By
SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA
A DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY PUBLICATION
Third Edition: 1983
(5,000 Copies)
World Wide Web (WWW) Edition : 1998
Website: http://www.divinelifesociety.org/
This WWW reprint is for free distribution
© The Divine Life Trust Society
Published By
THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
P.O. Shivanandanagar—249 192
Distt. Tehri-Garhwal, Uttaranchal,
Himalayas, India.
CONTENTS
OM
B::ðg:ð r:ðg:B:y:ö
kÙl:ð cy:Øet:B:y:ö ev:¶:ð n:àp:al:a»y:ö .
m:an:ð dòny:B:y:ö b:l:ð erp:ØB:y:ö -p:ð j:ray:a B:y:m:Î ..
S:as*:ð v:aedB:y:ö g:ØN:ð K:l:B:y:ö kay:ð kát:ant:a»y:ö .
s:v:üö v:st:Ø B:y:aenv:t:ö B:Øev: n:àN:aö v:òragy:m:ðv:aB:y:m:Î ..
bhoge
rogabhayaü kule cyutibhayaü vitte nçpàlàdbhayaü |
màne dainyabhayaü bale ripubhayaü råpe jaràyà bhayam ||
÷àstre vàdibhayaü guõe khalabhayaü kàye kçtàntàdbhayaü |
sarvaü vastu bhayànvitaü bhuvi nçõàü vairàgyamevàbhayam ||
In enjoyment there is fear of disease; in social position, the fear
of falling off; in wealth, the fear of (hostile) kings; in honour, the
fear of humiliation; in power, the fear of foe men; in beauty, the fear
of old age; in scriptural erudition, the fear of opponents; in virtue,
the fear of traducers; in body, the fear of death. All the things of
this world pertaining to human beings are attended with fear; renunciation
alone stands for fearlessness.
¾Vairagya Sakatam of Bhartrihari.
b:ÒÉaedsT:av:rant:ð\:Ø
v:òragy:ö ev:\:y:ð\v:n:Ø .
y:T:òv: kakev:Åay:aö v:òragy:ö t:e¹ en:m:ül:m:Î ..
brahmàdisthàvarànteùu
vairàgyaü viùayeùvanu |
yathaiva kàkaviùñhàyàü vairàgyaü taddhi nirmalam ||
Spotless freedom from desires means such a dissatisfaction in respect
of all objects from Brahma down to inanimate things as is felt in respect
of the excrement of a crow.
¾Acharya Sankara
Vairagya Dindima
(A Proclamation
of Dispassion)
kam:H #:ðD:Á:
l::ðB:Á: dðhð et:Åent: t:skrH .
jW:an:rtn:ap:haray: t:sm:ajj:ag:Òt: j:ag:Òt: ..
kàmaþ
krodha÷ca lobha÷ca dehe tiùñhanti taskaraþ |
j¤ànaratnàpahàràya tasmàjjàgrata jàgrata ||
There lurk thieves in the frame viz., lust, anger and greed to steal
the jewel of thy wisdom. Therefore awake! awake!!
j:nm: dÙHK:ö
j:ra dÙHK:ö j:ay:a dÙHK:ö p:Øn:H .
s:ös:arm:ag:rö dÙHK:ö t:sm:ajj:ag:Òt: j:ag:Òt: ..
janma
duþkhaü jarà duþkhaü jàyà duþkhaü punaþ |
saüsàramàgaraü duþkhaü tasmàjjàgrata jàgrata ||
Birth is full of pains : old age is full of miseries: woman is again
and again the source of all miseries and pains. This ocean of Samsara
is full of grief. Therefore wake up! wake up!!
m:at:a n:aest:
ep:t:a n:aest: n:aest: b:nD:ØH s:h:ðdrH .
AT:üö n:aest: g:àhö n:aest: t:sm:ajj:ag:Òt: j:ag:Òt: ..
màtà
nàsti pità nàsti nàsti bandhuþ sahodaraþ |
arthaü nàsti gçhaü nàsti tasmàjjàgrata jàgrata ||
You have no mother, no father, no relatives, no brothers, no wealth,
no house, (nothing will remain for ever, nothing will follow you after
death). Therefore wake up! wake up!!
A:S:y:a b:Dy:t:ð
l::ðkñ km:üN:a b:hÚec:nt:y:a .
A:y:ØH x:iN:ö n: j:an:aet: t:sm:ajj:ag:Òt: j:ag:Òt: ..
à÷ayà
badhyate loke karmaõà bahucintayà |
àyuþ kùãõaü na jànàti tasmàjjàgrata jàgrata ||
You are bound in this world by desires, actions and manifold anxieties.
Therefore you don’t know that life is slowly decaying and is wasted
away. Therefore wake up! wake up!!
!
y:ad h] krn:a
kran:a hò P]t: s:aD:Øka kam: .
K:l:k k:ð rst:a edK:an:a hò P]t: s:D:Ø ka kam: ..
yàda
haqa karanà karànà hai phaqata sàdhukà kàma |
khalaka ko rastà dikhànà hai phaqata sadhu kà kàma ||
It is the only duty of the Sadhus to remember and make others remember
the “Right” (Absolute) and it is the only duty of the Sadhus,
to be the guide of the whole world.
edn: n:ikñ
b:it:ð j:at:ð hò .
dina
nãke bãte jàte hai |
The days are passing away speedily.
s:Øem:rn: kr
Â:i ram: n:am: t:j: ev:\:y: B::ðg: A:òr s:v:ü kam: .
t:ðrð s:¤ c:l:ð n:eh Ok dam: j::ð hðt:ð hò s::ð p:at:ð hò ..
edn: n:ikñ b:it:ð j:at:ð hò .. 1 ..
sumirana
kara ÷rã ràma nàma taja viùaya bhoga aura sarva kàma |
tere saïga cale nahi eka dàma jo hete hai so pàte hai ||
dina nãke bãte jàte hai || 1 ||
Remember the (holy) Name of Sri Rama, i. e., remember God. Give up
all the worldly and the sexual enjoyments, and all other deeds, too.
Not a dama (1/20th part of an anna) will go with you. Only they get
(something) who give (something). The days are passing away speedily.
B:aI b:nD:Ø
A:òr kÙXÙm: p:erv:ara s:b: j:it:ð j:i kñ n:t:ð hòö .
eks:kñ h:ð t:Øm: kón: t:Ømhara eks:kñ b:l: hern:am: ev:s:ara ..
edn: n:ikñ b:it:ð j:at:ð hò .. 2 ..
bhàã
bandhu aura kuñuma parivàrà saba jãte jã ke nate haiü |
kisake ho tuma kaina tumhàrà kisake bala harinàma visàrà ||
dina nãke bãte jàte hai || 2 ||
Brothers, friends, relatives and family members—All these are
related to you as long as you live. Otherwise “who is yours”?
(Dear Ones!) On whose strength have forgotten the (holy) Name of Hari!
(the Almighty)? The days are passing away speedily.
l:K: c::òras:i
B:rm: kñ A:y:ð b:_ð B:ag: m:an:Ø\: t:n: p:at:ð .
et:s: p:r B:in:aüöh kri km:aI ekr p:aCð p:Ct:at:ð hòö ..
edn: n:ikñ b:it:ð j:at:ð hò .. 3 ..
lakha
cauràsã bharama ke àye ba.De bhàga mànuùa tana pàte |
tisa para bhãrnàüha karã kamàã kira pàche pachatàte haiü ||
dina nãke bãte jàte hai || 3 ||
You have already travelled over the 84 lakhs of Yonis (wombs) of the
animal world. It is very fortunate of you that you have got this human
body. Still you have not done anything (for the next birth). And therefore,
you will have to repent for it. The days are passing away speedily.
j::ð t:Ü l:ag:ð
ev:\:y: ev:l:as:a m:ÜrK: kús:ð m:àty:Ø ki p:aS:a .
sVy:a dðK:ð Ã:as: ki A:s:a g:y:ð kñr n:hiö A:t:ð hòö ..
edn: n:ikñ b:it:ð j:at:ð hò .. 4 ..
jo
tå làge viùaya vilàsà mårakha ka.Nse mçtyu kã pà÷à |
kyà dekhe ÷vàsa kã àsà gaye kera nahãü àte haiü ||
dina nãke bãte jàte hai || 4 ||
If you entangle yourselves in worldly enjoyments after the objects,
Oh foolish people! You entangle yourselves in the clutches of the so-called
death. And why! Are you hoping for breaths (after breaths)? (Remember)
what is gone is gone for ever. They, those that have passed away will
never return. The days are passing away speedily.
Once in Persia reigned a king,
Who upon a signet ring,
Carved a maxim strange and wise,
When held before his eyes,
Gave him counsel at a glance,
Fit for every change and chance:
Solemn words, and these were they:
“EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”
Trains of camel through the sand
Brought him gems from Samarcand;
Fleets of galleys over the seas
Brought him pearls to rival these,
But he counted little gain,
Treasures of the mine or main;
“What is wealth?” the king would say,
“EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”
Mid the pleasures of his court
At the zenith of their sport,
When the palms of all his guests
Burned with clapping at his jests,
Seated midst the figs and wine,
Said the king, “Ah, friends of mine.
Pleasure comes but not to stay,
“EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”
Woman, fairest ever seen
Was the bride he crowned as queen,
Pillowed on the marriage-bed
Whispering to his soul, he said,
“Though no monarch ever pressed
Fairer bosom to his breast,
Mortal flesh is only clay!
“EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”
Fighting on the furious field,
Once a javelin pierced his shield,
Soldiers with a loud lament
Bore him bleeding to his tortured side,
“Pain is hard to bear;” he cried.
“But with patience, day by day,
EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”
Towering in a public square
Forty cubits in this air,
And the king disguised, unknown,
Gazed upon his sculptured name.
And he pondered, “What is fame?”
“Fame is but a slow decay!
“EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”
Struck with palsy, sore and old,
Waiting at the gates of gold,
Said he with his dying breath
“Life is done, but what is Death?”
Then as answer to the king
Fell a sunbeam on his ring;
Showing by a heavenly ray.
EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.”
—Theodore Tilton
Rama Rama Rama Rama Rama
Rama Rama Rama Rama Rama:
Why do you search in vain
For pleasure outside?
Go to the fountain source
In the subjective Atma:
Awake, arise, stop not
Till the goal is reached.
(Rama Rama … …)
How long you want to remain
Slave of passion, tell me please?
Try to seek peace within
By dispassion; practice (Vairagya and Abhyasa)
(Rama Rama … …)
Are you not really fed up
With illusory objects?
Enjoy the Atmic Bliss
By Manana, Nididhyasana,
Reflection, meditation.
(Rama Rama … …)
Sunaja Sunaja Sunaja Krishna
Tu Gitawala Jnana Sunaja Krishna.
At first there is a tender emotion and warm affection,
Then it gross into glowing love, burning passion.
Through Sravana and Satsang comes admiration,
Then attraction, attachment, supreme love.
I want my dear beloved Krishna alone;
I want neither Mukti nor temporal blessings.
The world is unreal, full of miseries,
God alone is real, full of Ananda.
You are running after the unreal shadow,
You have forgotten the real substance.
You came alone (weeping), will go alone (weeping), no one will follow,
Do Bhajan, do Kirtan, this will follow,
Why do you fight in vain with your brothers? Fight with the mind and
the Indriyas.
Why do you weep in vain for the death of relatives? Weep for the separation
of the Lord.
The love between husband and wife is selfish love,
Brothers, sisters are united for selfish ends.
Death is ever waiting to devour you all,
That ‘tomorrow’ will never come, open your eyes now (wake
up now).
Life is short, time is fleeting, (many obstacles to Japa and kirtan),
Apply yourself diligently to Yogic Sadhan.
This world is a mela for two days,
This life is a play for two seconds, (This body is a bubble for two
seconds).
When one is in union with God, it is Samadhi,
The Yogi gets infinite bliss and knowledge.
Bhakti-Yoga is crossing river by boat,
Jnana-Yoga is crossing river by swimming.
A Jnani gets knowledge by self-reliance,
A Bhakta gets Darshan by self-surrender.
When there is one Vritti it is Savikalpa,
When there is Triputi-Laya, it is Nirvikalpa.
When one is in fourth Bhumika, it is Jivanmukti,
When there is no body-consciousness, it is Videhamukti.
When you are in a state of Turiya, it is Jivanmukti,
When you are in Turiyatita, it is Videhamukti.
When there is Svarupanas, it is Jivanmukti.
When there is Arupanas, it is Videhamukti.
When Jagrat appears as Svapna, it is Jivanmukti,
When Jagrat appears as Sushupti, it is Videhamukti.
1. Remember the pains of Samsara
2. Remember Death
3. Remember the Saints
4. Remember God
1 and 2 will produce Vairagya. 3 will bring inspiration. 4 will cause
attainment of God-Consciousness.
(Remember these seven vital points)
- Hari Om, Sensual pleasure is momentary, deceptive, illusory and
imaginary.
- A mustard of pleasure is mixed with a mountain of pain.
- Enjoyment cannot bring about satisfaction of a desire. On the contrary
it makes the mind more restless after enjoyment through intense craving
(Trishnas and Vasanas).
- Sensual pleasure is an enemy of Brahma-Jnana
- Sensual pleasure is the cause for birth and death.
- This body is nothing but a mass of flesh, bone, and all sorts of
filth.
- Place before the mind the fruits of Self-realization or life in
the soul or Brahman or the Eternal, such as Immortality, Eternal bliss,
Supreme peace and Infinite knowledge. If you remember the seven points
always, the mind will be weaned from the cravings for sensual pleasures.
Vairagya, Viveka and Mumukshutva (dispassion, discrimination from
the real and the unreal, and keen longing for liberation from birth
and death) will dawn. You should seriously look into the defects of
sensual life (Dosha-Drishti) and into the unreal nature of worldly
life (Mithya-Drishti).
Read this once daily as soon as you get up from the bed.
To The First Edition
While it will be accepted on all hands that the first and foremost
requisite or qualification for an aspirant treading the path of Ancient
Wisdom or Yoga is Vairagya born of pure discrimination, it is strange
that nowadays when numberless books on Yoga, Vedanta and other allied
subjects are displayed at the sales window, none of these learned treatises
has ever thought or taken into head to supply this dire and long felt
need of spiritual aspirants. At such a time a book on “HOW TO GET
VAIRAGYA” by no less an eminent sage, Yogi and philosopher than
His Holiness Sri Swami Sivananda should be quite welcome to one and
all.
True, the subject of Vairagya has been dealt with in the sacred books
of India by ancient sages like Vasishtha, Vyasa, Yajnavalkya, Bhartrihari
and others, but nowhere will the reader get a clear, concise and compact
knowledge of the subject, at the same time suited to modern-conditions,
tastes and requirements. While emphasis was laid on ruthless renunciation,
mental as well as, physical, by the ancients as a precondition to Self-Realization,
it is quite refreshing and heartening to hear from the Himalayan Yogi
that “Vairagya is purely an internal mental state,” “it
is not a mere external show,” and “a man may remain in the
busy world amidst various luxuries, and yet he may possess perfect Vairagya,
while a Sadhu who lives in a cave in the far-off regions of the Himalayas
may be keenly attached to his Kamandalu, walking stick or piece of cloth.”
It is earnestly hoped that the object with which this publication has
been undertaken will be realized in the fullest measure.
THE PUBLISHERS
1st October, 1938.
“Happiness is within,” “What is Vairagya?” “Miseries
of mundane existence,” “Body,” “Woman,” “World,”
“Essence of Vairagya-Satakam” and “Inspiring stories.”
In “Happiness is within,” I have emphasized that happiness
which is the driving motive of all human endeavours is not in the perishable
objects of the world, but is within one’s own self and that even
the very little momentary pleasure you get from sensual enjoyments is
but a reflection of the Atman Bliss only. Real and lasting happiness
can be had only from God, or the Atman, which shines in the chambers
of your heart.
In the chapter entitled “What is Vairagya,” I have pointblank
stated that Vairagya does not consist in running away in home, shirking
the duties and responsibilities of life but that it is purely an internal
state and that a man while living in the world amidst various luxuries
may be a perfectly dispassionate soul. The chapter is for the sake of
convenience and ease divided into thirteen headings, all useful and
interesting. The need for renunciation of desire as a means to liberation
from bondage, varieties of Vairagya, its various stages, how to develop
it, the path of renunciation, what Vairagya is and what it is not¾these
and many other allied topics have been nicely handled.
“Miseries of mundane existence” is the inspiring title of
the third chapter. It should be borne in mind that ignorance is the
real cause of all misery and hence it should by all means be done away
with and Self-Knowledge attained, if these miseries of mundane life
are to come to an end. One may easily renounce wife, son and property,
but to renounce name and fame is an extraordinary feat of the highest
spirituality. To attain knowledge of Self such a degree of renunciation
is indispensably necessary. I have condemned building of Ashrams and
making disciples with a reservation clause because this to me seems
to be the prime cause of failure to attain the goal of Yoga practice
in the case of many a good aspirant nowadays.
Chapter four deals with “Body.” Attachment to body is the
cause of misery and bondage and this attachment is of course due to
ignorance of the Reality. When attachment for one’s own body comes,
then desire for sensual enjoyments, lust, anger, greed, worry, anxiety
and innumerable other miseries also come in its train. If this is cut
at the root by negating the body and identifying one’s self with
the supreme Self, then all miseries and sorrows will come to an end.
Hence the condemnation of attachment to the body.is purely carnal; it
is not pure, unselfish love. Hence condemnation of such love is justified.
“World” is the title of the sixth chapter. Due to ignorance
man believes that the world in which he lives is a solid reality and
that there is nothing beyond it. He therefore wants to indulge in all
sorts of sensual pleasures with a view to get happiness from them. Had
he known that the world in which he lives is unreal and that there is
something else which is an embodiment of Happiness, realizing which
one enjoys highest bliss, he would not do so. With a view to get happiness
from objects, he undergoes severe pain, tortures and tribulations and
yet he does not get the least satisfaction from them. I have tried to
convince the reader that this world of names and forms is unreal, transitory
and fleeting, that God, or the Atman alone is real and full of bliss
and that he should try to realize the Atman and get the happiness he
wants from it.
In the next chapter entitled “Essence of Vairagya-Satakam”
I have given in a nutshell the sum and substance of Bhartrihari’s
century of verses which will be found very useful to those who cannot
afford to obtain each and every book pertaining to Yoga or Vedanta.
In chapter eight, entitled “Inspiring Stories,” the reader
gets half a dozen thrilling and inspiring stories of great saints and
Yogis of ancient India, which are calculated to produce deep Vairagya
in him, and it is my firm belief that a book on Vairagya like the present
one has never been presented to the public as yet.
Prasnottari of Sri Sankaracharya is appended at the end, which will
be a source of strong inducement to lead a life of dispassion in the
world.
May the students of Yoga and Vedanta in the East and West be all inspired
to unstinted action by a perusal of this volume is the earnest prayer
of :
SWAMI SIVANANDA
15th September, 1938.
O Adorable Lord! Thou art the subtle. Hence it is very difficult to
understand and realize Thee. Thou art the past, present and future.
There is nothing but Thee. Thou art the Infinite ocean of Grace and
Mercy. Thou art known to Thy devotee alone. Thou art without attributes
and without forms and yet Thou possess attributes and forms. It is very
difficult to comprehend Thy glory and greatness. Thou art my father,
mother, Guru and sole refuge. Salutations unto Thee! Protect me. Guide
me. Lift me up from this terrible round of births and deaths.
O Lord! Thou art the indweller of all Thou art the soul in all! Thou
art the womb of all! Thou art the protector of all: Thou art the bestower
of fruits of Karma to all: Thou art all; Thou dwellest in all; Thou
art the source of all; Thou art the giver of Moksha to all. Prostrations
unto Thee!
O Lord! If Thou art the sun, then I am the ray; if Thou art the ocean,
I am the wave: if Thou art the Himalayas, I am the tree; if Thou art
the Ganga, I am the drop; if Thou art the garden, I am the flower; if
Thou art the electric light, I am the bulb; If Thou art the landscape,
I am the grass. By loving Thee, I have become Immortal. The noose of
Yama is cut asunder. Salutations unto Thee!
O Self-effulgent Lord! Thou art the Supporter, the Saviour, the Creator,
the Inner Ruler, the Governor, the Master, the Protector and the Deliverer.
Thou art the Dispeller of the darkness of ignorance. Thou art the Remover
of the miseries and sufferings of Thy devotees. Thou art the Destrayor
of the three kinds of sufferings (Tapas) or fevers of human beings.
O Venerable Lord! Salutations unto Thee! In Thee I take refuge. Give
me purity and devotion. Let my wandering, mischievous mind always rest
in Thy blessed Lotus feet.
O Sovereign Lord of all creations! I do not want any wealth, or Moksha
or power or dominion. But I do want that sufferings and troubles of
all beings should come to an end for ever. Thou art ocean of mercy.
Thou art omnipotent. Thou can do this.
OM
In Memory of
Lord Buddha, Raja Bhartrihari and Raja Gopichand,
who were embodiments of Vairagya,
who renounced their kingdom,
throne and their all for the
attainment of the Infinite
or
the final beatitude of life
or Kaivalya,
the Supreme Abode of Immortality
and
Eternal Bliss
OM
!
Happiness Is Within
Man wants happiness. He shuns pain. He moves heaven and earth to get
the happiness he wants from sensual objects and, lo, gets himself entangled
in the inextricable meshes of Maya. Poor man! He does not know that
these objects are perishable and evanescent, finite and conditioned
in time, space and causation. And what is more, he fails to get the
desired happiness from them.
This world is imperfect (Apurna) and there is uncertainty of
life. A barrister-at-law talks at the telephone, ascends the staircase
to take his meals and, alas, while ascending he dies on the staircase.
Such instances are not uncommon to you all.
There is not an iota of happiness in objects, because they are insentient
(Jada). Even the sensual pleasure is a reflection of Atmic Bliss
only. Just as a dog that sucks a dry bone in the street imagines foolishly
that blood is oozing out of the dry bone, whereas blood is really oozing
from its own palate, so also worldly-minded people foolishly imagine
that the happiness they enjoy in everyday life comes from objects only.
You can find eternal, infinite, supreme peace and bliss only in your
Atma which shines in all its splendour and glory in the chambers of
your heart. It is an embodiment of Bliss (Ananda Swarupa).
There is mental uneasiness, dissatisfaction, discontentment and restlessness
even in multimillionaires and kings. Some kind of sorrow, misery or
pain is invariably present even when they are in the height of enjoyment
of worldly pleasures. Show me a man who is perfectly happy? When the
marriage of his second son is being celebrated, the remembrance of the
death of his first son who passed away only sometime ago torments his
mind.
Mind is so constituted that the rhythm of pleasure and pain is kept
up like the rhythm of systole and diastole of the heart. You entertain
the fear that the happiness will pass away soon, when you are in happy
surroundings. This adds pain, when you are in the enjoyment of sensual
pleasures. Even if you remove the pain by some means or other, it again
manifests in some form or other such as loss of property, disease, death,
hostility and disappointment.
There is no hope of immortality by means of riches. Such indeed is
the emphatic and irrefutable declaration of the Upanishads. "Na
karmana na prajayana dhanena tyagenaike amritatvamanasuh. Neither
by rituals, nor by progeny, nor by riches but by renunciation alone
one can attain immortality."
Mere giving up of objects will not constitute real renunciation. Dear
friends, remember this point well. True Tyaga or renunciation consists
in renouncing egoism, "I-ness," "mine-ness," selfishness,
desires and cravings of all sorts.
For all beings a human birth is verily difficult to attain, more so
with a male body. It is said that there are three things which are rare
indeed and are due to the grace of God viz., a human birth, the
longing for liberation and the protecting care of a perfected sage.
The man who having by some virtuous actions done in previous births
obtained a human birth with a male body and a good intellect to boot
is foolish enough not to exert for Self-Realization verily commits suicide,
for he kills himself by clinging to things unreal.
You will now ask me the pertinent question : "Why should I realize
the Atman?" I say because Self-Realization gives you freedom from
the Samsaric wheel of births and deaths with its concomitant evils.
Hear the emphatic declaration of the Upanishads: "This Atman (Self)
which is free from sin, undecaying, undying, free from sorrow, hunger
and thirst, with true desires and true resolves-that is what is to be
sought after, and which one must wish to understand; one who has sought
after his Self and understand It, obtains all worlds and all desires."
(Chhandogya Upanishad).
Hear again the forcible utterances of the same Chhandogya Upanishad:
"Yo vai Bhuma tat sukham na alpe sukham asti, bhumaiva sukham
bhuma tveva vijijnasitavyah. The infinite (the Great) is bliss.
There is no bliss in what is small (finite). The Infinite alone is Bliss.
But one should wish to understand the Infinite."
Every man in this world is restless, discontented and dissatisfied.
He feels that he is in want of something, the nature of which he does
not really understand. He seeks, in the accomplishment of ambitious
projects, the rest and peace that he feels he is in need of. But he
finds to his great sorrow and disappointment that worldly greatness
when secured is a delusion and a snare. He does not find any happiness
in it. He gets coveted degrees, diplomas, titles, honours, power, position,
name and fame; he marries; he begets beautiful babies; in short, he
gets all that he supposes would give him happiness. But yet he finds
no real rest and peace.
Pious men, saints, sages, Acharyas and prophets are never tired of
saying that this restlessness of every man, this state of discontentment,
dissatisfaction and uncomfortableness of being ill at ease with himself
and his environments is solely due to the loss of the companionship
of the partner of his soul, who is ever eternally shining in the chambers
of your heart, who is ready to embrace you with outstretched hands,
if you really care to see Him and if you are really spiritually thirsty
and hungry.
One anna of pleasure is mixed with fifteen annas of pain. Pleasure
that is mixed with pain, fear and worry is no pleasure at all. If you
carefully begin to analyze this one anna of pleasure also, it will dwindle
into an airy nothing. You will find that it is a mere play of the mind.
O man! Wake up. Open your eyes. Develop Viveka. You cannot get the real
happiness from finite objects.
Nitya, Nirupadhika, Niratisaya Ananda (eternal, infinite Bliss)
that is independent of objects can be had only in the Immortal Spirit
or Atma or Soul or Brahman, the Indweller of your heart. Therefore shun
all external things ruthlessly and run to the Feet of the Lord. Develop
Vairagya. Vairagya is the rock-bottom foundation for the spiritual path.
Why do men run after the sensual pleasures? What is their concept of
happiness? Do Samskaras force them to repeat the same sensual acts again
and again? Is man a mere creature of environment or circumstance? Can
he not obliterate his Samskaras by effective and suitable means?
On account of ignorance man runs hither and thither to seek happiness
in objects. A little ginger bread and some sweetmeats, a son and a young
wife, some position and power and a little money in the bank to boot
will fill his heart with joy and calm down his nerves. That is all he
wants. Bliss of Atma, supersensuous Ananda and Peace, spiritual ecstasy
and knowledge are unknown to him. He does not want them. Nay, he dislikes
them. He hates people who talk about higher and sublime things. Believe
me, man can obliterate his Samskaras by Purushartha or
right exertion. He is not a creature of environment or circumstance.
He is the master of his destiny.
Amidst the din and boisterous bustle of worldly activities, there do
come moments of tranquillity and peace, when the mind for the time being,
however short it may be, soars above the filthy worldly things and reflects
on the higher problems of life viz., the why and wherefore of
life and the riddle of the universe. Man begins to enquire: "Who
am I?" The sincere enquirer becomes serious and gets absorbed in
his reflections. He begins to search and understand the Truth. Discrimination
dawns on him. He seeks Vairagya, concentration, meditation, and purification
of the body and mind and eventually attains the highest Knowledge of
Self. But the man whose mind is saturated with worldly Vasanas
and materialistic poison is quite heedless and is irresistibly carried
away by the two currents of Raga and Dwesha and tossed
about helplessly hither and thither in the tumultous Samsaric stream
of worldly concerns.
Ah! How uncertain is sensual life in this world! If you constantly
think of the transitory nature of sensual pleasure and its concomitant
evils viz., miseries, worries, troubles, tribulations, anxieties and
premature death, then you will slowly develop Vairagya. The Vairagya
that comes momentarily is due to the loss of either wife, relation,
friend, son or property; this will not help you much in the spiritual
path. What is really wanted is Vairagya born of discrimination or Viveka.
In the presence of sensual pleasure, spiritual bliss cannot exist,
just as darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. Therefore show
extreme contempt for worldly objects. Destroy all desires. Turn the
mind away from the sensual objects. You will develop Vairagya.
You yourself have made your life complex and intricate. You have entangled
yourself in this quagmire of Samsara. You have multiplied your wants
and desires. Everyday you are forging an additional link to the chain
of bondage. Simplicity has vanished. Luxurious habits and ways of living
are embraced. No wonder there is unemployment everywhere. People are
dying of starvation. There is depression in trade. There is unrest everywhere.
There is wholesale devastation by earthquake. Divorce courts are also
multiplying. One nation is afraid of another nation. One nation suspects
that other nations are preparing for a big war. Life has thus become
a matter of uncertainty. It has become a mass of confusion, chaos and
bewilderment. It has become stormy and boisterous. It is full of under-currents,
cross-currents, subterranean currents and mixed currents. Is there no
way of escape from these troubles and difficulties? There is only one
way. Lead a life of dispassion, self-control, purity, selfless service,
cosmic love. Develop the habit of taking the right point of view, right
thinking, right feeling, right acting, with right mental attitude or
Bhav. Practice devotion and meditation.
O Mohan! You have no real sustained Vairagya. Your present mental state
is due to pecuniary embarrassments. This will not help you in the spiritual
path. The mind will be waiting to get back the object renounced, when
it gets the first opportunity. No doubt you are a man of spiritual Samskaras.
But your Vairagya must be of that type that is born of pure Viveka,
(Nityanitya-vastu-Viveka), discrimination between the real and
the unreal. This is a rare commodity, a rare virtue, though many people
feign to be in possession of the same.
Thousands of young graduates and young doctors come to me with earthen
pots in their hands and attired in orange coloured robes in quest of
caves in Uttarakasi and Gangottri for deep meditation and practice of
Pranayama. And some young research students in science and some Rajkumars
go to the Punjab and Kashmir in silk suits with stiff collars and ties
in search of girls for marriage. Is there pleasure or pain in this world?
If there is pleasure, why do young educated men retire into forests?
If there is pain, why do young men run after wealth, women and position?
Mysterious is Maya! Mysterious is Moha!
Try to understand the riddle of life and the riddle of the universe.
Acquire Viveka. Take recourse to Satsang. Enquire into the nature of
the Atman. Study the Yoga-Vasishtha and the Upanishads. Then
you will have a comprehensive understanding of the innumerable problems
of life. There is not an iota of happiness in this world. Seek the happiness
within.
Is not a kingdom valuable to be owned? Is not a summer palace in Kashmir
or a pleasant garden with sweet-smelling flowers of various colours
nice to live in? Is not the company of young Mabaranis with tender waists
and lotus-like eyes dear as life itself, very pleasing? Yet wise, dispassionate
men like Bhartrihari, Buddha, Gopichand and others retired into forests
kicking all these things as worthless as straw, to realize the Self
which alone can confer infinite Bliss, Immortality, and eternal Peace.
The spirit comes and goes. Therefore you will have to be careful always
in nourishing and protecting your spiritual Samskaras with burning Vairagya,
intense and constant Sadhana and burning longing for liberation (Mumukshutva).
You will have to increase your good Samskaras. You will have to develop
them. You will have to multiply them.
Vairagya is purely an internal mental state. A man may remain in the
busy world amidst various luxuries, women and wealth, and yet he may
possess perfect Vairagya, while a Sadhu who lives in a cave in the far
off regions of the Himalayas may be greatly attached to his Kamandalu,
walking stick or piece of cloth.
What Is Vairagya?
An Internal Mental State
Raja Janaka, though he ruled a kingdom, was a perfectly dispassionate
man. So was Raja Bhagiratha, too. Queen Chudala possessed perfect Vairagya,
though she ruled a dominion, while her saintly husband, Raja Sikhidhvaja,
who retired into the forest to practice penance and Yoga, was intensely
attached to his body and Kamandalu (waterpot).
You cannot form a correct opinion of any Sadhu or Sannyasin or even
householder as to his mental state of Vairagya or mental condition by
just having a casual talk with him for a few hours or staying with him
for a few days. You will have to live with him for a very long time
to study his internal mental state.
Generally most people commit serious blunders in these matters. They
are deluded by mere external appearances. They mistake a physically
nude Sadhu for a great Mahatma in the beginning. Later on they feel
obliged to change their impression after closer contact. Physical nudity
alone will not constitute real Vairagya. The mind of the physically
nude Sadhu may be full of fantastic desires, cravings and appetites.
Who knows! What is wanted, therefore, is mental nudity, i. e.,
complete eradication of Vasanas, egoism, etc. Do not be deceived
by external appearances. Beware! Beware!! Beware!!!
Defects of Sensual Pleasures
If you do not possess Viveka, if you do not try your extreme level
best for the attainment of salvation, if you spend your whole life-time
in eating, drinking, sleeping, marrying and propagating race, you are
no better than a horizontal being. You will have to sit at the feet
of these animals and learn several lessons from them. Even animals possess
self-restraint to an astonishing degree. O man, where has your self-restraint
gone
Sensual enjoyment is attended with various defects. It is attended
with various sorts of sins, pains, weaknesses, attachments, slave-mentality,
weak will, severe exertion and struggle, bad habits, cravings, aggravation
of desires and mental restlessness. Therefore shun all sorts of sensual
enjoyments and rest in peace.
The Narayana Upanishad says: "In the beginning these two
roads were laid-the road, through Karma and Sannyasa. The latter consists
of the renunciation of the threefold desire (son, wealth, and fame).
Of these the road through Sannyasa is preferable." The Taittiriya
Upanishad also says: "Renunciation (Tyaga) certainly is to
be preferred."
Mere outward giving up of thing is nothing. It is not real renunciation.
Real Tyaga or Sannyasa is absolute renunciation of all Vasanas and
destruction of the heart knot (ignorance), the Chit-jada-Granthi.
The Glory of Vairagya
What should be renounced is that Bhedabuddhi which says: "I
am superior to that man. I have done that. I have done this. I am the
body" and the Kartritwa abhimana which thinks: "I am the doer."
There is no use of renouncing your home, wife and children, if you cannot
renounce these also.
He cannot be truly regarded as having renounced the world altogether
who has merely withdrawn himself from worldly possessions. But he, who
living in actual contact with the world, finds out its faults (Doshas),
who is free from every passion and whose soul depends on nothing, may
well be said to have truly renounced the world. Read the story of Raja
Sikhidhvaja in the Yoga-Vasishtha. You will clearly understand
this point.
Renounce this world. Renounce the desire for Moksha. Renounce
renunciation itself. Then you will become That. You will become itself.
Dear brother! If you have no real sustained Vairagya, you will find
no improvement or progress in spirituality. Vows, austerities, energy
and meditation will leak out like water from a cracked pot. Be careful.
There is verily no sword more powerful than Vairagya to cut off all
sorts of attachment to this world. Hold this sword in your hand and
march along in the spiritual path. You will safely reach the goal.
The shadow of clouds, the friendship with a fool, the beauty of youth,
wealth, all these last only for a very short time. They are impermanent.
Shun them all ruthlessly.
Only a thirsty man drinks water. Only a hungry man eats food. Even
so, a man who is spiritually hungry and thirsty will only drink the
Nectar of Immortality.
The life of Vemanna is worthy to be read. He was a Jnani of
Andhra Desa. He was leading a voluptuous life, most abominable indeed.
The moment Vairagya dawned in him, he became an entirely different man.
He made no Sadhana as he was a Yoga Bhrashta , or one who had
fallen from Yogic practices in his previous birth, and became a Jnani
. He was, and is very much revered by devotees.
This search after God and God-Realization is a question of supply and
demand. If you really want God, if there is a real demand from your
heart for God, then the supply would come.
He is really a Sannyasin who is free from passion, egoism and who possesses
Sattvic qualities.
Atma-Vichara (enquiry into the nature of the Atman, or Self) and Yogic
practices done without intense Vairagya becomes fruitless.
To get Vairagya one should seriously ponder over the various entanglements
and bondage of married life.
If you get Vairagya, rest assured that is a sign of purification of
mind (Chitta-Suddhi).
The things that used to afford you delight before give you displeasure
now. That is a sign of Vairagya.
Vairagya that comes momentarily after such accidents as the loss of
some dearly loved relative or wealth is known as Karana Vairagya. It
will not help you much in your spiritual advancement. The mind will
be simply waiting for an opportunity to catch hold of the sensual objects,
when an opportunity arises.
Therefore, Vairagya born of discrimination or Viveka is the premonitory
symptom of spiritual development. That will help the aspirant. That
will give him a good spiritual uplift.
Varieties of Vairagya
Vairagya is of two kinds viz., Karanavairagya (on account of some miseries)
and Viveka-purvaka-Vairagya (on account of discrimination between the
real and the unreal).
The mind of a man who has got the former type of Vairagya is simply
waiting for a chance to get back the things that have been given up
or lost. As soon as the first opportunity occurs, the man gets a downfall
and goes back to his former state. Vishaya (sensual object) does havoc
in him with a vengeance and redoubled force from reaction. But the other
man who has given up objects on account of deep enquiry and Viveka,
on account of the illusory nature of objects, will have spiritual advancement.
He will not have any downfall.
"Drishta-anursravika vishaya-vitrishnasya vasikarasamjna vairagyam-That
particular state of mind which manifests itself in one who does not
hanker after objects seen or heard and in which one is conscious of
having controlled or mastered those objects is non-attachment."
(Patanjali's Yoga-Sutras: 1-15)
It is only when the mind is absolutely free from attachment of all
sorts that true knowledge begins to dawn and Samadhi supervenes. Secret
powers, attainment of heaven, states of Videha and Prakritilaya, etc.,
are all temptations. One should be perfectly free from all sorts of
temptations. Samadhi comes by itself when the Yogic student is fully
established in perfect Vairagya. Para-Vairagya is the means to Asampra-jnata
Samadhi.
Stages in Vairagya
There are four stages in Vairagya:
(1) Yatamana:- This is an attempt not to allow the mind to run
into sensual grooves;
(2) Vyatireka :-In this stage some objects are attracting you
and you are endeavouring to cut off the attachment and attraction. Slowly
Vairagya develops for these objects also. Then the Vairagya matures.
When some objects tempt and delude you, you should ruthlessly avoid
them. You will have to develop Vairagya for these tempting objects and
it must also mature. In this stage you are conscious of your degree
of Vairagya towards different objects;
(3) Ekendriya:-The senses stand still and subdued, but the mind
has either Raga or Dvesha for objects. Mind is,
in other words, the only sense that functions independently;
(4) Vasirara :-In this highest stage of Vairagya, the objects
no longer tempt you. They cause no attraction. The senses are perfectly
quiet. The mind also is free from likes and dislikes (Raga and
Dvesha). Then you get supremacy or independence. Now you
are conscious of your supremacy. Without Vairagya no spiritual progress
is possible.
Vairagya is of three kinds viz., dull (Manda), intense
(Tivra) and very intense (Tivratara).
Dull Vairagya cannot help you much in the attainment of your goal.
Vairagya is the opposite of Raga, or desire. It is dispassion or non-attachment.
It is indifference to sensual objects herein and hereafter. Vairagya
thins out the fatty sensual mind. It turns the mind inward (Antarmukh
Vritti). This is the most important qualification for an
aspirant. It is the one and the only means to enter into Nirvikalpa
Samadhi.
Vairagya that is born of discrimination is lasting and steady. If you
seriously think of the various kinds of pain in this Samsara such as
birth, death, worries, depression, suffering, disease, loss, hostility,
disappointment, fear, etc., if you understand intelligently the defects
of sensual life (Dosha Drishti), and the transitory and
perishable nature of all objects of the world, Vairagya will immediately
dawn.
How to Develop Vairagya
Study of Vairagya-Satakam of Bhartrihari, and the company of dispassionate
Sadhus and Sannyasins will also help one in developing Vairagya. The
temporary Vairagya which one gets when he is attending the funeral of
a dead person and the Vairagya which a pregnant lady in pangs gets cannot
help one to attain spiritual exaltation. The mind will pounce upon the
objects when it gets opportunities.
Aspirants generally complain to me "Swamiji Maharaj, we are meditating
for the last 12 years. But we do not know the reason why we have not
made any substantial spiritual progress." This is due to lack of
intense Vairagya only. The mind will be ever thinking of objects even
during meditation. Intense Vairagya only can help the aspirant in attaining
Self-Realization.
"Tarparampurushakyateh gunavaitrisnyam: Para-Vairagya or
supreme non-attachment is that state wherein even the attachment to
the qualities (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) drops, owing to the knowledge
of the Purusha." (Patanjali's Yoga Sutras : 1-16).
The Vairagya described earlier is Apara-Vairagya (lower one). Now comes
supreme Vairagya. In the former state, there is preponderance or Sattva.
Sattva is mixed with Rajas and Tamas. The Yogi gets Siddhis and becomes
a Videha or Prakritilaya. But the Yogi with Para-Vairagya
rejects the Siddhis also and gets Sakshatkara, or Darsan, of
the Purusha.
In ordinary Vairagya there is a trace of Vasanas and desires. But in
Para-Vairagya all Vasanas, Samskaras and desires are fried in toto.
In Para-Vairagya there will be no desire at all. Perfect desirelessness
is Para-Vairagya. In the Bhagavad Gita you will find: "Objects
fall away from the abstinent man, leaving the longing behind. But his
longing also ceases, who sees the Supreme." (11-59).
Note how Vairagya arises in the mind. The transitory, evanescent and
perishable nature of all things creates a sort of disgust in all minds
and in proportion to the depth and subtlety of nature, this reaction
from the world works more or less powerfully in the mind of every individual.
An irresistible feeling arises in our mind viz., that the finite can
never satisfy the Infinite within us, that the changing and perishable
cannot satisfy the change-less and deathless nature that is ours.
When you are not impressed with rich living, rich style of living cannot
attract you. When you are impressed with the idea that meat and wine
are not at all pleasurable, meat and wine cannot tempt you. When you
are impressed that a woman is nothing but a leather-bag of pus, blood,
urine, bones and flesh, woman cannot tempt you. In that case, if you
fail to get meat or wine or woman, or to have a rich living, you will
not be agonized at all in your mind.
Why are you attracted towards a young, beautiful lady? Have you ever
seriously thought over this life-and-death problem? The answer is: because
owing to your ignorance you vainly think you will get pleasure from
her. If you have Vairagya and Viveka, it will at once tell you that
you will get immense pain from her rather than pleasure. Then your mind
will recede or withdraw from the object, viz., woman.
It is only when the mind, being divested of all its desires is indifferent
to pleasure and pain and is not attracted by any object that it will
be rendered pure, free from the grip of the great delusion like a bird
freed from the cage and roaming about freely in the Akasa.
As soon as Vairagya arises in the mind, it opens the gate of Divine
Wisdom. No true and lasting satisfaction comes from the enjoyment of
worldly pleasures. Yet, people rush headlong towards objects, even when
they know full well that the objects they are trying to seize are unreal
and that the world in which they live is fraught with miseries of all
sorts. This is Maya. When the mind rests in Atma then the only
Nitya-Tripti, or eternal satisfaction comes. Because the Atman
is Paripurna (All-Full). All desires are gratified by realization of
Atma or Self.
Sometimes the mind gets disgusted with one kind of Sadhana. It wants
some other kind of Sadhana. It rebels against monotony. The aspirant
should know how to coax the mind on such occasions and to extract work
from it by a little relaxation of mind. The cessation of Sadhana is
a grave blunder. Spiritual practices should never be given up under
any circumstances. Evil thoughts will be waiting to enter the gates
of the mental factory. If the student of Yoga stops his Sadhana, his
mind will become the devil's workshop. Do not expect anything. Be sincere
and regular in your daily meditation, routine and Tapas. Do not deviate
from the path you have chosen. The fruit will come by itself. Your efforts
will be surely crowned with roaring success. It takes a long time to
purify the mind and get one-pointedness. Be cool and patient my child.
Cut the Knot of Attachment
Attachment is the first child of Maya. The whole Lila of the Lord is
being kept up by the force of attachment only. A sober man just tastes
a small peg of Champagne, when he is caught up in an evil company and
becomes ultimately an inveterate drunkard through attachment to spirit.
A teetotaler just takes a whiff of Gold-Flake Cigarette and becomes
in due time a terrible smoker through attachment. There is in the mind
a gummy substance which is like a mixture of castor-oil, glue, gum-arabic,
mucilage of tragacanth, gluten paste, honey, glycerin, jack-fruit's
juice and all other pasty substances of this world. The mind is glued,
as it were, to the objects of the world with this mixture. Therefore
attachment is very strong.
Therefore O man, never say "My body, my son, my wife, my house,
my property, my garden, etc." Attachment is the root cause of the
innumerable miseries and troubles of this world. Discipline your mind
little by little. The old evil habits will creep in. Destroy them to
the very root. Lead a life of perfect non-attachment. This is the master
key to open the realms of Brahmic Bliss.
But work incessantly without attachment, without any identification.
Then alone you can feel that you are a different being. Karma Yoga elevates
a man to sublime, magnanimous heights, when done in the right spirit,
with the right mental attitude or Bhav. One should patiently work. That
is all. No meditation or Samadhi is ever possible without a preliminary
training in Nishkamya Karma-Yoga. To work without attachment is doubtless
a difficult task. It is an uphill work. But it becomes a very easy job
and pleasant too to a man of patience and determination. You will have
to do it at any cost, if you want final beatitude and immortality. Everyone
of you will have to do it, though not now, at least after taking five
hundred births. There is no other alternative but to do so. But the
question is: Why not now? Why not in this very birth itself? Why not
cut short the cycle of births and deaths and enjoy the Bliss of the
Self right now, this very second? Therein lies real wisdom.
Work cannot bring misery, but it is attachment and identification with
work that brings in all sorts of unhappiness and bondage. Understand
the secret of work, the technique of Karma Yoga and attain God-Consciousness.
This Jnanagni or fire of wisdom will consume all fruits of actions
in toto.
Nivritti-Marga, or the Path of renunciation
Have a strong determination and a strong will. Never think of returning
home after taking up to the Nivritti-Marga. Look before you leap. Have
courage, fixity of mind and a definite purpose in life. Be not wavering.
Are you ready to give up all possessions, including body and life? Then
alone come to me. Then alone take to Nivritti-Marga and embrace Sannyasa.
Think twice before you come to definite conclusions. This is not a rosy
path as you may imagine. It is full of thorns. It is beset with countless
difficulties and hardships. Be humble, patient and persevering. Never
care for Siddhis or quick awakening of the Kundalini. I shall serve
you. I shall help you. I shall take care of you. Be not troubled. Be
not anxious. I am your servant always. Be noble-minded. Mere emotional
bubbling will not help you much. Some young men have returned to their
homes. Difficulties are many in this path. But it can make you a King
of kings, an Emperor of emperors.
Those who want to take to seclusion and Nivritti-Marga should observe
Mouna, non-mixing and disciplining the Indriyas, mind and body while
living in the world. They should train themselves to a laborious hard
life, coarse food, sleeping on the ground or a hard mattress without
pillows, walking barefooted without umbrellas. Then alone they can bear
the rigorous austerities of an ascetic's life. They should give up timidity
and shyness in getting alms.
Aspirants who take to the Nivritti-Marga generally become lazy after
some time, as they do not know how to utilize their mental energy, as
they do not keep any daily routine, as they do not follow the instructions
of their masters. They get Vairagya in the beginning, but they have
no experience in the spiritual line. They do not make any progress in
the end. Intense and constant meditation is necessary for entering into
Samadhi.
Have you fully determined with an iron will to stick to this line at
any cost? Are you really prepared to sacrifice this body and life in
the cause of Truth? Have you understood the glory of Sannyasa and the
importance of seclusion? If your daughter, brother, mother or son comes
here and weeps, have you got the requisite strength to resist Moha?
After coming here can you cut off all sorts of connections with your
relatives? Can you stop all correspondences? Do not hide anything. Be
absolutely candid. Be frank and guileless. Speak to me the truth now.
Open out your heart to me.
Sleepless vigilance is necessary, if you wish to have rapid spiritual
advancement. Never rest content with a little achievement or success
in the path a little serenity of mind, a little one-pointedness of mind,
some visions of angles, or Siddhis, a little faculty of thought-reading,
etc. There are still higher summits to ascend, higher regions to climb
up.
The attraction for objects and ties of various sorts make a man bound
to this world. Renunciation of all attractions and breaking up of all
ties constitute real renunciation. That Sannyasin or Yogi who is free
from attraction and ties enjoys infinite bliss and supreme joy and peace.
Fluctuation and imagination are the two seeds of the mind. Fluctuation
is the fuel. Imagination is the fire. The unceasing fire of imagination
is kept up by the fuel of fluctuation. If the fuel of fluctuation is
with drawn, the fire of imagination gets extinguished by itself. The
mind becomes tranquil. It is withdrawn into its source, the Atma.
You came alone. You came naked. You came weeping. You will go alone.
You go naked. You will go weeping. Wily then are you proud of your titles,
false wealth and false knowledge? Become humble and meek. You will conquer
the whole world through humility. Become pure in thought, word and deed.
This is the secret of spiritual life. The Upanishads and the Gita harp
again and again upon this one note.
To a passionate man there is much pleasure in this world. He runs after
money and women. His mind is intoxicated, perverted and clouded. Poor
man, he does not know what he is really doing. But to a Yogi or a man
of discrimination this world is a ball of fire. It is a huge furnace
in which all beings are roasted. The three kinds of heat viz., Adhyatmika
(internal), Adhidaivika (heavenly) and Adhibhautika
(external) are burning him.
Friend! Is there any limit to the number of fathers and mothers and
wives you had in the crores and crores of previous incarnations? Yet
this clinging and false relationship have not gone. Discrimination has
not dawned.
Are you not ashamed to repeat the same old process of eating, drinking
and sleeping day in and day out? You are proud of your titles and knowledge.
Have you improved your life even a bit? What have you learnt from the
recent Bihar and Quetta earthquakes? Are you attempting to reach that
imperishable seat, wherein all desires and Trishnas are completely eradicated?
Are you endeavouring, in however small a measure it may be, to attain
the highest goal of life, Atmic realization, which gives immortality,
bliss and peace? You are not crawling now. You have learnt to stand
up and walk. You can think, reason out, judge, infer and ratiocinate.
Will you not utilize this precious life and all your various faculties
in meditation and Self Realization? Can you give me a definite word
of promise to the effect? Speak to me the truth now. Climb up the ladder
of Yoga. Drink the Nectar of Immortality.
Vairagya born of Viveka is enduring and everlasting. It will not fail
the aspirant at any time unlike the Vairagya that comes temporarily
to a lady who gives birth to a child or to a man attending a funeral
in the crematorium. The view that everything in the world is unreal
causes Vairagya or indifference to the enjoyments of this world and
the other heaven worlds also. One has to come down to this Mrityu-loka
from heaven when the fruits of good works are exhausted.
The same five kinds of enjoyment of sensual pleasures prevail in the
heaven worlds also. But they are more intense and subtle. This cannot
give real and lasting happiness to a Viveki. He shuns all enjoyments
of the heaven world also. He kicks them mercilessly. He is keenly aware
of the pleasures of the three worlds and is convinced that they are
only a mere drop in the ocean of Brahmic bliss.
Remember the sayings of the Gita
Meditation on the following Slokas of the Bhagavad-Gita will induce
true Vairagya: "The delights that are contact-born are, verily,
wombs of pain, for they have a beginning and an ending, O Kaunteya,
not in them would rejoice the wise." ( Ch. V-22 ). "Indifference
to the objects of the senses, and also absence of egoism, insight into
the pain and evil of birth and death, old age and sickness." (
Ch. XIII-8 ). "That which from the union of the senses
with their objects is at first as nectar, but in the end is like venom."
( Ch. XVIII-38 ). "Having obtained this transient,
joyless world, worship Me."
What Vairagya is not
Vairagya does not mean abandoning social duties and responsibilities
of life. It does not mean detachment from the world. It does not mean
a life in the solitary caves of the Himalayas or in the crematorium.
It does not mean living on Nim-leaves, cow's urine and dung. It does
not mean wearing of matted-hair and a Kamandal made of fence-gourd or
coconut shell in the band. It does not mean shaving of head and throwing
of clothes.
What Vairagya is
Vairagya is mental detachment from all connections with the world.
That is all. A man may live in the world and discharge all the duties
of his order and stage of life with perfect detachment. He may be a
householder. What if? He may live with family and children. But at the
same time he may have perfect mental detachment. He can do his spiritual
Sadhana. That man who has perfect mental detachment while remaining
in the world is a hero indeed. He is much better than a Sadhu living
in the Himalayan caves because the former has to face the innumerable
temptations of life every moment.
Wherever a man may go, he carries with him his fickle, restless mind,
his Vasanas and Samskaras. Even if he lives in solitude, still he is
the same worldly man, if he is engaged in building castles in the air,
and thinking of the objects of the world. In such case even the cave
becomes a big city to him. If the mind remains quiet, if it is free
from attachments, one can be a perfect Vairagi even while living
in a mansion in the busiest part of a city like Calcutta or Bombay.
Such a mansion will be converted in a dense jungle by him.
A dispassionate man has a different mind altogether. He has a different
experience altogether. He is a past master in the art or science of
separating himself from the impermanent, perishable objects of the world.
He has absolutely no attraction for them. He constantly dwells on the
Eternal or the Absolute. He identifies himself every moment of his life
with the witnessing consciousness that is present in pleasure and in
pain, in joy and in sorrow, in censure and in praise, in honour and
in dishonour, in all states of life. He stands adamantine as a peak
amid a turbulent storm, as a spectator of this wonderful world show.
He is not a bit affected by these pleasant and painful experiences.
He learns several valuable lessons from them. He has, in other words,
no attraction for pleasant objects and repulsion for painful ones. Nor
is he afraid of pain. He knows quite well that pain helps a lot in his
spiritual progress and evolution, in his long journey towards the Goal.
He stands convinced that pain is the best teacher in the world.
Let me sound a note of warning here. Dear aspirants! Vairagya also
may come and go, if you are careless and mix promiscuously with all
sorts of worldly-minded people. You should develop Vairagya, therefore,
to a maximum degree. The mind will be waiting for golden opportunities
to get back the things once renounced. Whenever and wherever the mind
hisses or raises its hood (for the mind is verily like a serpent), you
should take refuge in Viveka and in the imperishable fortress of wise,
dispassionate Mahatmas. There are different degrees in Vairagya. Supreme
dispassion comes when one gets himself established in Brahman. Now the
Vairagya becomes perfectly habitual.
A man can develop inner mental detachment from pleasure and pain while
living in the world. He should see that he is not carried away by the
pleasant experiences of the world. He should not cling to them. He should
simply remain as a silent spectator. If he thus practices for some years,
every experience will be a positive step in his ascent in spiritual
ladder. Eventually he will be crowned with sanguine success. He will
then have an unruffled mind. He will have a poised mind also. A dispassionate
man is the happiest and the richest man in all the three worlds. He
is also the most powerful man. How can Maya tempt him now?
Best Training School
Doctors have a wide field for developing Vairagya. Everyday they come
across patients with incurable disease. Everyday they see dead bodies
in the mortuary. Thus they have innumerable chances of seeing Maya
in all her naked state. They can be convinced beyond a ray
of doubt of the impermanence of life here in this world of man.
The superintendent of jail and all the officers there also have wonderful
chances of developing Vairagya, if they are lovers of Truth and Emancipation.
The sight of hanging a condemned prisoner will open their eyes.
Hey Saumya! Your mental state is laudable indeed. The life of a Sannyasin
is the best kind of life in the world. A true Sannyasin is the monarch
of the three worlds. Even an aspirant is an emperor of the whole world.
Lord Krishna also says : "Only wishing to know Yoga, even the seeker
after Yoga goes beyond the Brahmin world."
I am extremely glad to note that you have got exceptionally good spiritual
Samskara which want to burst out in this birth. They need protection
and tender nurturing for your further growth and evolution. Do not be
carried away by the temptations of the world. Be careful. Be wise. The
beginner in the spiritual path should not remain in the company of worldly-minded
people. He should resort to Satsang. The company of worldly-minded people
is a deadly poison. You will not become a prey to lust if you shun their
company. Remain in seclusion under the direct guidance of a Guru who
is fully established in Brahman till you get perfect Vairagya and till
you are established in the path of Sannyasa.
A Note of Warning
Many aspirants come to me with great Vairagya and enthusiasm in the
beginning. But they do not keep up the same spirit for a long time or
till the end of their Sadhana. When they begin to encounter some difficulties,
they retrace their steps. It is indeed a great pity. Look before you
leap. Have a firm determination. Stick to the path of Sannyasa till
you reach the goal and realize the fruits of Sadhana.
If you lack any of these qualifications, wait for three more years.
Do spiritual Sadhana, Asanas, Pranayama, concentration and meditation
at home. Plunge deep into silent meditation. Plunge your-self in selfless
service also. This is very necessary for purification of mind. Keep
up your Brahmacharya. Destroy all evil habits, if you have any of these,
such as smoking, tea, coffee, etc. Develop all virtuous qualities. Mark
the change in your mental attitude. Then come to me. Come here and be
prepared to lead a hard, active life.
Some aspirants come in a hurry. Due to lack of Vairagya they go back.
This is not good. Hence the warning.
Many aspirants want to do some nice work such as writing, collection
of flowers for Puja, arranging books in the library, some kind of supervision
and management. They dislike works such as drawing of water, cleansing
utensils, washing clothes of sick persons, sweeping, nursing, cooking,
cleansing bedpans, etc. They consider these works as menial. They have
not understood the real spirit of Nishkamya Karma Yoga. They are yet
Babus.
Dear Prabhu! There is a dull spiritual awakening in you and a dull
type of Vairagya. You will have to develop both. Dull Vairagya are mere
bubbling, emotions will not help you much to stick to the path of renunciation.
For some time leave the house and remain in a secluded place for a week
or two. Enquire. Cogitate. Investigate. Do self-analysis and find out
if you have any Moha, attachment to your family members. Find out if
your mind runs after sensual pleasures. Be sure whether you will be
able to leave the sensual objects, relatives and all sorts of comforts
and conveniences. If you can completely disconnect yourself from the
world, then alone come to me. I will make you a yogi of Yogis in a very
short time. There are many who have advanced in the spiritual path considerably
in course of one or two years. You can also do that. Implicit obedience
and faithful carrying out of instructions of the spiritual preceptor
to the very letter is what is expected of you; that is the secret of
success in the spiritual path.
Miseries Of Mundane Existence
Ignorance is the Cause of Misery
You are but repeating the same action of yesterday yielding but momentary
pleasure and enjoyed things do recur again. Things seen yesterday are
again present today. Ornaments worn with exultation yesterday are, again,
donned by you. And yet, even intelligent persons do not get disgusted
with them and are not ashamed of enjoying them again and again.
Like ignorant children that do taste again and again sweetmeats which
impart sweetness for the time being, you are also afflicted, ignorant
of the true path. Days, nights, weeks, fortnights, months, years and
Yugas do cycle again and again, and nothing new crops up. Wealth which
only makes a host of thoughts whirl in the brain will not confer Bliss
on you. This wealth which the mind so much covets and which is so very
ephemeral in its nature is utterly worthless like a flower-bud in a
creeper growing in a well encircled by a serpent.
Nobody Comes and Goes
The Prana! Life which is like a drop of rain water dripping from the
end of a leaf turned overhead flits out of the body at unseasonable
times. This life is ephemeral like the autumnal clouds or a gheeless
lamp or ocean waves. Life and death are but two acts in the drama. Really
nobody comes and goes.
The lives of those who have freed themselves from rebirth are the noblest.
There is nothing so baneful as the life which is perishable in its nature
and fleeting in the bestowal of pleasure.
Fire of Desires
The fire of desires has scalded you quite. In the present state even
a full bath in a pool of ambrosia will not cool you down. It is these
ever-waxing desires that bring on pains of rebirths, the heaviest and
the most excruciating of all pains. This body which is composed of muscles,
intestines, urine and fecal matter and is subject to various changes,
being at one time fat and at another time lean, shines in this mundane
existence simply to undergo pains. What beauty is then to be enjoyed
in this body which is composed of flesh, bone and blood, which has the
tendency to rot, which is of the same nature in the rich and in the
poor, and which is subject to growth and decay?
Three Fevers
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.
Uncertainty of Life
Only your actions, good and bad, will follow you after death. And God
will judge you according to your deeds.
The attraction for external objects ceases, but there yet remains the
internal craving or sense-hankering or thirsting which is called Trishna.
That is why the Gita says: "The objects of sense, but not the relish
for them, turn away from an abstemious dweller in the body, and even
the relish turns away from him after the Supreme is seen."
Friend! Is there any limit to the number of fathers, mothers, wives,
sons, daughters, uncles and aunts you had in the countless incarnations
in the past? And yet the clinging and false relationship has not gone.
Discrimination has not dawned. What a great pity it is!
Are you not ashamed to repeat the same acts of eating, drinking and
sleeping day by day? You are proud of your titles and honours. Have
you improved your life even a bit? What lessons have you learnt from
the recent Bihar and Quetta earthquakes? Are you attempting to reach
the Imperishable Seat wherein all desires and Trishnas will be utterly
annihilated? Are you endeavouring to attain the highest end of life,
Divine realization which confers immortality, bliss and peace?
In the recent Bihar earthquake (this was written years ago, when the
earthquake took place there) a rich banker had to beg for nine rupees
just to protect himself and his family from death by starvation. A Pundit
earned slowly twenty-five thousand rupees by selling his books. But
he had to spend that money in a short time in the treatment of his chronic
chest complaint. He tried all sorts of medicines, but all in vain. He
had to leave the house to lead a life of a hermit.
Life is quite uncertain here. Diseases of various sorts attack the
body. Yet man clings blindly to this ephemeral life! He forgets the
truth. O man, seek everlasting peace and bliss in the Atma or Soul within
you by purifying your mind and practicing intense meditation. This is
the right royal road to extricate yourself from the pains of Samsara.
Be quick in taking to spiritual practices. Hairs are becoming gray.
Teeth are failing. Indriyas are getting cold. Practice meditation and
Japa while you are young. You can do nothing in old age, when you retire
from service.
It is extremely difficult to have a pure and calm mind. But you must
have such a mind, if you want to have progress in meditation and Yoga.
Lord Buddha had Viveka from his very boyhood. He was one who
had been profoundly impressed from his early youth by the transient
and impermanent nature of all conditions of worldly existence and by
the sufferings and wretchedness in which he saw all beings immersed.
Will you not become another Lord Buddha?
You have spent eight hours in sleep, and the rest of the day in idle
gossiping, telling lies, deceiving others, in selfish activities, in
amassing wealth. How can you expect spiritual good, how can you expect
immortality and peace, if you do not spend even half an hour in the
service of the Lord, in singing His Names and in divine contemplation?
On the Whole, Life is Sorrow
Lord Buddha says: "On the whole, life is sorrow." You will
find an echo of this statement in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras "Sarvam
duhkham vivekinah-All indeed, is pain to a person of discrimination."
This is not the philosophy of the pessimists. This is wonderful optimism,
as it induces deep Vairagya, weans the mind from sensual pleasures and
directs it towards God, the Atman, to realize eternal and infinite Bliss.
"Mamsa-lubdho yatha matsyo lohasamkum na pasyati, Sukha-lubdhastatha
debi yama-bandham na pasyati."
Just as a fish in its desire to eat flesh does not see the hook that
lies beneath, so also man in his passionate desire to get sensual pleasure
does not see the noose of death.
How to Eradicate Sense-hankering
Trishna means an intense craving or sense-hankering. Through
constant repetition of enjoyment of an object, the longing for the object
becomes very keen and acute. This is Trishna.
It is all easy to become a big research scholar in the Oxford or Cambridge
University and to get an M.A., Ph.D., degree. But it is extremely difficult
to eradicate these Trishnas. That is the reason why Sri Vasishtha
says to Sri Rama : "You can even uproot the Himalayas. You can
even drink the waters of the whole ocean. You can even swallow balls
of fire. But it is difficult to destroy the Trishnas. Cravings cause
incessant trouble in many different ways. These cravings are the seeds
of this Samsara" (Yoga-Vasishtha).
A worldly man is always drowned in sorrow. He is ever struggling to
get something, some money, some power, some position and so on. He is
always anxious as to whether or not he would get it. Even when he is
in actual possession of the things he so passionately longed for, he
is very anxious lest he should lose it. There is pain in earning money.
There is more pain in taking care of it. There is still more pain if
the money gets decreased. And when it is lost, just imagine for a moment
the magnitude of the climax and the intensity of pain it gives a man!
Therefore renounce money and rest in peace in the blissful Self.
In the presence of light, you cannot have darkness. In the presence
of sensual pleasures, Atmic Bliss cannot exist. Worldlings want both
sensual pleasures and Atma Ananda in one and the same cup and
one and the same time. This is an absolute impossibility. They do not
want to renounce sensual pleasures. They do not want to develop real
Vairagya in their hearts of hearts. They simply talk a lot.
Though a man knows he might die at any moment, still he thinks he would
live for ever. To get oneself entangled in the meshes of Maya till death
is simply foolish. He who is attached to wife, wealth and children will
not derive even an iota of benefit in the spiritual path.
A bachelor who is full of passion from head to foot imagines that he
is miserable because he has no wife! A householder who is tired and
exhausted of worldly life thinks wife and children are a mighty hindrance
in his spiritual march.
Desire for Name and Fame
One can renounce wife, son, property and all else, but it is very difficult
and rare to renounce name and fame. Pratishta is established name and
fame. This is a great obstacle in God-Realization. This brings downfall
in the end. This does not allow the aspirant to march forward in the
spiritual path. He becomes a slave of respect and honour. As soon as
he gets some purity and ethical progress, ignorant people rock to him
and begin to pay homage and salutation. He gets puffed up with pride.
He thinks he is a great Mahatma. He becomes eventually a slave of his
admirers. He cannot notice his slow downfall. The moment he mixes up
freely with householders. He loses what little he had gained during
the eight or ten years of his intense Sadhana. He cannot influence the
public now. His admirers also leave him because they do not find any
real solace or spiritual influence in his company.
People imagine that the Mahatma has got Siddhis and that they can get
children through his grace, plenty of wealth and Himalayan herbs for
the rooting out of diseases and the building up of radiant and healthy
bodies. They always approach a Sadhu with some selfish, ulterior motive
or other. The aspirant through bad association loses his Vairagya and
Viveka. Attachment and desire crop up in his mind. Therefore you should
hide yourself always. Nobody should know what sort of Sadhana you are
doing. You should never attempt to exhibit your psychic powers of Siddhis.
You should be very humble. You should pass for quite an ordinary man.
You should not accept rich presents from householders. You will be affected
by the bad thoughts of those who offer presents. You should never think
that you are superior to this man or that man. You should not treat
others with contempt. You should always treat others with great respect
and profound consideration. Then only respect will come by itself. You
should treat respect, honour, name and fame as dung and poison and wear
disrespect and dishonour as gold necklace. Then only you will reach
the goal in safety.
Why this Trouble
Building of Ashrams and making disciples bring about the downfall of
aspirants. Then, are all stumbling blocks in the path of God-Realization.
The aspirant becomes another sort of householder. He develops institutional
egoism. He gets attached to his Ashram and disciples. He has now the
same cares, worries and anxieties for running the Ashram and the monthly
magazine and feeding his disciples. He develops slave-mentality. Thoughts
of Ashram revolve in his mind, when he is in a dying condition.
Some Ashrams are nicely managed by the spiritual heads of the respective
institutions while they are alive. When they pass away, the disciples
who are petty-minded fight amongst themselves in open courts. You can
see so many cases going on. The Ashram becomes a fighting centre. Ashram
owners have to flatter the donors and appeal for funds very often. How
can thought of God remain in his mind, when one has his mind fixed on
accumulation of wealth and development of his Ashram? Those who have
started Ashrams already may now say: "We are doing good to the
people in various ways. We are having religious classes daily. We feed
poor people. We are training religious students."
It is quite true that an Ashram run by a selfless dynamic Yogi or a
realized soul or a Jivanmukta is a dynamic centre of spirituality.
It is spiritual uplift of so many thousands of people. Such centres
are needed in all parts of the world. Such Ashrams can do immense spiritual
good to the country. But such ideal Ashrams with ideal spiritual heads
to run them are very, very rare nowadays. Money is collected in a variety
of ways. Some portion is spent for useful purposes. The rest goes to
the comforts and conveniences of the founders of the Ashram and their
beloved disciples.
The founders of the Ashram in course of time become unconsciously slave
of worship and Puja. Maya works in a variety of ways. They are quite
eager that people should drink their Charanamrita. How can a
man who has the Bhav that he should be worshipped as an Avatara
serve the public? Workers are petty-minded. They fight amongst themselves
even for trifling things and disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the
Ashram. Where then is peace in the Ashram? How can outsiders who visit
the Ashram to get Santi, enjoy Santi there?
The founders of the Ashram should live on daily Bhiksha from outside.
They should lead an ideal life of absolute self-sacrifice, a life of
ideal simplicity like the late Baba Kalikambliwala of Rishikesh, who
carried water-pot on his head for the Ashram and himself lived on Bhiksha
from outside. Such people alone can do real good to the people. Founders
of Ashrams should never appeal for funds. It brings great discredit
to the order of Sannyasa itself. It is another way of respectable begging.
The habit of begging destroys the subtle, sensitive nature of the intellect
and those who appeal for funds frequently do not know what they are
doing.
It is very difficult to get good workers for the Ashram. Then why do
you bother about building Ashrams when you have neither money nor workers
nor dynamic spiritual force? Keep quiet. Do meditation and evolve yourself
quietly. Mind your own business. Reform yourself first. How can you
help others when you are yourself groping in darkness, when you are
yourself blind? How can a blind man lead a blind man? Both will fall
into a deep abyss and break their legs.
Generally an aspirant is very enthusiastic about his Sadhana in the
beginning. He is full of zeal. He takes a great deal of interest. He
expects to get some good results soon. When he does not get these results
within the expected time be gets discouraged. He loses his interest
and slackens his efforts. He gives up his Sadhana entirely. He loses
faith in the efficacy of Sadhana itself.
Worry and Anxiety
Man always thirsts for possession of objects, wife and cattle. This
surely makes him selfish. Selfishness causes attachment
