we see a thing directly, physically, of course the mind will begin to read a tremendous gorgeous significance in the object, and jump upon it. Not merely that, even by hearing of the glories of an object of sense, the mind can become restless and ask for its possession – like the joys of heaven, for instance.

What is vairagya then, which the yoga speaks of? It is a vitrshnata, or a feeling of inward desirelessness, towards everything that is seen or capable of being seen, and everything that is heard of, even through the scriptures or by other sources. In one of the writings of Acharya Sankara, he says: abrahma stambha paryantam vairagyam vishayeshvanu yathaiva kakavishthayam vairagyam tat nirmalam. His definition of vairagya is terrifying. What does he say? Even the pleasures of Brahmaloka are to be despised by a desireless mind, as they are mere dirt which have no essence in them. They are far superior to even Indra's pleasure, because that is the description of the subtlest condition of sattvic enjoyment. Even this is only an enjoyment, though this enjoyment is effected not through the physical senses, not even by an ordinary psychological process, but by a subtle instrument called the anandamaya kosa. They say that in Brahmaloka the physical body is not there, and not even the ordinary subtle body is there; there is a subtler-still body which is comparable only with what we call the causal body in us. Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatkumara, Sanatsujata, Narada, and such others, are supposed to be living there. They are all unthinkable things. These pleasures also are not to be coveted in comparison with a greater joy still, which is identical with the Self.

The joy of the Atman, the Supreme Self, reflects itself in all these manifestations – right from the delight of Brahma, or creator, down to the grossest physical object of sense – in various degrees. What is giving us joy, pleasure, is this Atman present in things. We are happy wherever the Atman is manifest. Where the Atman is not manifest, we cannot feel joy. Even in the grossest object of sense, the Atman is manifest. That is why it attracts us. It is a great wonder how the Atman can manifest itself in an object of sense. Is it possible? Yes, it is possible, and it is because of this mystery that is revealed through the objects, that the senses run after the objects. The Atman is not an object, of course, and yet it is capable of getting revealed in some degree through the objects.

The Atman is a symmetry of perfection, a well-arranged pattern which reflects completeness; and wherever this arrangement of completeness or pattern or symmetry is visible, the mind begins to feel that its object is present. Anything that is symmetrical attracts us. Anything that is confused or chaotic does not attract us. Symmetry is also a very difficult thing to understand. It is not merely geometrical symmetry that we are speaking of here, though that also is there as an element of this superior form of symmetry.

Completeness, or an absence of any kind of want, is the character of the Atman. Many features are there in the Atman, not merely symmetry. It is difficult to explain what are the qualities that are discoverable in the Atman. Exuberance and buoyancy, force and symmetry, of course perfection, and a freshness. The object of sense looks fresher and fresher every day. Every day we would like to see it as many times as possible, because freshness is one of the characters of the Atman. We cannot know what this freshness is. It is not the freshness of a ripe fruit, like an apple. It is something that pulls our whole being. Every day, the sun rises in a beautiful manner. We are happy to see the rise of the sun. We never feel that it is a dull sun that has been rising for centuries. Every day it is fresh, invigorating, and exciting. The capacity to excite us into a tremendous activity through every part of our body, the senses and the mind, is the capacity of the Atman; and wherever such inordinate capacity to stir the total personality is seen, upon that the mind jumps, and it goes towards it.

But, it forgets that what attracts it is not this vehicle called the physical object, but something that is revealed through it due to a peculiar placement of that object in a certain atmosphere, in comparison with a peculiar and particular condition of our own mind in a certain stage of evolution. Attraction is impossible unless both cooperate – the object and our own mind. The object has to be placed in a proper context, it must reveal certain characters, and those characters and that context should be the very same thing that our mind is lacking at that particular time. Then we are attracted by it. That is why we cannot be attracted by the same thing always, because the mind changes when we advance in age or in experience.

Knowing all these things, the viveki, or the man of discrimination, gets disillusioned: "Oh! This is the state of affairs. I am very sorry. I was totally mistaken." Parinama tapa samskara duhkaih gunavrtti virodhat ca duhkham eva sarvam vivekinah (Y.S. 2.15). For certain reasons which are to be explained, the whole world is full of pain only. It is not a place of beautiful enjoyment or an occasion for exciting pleasures. There is something very terrible about things. This sutra that I quoted just now tells us what it is.

The Spirit of Renunciation (Vairagya) - Attaining Desirelessness – True Spiritual Living by Sri Swami Krishnananda