Three Fevers

Divine Life Society Publication: How To Get Vairagya by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda

There are scorpion stings on one side. Serpents are on the other side. Flies, fleas, bugs, mosquitoes, thorns and other insects trouble you from one corner. The sun scorches you in summer. Cold stings you in winter. Influenza, plague, fashionable appendicitis, pyorrhea, smallpox are all ready to devour you. Then there are the three fevers, Adhyatmika, Adhidaivika and Adhibhautika. Fear, delusion, grief, sorrow and misery kill you every moment.

Desire, anger, hatred, jealousy, worry, anxieties and cares torment you every second. Deaths of persons whom you loved so dearly give you severe shocks. Yet you will never renounce the momentary pleasures of the senses of this unreal mundane existence. Such is the depth of sensual enjoyments. You will speak through egoism, "O, I am a powerful man. I am very intelligent. I can do any thing. There is no God." You will twist your glued moustache and when the scorpion stings you sharp, you will cry out bitterly: "O Narayana, Narayana, Narayana, help me. Relieve me of this horrible pain."

If the hair becomes gray, you invent various dyes to blacken it. You invent monkey gland grafting for rejuvenation. If the teeth are fallen, you put on a new artificial dental set. You will never leave the "will-to-live and enjoy." Miserable wreck that you are! Hopeless specimen!

Think deeply. Cogitate. Reflect. Have constant Satsang. Do selfless service of country and humanity. Develop the four means of salvation. Study the Bhagavad Gita, Yoga-Vasishtha and Viveka-Chudamani of Sri Sankara. Clear your doubts by approaching learned Sannyasins. Have recourse to Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana. Remove the veil of ignorance and rest in your own Svarupa-the Satchitananda state. "Atma va are drasktavyah srotavyo, mantavyo, nididhyasitavyah-The Self must be seen, heard, thought upon and deeply pondered." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: IV.5).

Shun honour, respect, degrees, name, fame, power, position and titles. They are absolutely worthless. They will not give you eternal satisfaction. They will only intensify your vanity. They are all intoxicants of the mind. They will bring misery and mental disturbance. That is the reason why Raja Bhartrihari, Raja Gopichand and Lord Buddha deserted their kingdoms, riches, honour, etc. They treated them as trifles.

Excerpts from: Three Fevers - How To Get Vairagya by Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda