“Shatashloki” of Shri Shankaracharya – XII (Shlokas – 14 – 16)

Attachment and Renunciation

‘Viveka’ and ‘Vairagya’

In order to realize our true divine identity (Atman or God), we need two things, namely, Viveka and Vairagya. Viveka is the power to separate between what is permanent and what is not permanent. Viveka helps us to establish in our mind that only Brahman (or Atman or God) is permanent and all other things which have names and forms are impermanent, i.e. all other things have a beginning and an end.

Why ‘Vairagya’?

Once we are convinced that only Brahman is permanent, then we have to focus our mind on Brahman (or Atman lying within) in order to realize it. However, we are so much attached to our body and mind and all things related to them that it is hard for us to focus our mind on Brahman.  That is why we need Vairagya or dispassion to withdraw our mind from the impermanent things, mainly our body and the worldly desires. Our mind has so many worldly desires that it is hard for us to withdraw it from the world and focus on the Atman or the Brahman. Our worldly desires create an attachment to our body and all related things.

Sri Ramakrishna used to give an example of a mongoose. A mongoose had a hole on a wall to live there. Whenever it wanted to rest, it will go in the hole and take rest. Someone found an opportunity and tied a brick to the mongoose’s tail with a string. With the weight of the brick, the mongoose fell down from the hole. Afterwards, whenever it tried to go to its hole to take a rest it falls off from its hole because of the weight of the brick. With this example, Sri Ramakrishna said that the mind of a worldly person is like the mongoose. The mind wants to focus on God or Atman, but due to the ‘Vishaya Chinta’, meaning the thoughts of the worldly desires, the mind comes down to the body and the world. The worldly desires are like the brick tied to the mind.  

Sri Ramakrishna gave another simple but revealing example. He said that as long as a child is busy with playing toys, the mother takes care of the house choirs. If the child gets bored with one toy, then he/she will give a cry ‘Maa’. But, the mother knows that this is not a real cry. The mother continues doing her work. Soon, the child gets busy with another toy. Finally, when the child gets bored with all the toys and wants only his/her mother, then the child cries from the bottom of his/her heart. The mother knows this real cry. At that time, she puts away all her work, comes to the child and takes the child in her lap.  Similarly, when we are tired with all the worldly objects and search for God (or Atman), then we can realize God.   

Thus, dispassion towards worldly pleasures is needed to focus our mind on Atman which is beyond the body and mind. Bhagavad Gita (16.21) says that lust, greed, and anger take us to the life of hell. Therefore, we have to get control over them and let them not dominate our life. Sri Ramakrishna mainly talks about ‘lust and greed’ to be the cause of all our problems. Note that anger follows lust and greed.

When dispassion or ‘Vairagya’ comes?

Dispassion comes when we understand that the worldly pleasures

(i) cannot give us the infinite bliss that we are looking for

(ii) have long term consequences and we have to pay a very high price to acquire athem, 

(iv) make us slave of their objects, and

(iv) drag our mind down to the body-level and cannot let us focus on the Atman.

How to develop dispassion?

Sri Ramakrishna said that in order to develop such detachment, every now and then we have to go into solitude and reflect upon what is real and what is unreal. We have to establish in our mind that only Brahman or Atman or God is real and all else is temporary.

Along with this, we have to seek holy company which encourages us to acquire love for God and develop dispassion towards illusory pleasures which give us little joy and lots of suffering. We also have to do spiritual practices to uplift our mind from the impermanent things and focus on God.  

‘Vairagya’ is not negative

It looks that in order to make spiritual progress we have to give up the ‘fun’ of our life. Apparently, it looks that way, but really, it is not true. We are so attached with the little pleasures of body and mind that we do not want to give them up for higher pleasures even though we suffer so much. When we realize how much we are suffering unnecessarily for little pleasure, then we do not mind to give them up and strive for the higher pleasures or what we call infinite bliss. When a house is on fire and we run away to save our lives, we won’t say that we have renounced the house.

A Sadhu (one who has renounced everything to realize God) told a householder, “Look, your renunciation is greater than mine. I have renounced little pleasures in order to acquire infinite bliss, but you have renounced infinite bliss for little pleasures.”

Should we then renounce everything?

The immediate question comes: should we then renounce the world and become a ‘Sanyasi’ or a ‘Sanyasini’? Those, who have intense desire to realize the Atman or God, have total self-control, and are ready to dedicate their lives for the realization of the Atman (or God) and unselfish service to humanity, renounce everything for that cause. But, such people are one percent of the total population. The other ninety-nine percent of people have to carve out their path to God-realization while living in the world. We do not have to physically renounce the world. Those who live householders’ life have to mentally renounce everything. In general, we have to change our outlook of ourselves and of the world.  

The spirit of detachment:

Bhagavad Gita teaches us how to live in the world with the spirit of ‘detachment’ (Anasakti).  We can live in the world, but the world should not be in our mind. It is like sailing a boat in the river without having the river water in the boat.

We have to develop two main things in our mind, speech, and actions:

(i) Nothing belongs to me, not even my body. I do not have total control on my body. Everything belongs to God, who is the creator, the preserver, and the dissolver of the universe.

(ii) God is the doer of everything and I am an instrument in the hands of God.

From the devotional point of view, this ‘Anasakti’ or detachment is ‘a complete self-surrender to God’ (Sharanagati). Devotee asks God for the guidance and follows sincerely their inner calls. Such devotees cannot do anything improper, unethical, or harmful.  If unconsciously one thinks to do an unethical or a harmful thing, he/she feels from within that it is not proper.

The above mentioned attitudes are easy to say, but very difficult to develop. For that, first we have to learn from the spiritual teachers the proper meaning of the ‘Anasakti’ and ‘the complete self-surrender’ of the Bhagavad Gita. Then, we have to learn the ways to practice them, and finally, we have to continue these practices until we reach our goal.   

Benefits: 

There are tons of benefits in developing ‘Anasakti’ and ‘complete self-surrender’. In order to know these benefits we have to study three things from the Bhagavad Gita: (i) the characteristics of a person with steady intellect (chapter 2, shlokas 55-72), (ii) the characteristics of a devotee (chapter 12, shlokas 13 – 19), and (iii) the characteristics of a person who is beyond the three gunas (chapter 14, shlokas 22 – 27). We will find that there are many common characteristics. A person with these characteristics finds inner peace, fulfilment of life, attains all the benefits a life offers, and lives a spiritually healthy sane life. Such a person is a blessing to himself/herself and to the society.  

From all these characteristics, if I have to select a couple of them, then I would say:

(1) Keeping the mind calm in the midst of pairs of opposites that life brings; for example,

(i) Not to get elated, lose head and do wrong things while enjoying the legitimate desires and   on the other hand not to get depressed or frustrated during the sorrowful time. Learn to keep the mind calm during the sorrowful time, bare the pain and realize the deeper lessons such time brings.

(ii) In success not to become arrogant or egotistic, but giving credits to all who deserves, especially the grace of God. On the other hand, in the failure not to lose faith in oneself, accept the responsibilities, not to blame others, not to brood over the failures, but learn from the mistakes and move forward.

(iii) In honor, remain humble and give honors to others who deserve.  In insults, not to become angry and not to hate one who insults, but remain calm and learn if the insult teaching us anything.  If there is nothing to learn from the insults, then think that the person out of ignorance is behaving in certain way and bless the person.

(2)  Acquire fearlessness: Such a person has conquered the fear of death which is the cause of all fears. Being focused on the immortal inner Self, one feels that he/she is immortal as the Self. The bodies come and go and that has nothing to do with the Self.

(3) Loves all and hates none: Such a person realizes that the inner Self (Atman) is the same in all the people. Knowing this, one loves all and ready to serve all. This feeling of Oneness brings inner fulfillment and fearlessness.

(4) Infinite Bliss within: All the desires of such a person get fulfilled and had no desire left. This brings inner satisfaction. Such a person enjoys every moment that God presents and truly lives in the world as a master and not as a slave. Remaining focused on the inner Self, whose nature is infinite bliss, he/she experiences the infinite bliss within all the time. Wise people say that the sum total of all the worldly pleasures looks like a fraction of this bliss. Also, this bliss has no consequences compared to every worldly happiness is followed by misery. 

By knowing even a few benefits, I wonder, why one would not get encouraged to follow the spiritual path to acquire such a state!       

Three shlokas of Shatashloki on ‘Vairagya’:

In the Shatashloki of Shri Sankarachary, we find the following three shlokas about the dispassion which leads to renunciation. They cover various aspects of dispassion and renunciation. A sincere spiritual seeker can learn many things from these shlokas.

Two kind of “Vairagya”

Meaning: There are two kinds of renunciations: (i) “Nairvedya” and (ii) “Jyana Garbha”.

(i) Nairvedya:  This is a type of renunciation develops after one experiences lots of pain caused by his/her own desires and selfish expectations from his/her friends and family members and the unsatisfied greed for his/her worldly possessions. 

(ii) Jyana Garbha:  This is a type of renunciation which develops after listening to the spiritual discourses which tells that the goal of life is the realization of one’s true divine identity. After being convinced with this goal one develops intense desire to realize this inner divinity. At that time, one’s mind gets withdrawn from all the worldly pleasures as one does not want to look at the vomited objects.

People who have total control on their mind and have developed the “Jyana Garbha” renunciation, they first renounce the world and then they also renounce their attachment to their body and mind.

Comments:

If the ‘Vairagya’, dispassion towards the worldly pleasures, does not develop an intense desire to realize God or Atman, then it indicates that there is a serious mental or physical problem with that person. In that case one has to consult appropriate medical doctors. Swami Adiswarananda used to say that if someone has lost interest in the world and has no desire to make any spiritual progress, then that person may have a bad lever or any other physical or mental problem, like depression, or a zero bank balance, meaning serious financial problem.

One kind of temporary “Vairagya” is called a ‘Markat Vairagya’ (Monkey Renunciation) or a “Smashana Vairagya” (Cemetery Renunciation). This happens when one has bad experiences from the world, has painful family problems, or when one’s a beloved person dies. Temporarily one finds that the world is not pleasant and nice and a whole life can be snatched away from a person in a single moment. Usually, this kind of renunciation does not last long. As soon as the person gets involved in other worldly activities, this renunciation goes away. Such renunciation is not reliable.

The real renunciation comes when one realizes that seeking infinite bliss from the finite worldly objects is an illusion and the real bliss comes from realizing our Atman, our true divine identity.

In that state the worldly objects look like the vomited objects. Also, the real renunciation is the detachment of the soul from the body and the mind. Realizing that one’s true identity is Atman, one detaches oneself from the body-mind material identity – that is the true renunciation. In that state one lives in the spiritual plane and uses the body and mind as an instrument.

The causes of suffering:

Meaning:  In the three worlds (Earth, Heaven, and Hell), all living beings struggle to acquire happiness. No one struggles to acquire suffering.

Suffering is caused by two things, ‘Me’ and ‘Mine’.  (i) ‘Me’ is the thought that ‘My body-mind is my true identity.’, and (ii) ‘Mine’ means getting attached with the people and objects related to this body-mind.

People know the above mentioned two causes of the suffering. Still, out of delusion they think that ‘My body is my soul’ and experience untold miseries due to the disease of the body and the loss of spouses, children, relatives, or wealth. No one feels any pain when one’s enemy dies.   

Comments: As it was mentioned earlier, ‘Me and Mine’ and the ‘Doer-ship’ (I do everything) are the causes of ignorance and all suffering. A devotee replaces ‘Me and Mine’ by ‘Thee and Thine’. Such a devotee thinks that ‘everything belongs to God’; ‘nothing belongs to me – not even my body’. Also, a devotee thinks that ‘God is the doer of everything and I am just an instrument of God’. To truly realize these truths, we have to do lots of spiritual practices. When there is no attachment we do not have any suffering, like the death of an enemy or a total stranger.   

Detachment leads to peace of mind:

Meaning:  When a traveler is going towards his/her home and on the way stays overnight at a hotel, he/she does not develop attachment to the hotel room and will not feel any pain while leaving it in the morning. Similarly, if a person does not have any attachment to his/her body, then he/she will not be elated or disturbed by the joys and sorrows of the body.

One who has understood that as the clouds come and go in the sky, everything in this universe is transient and subject to change, and whatever is going to happen will happen, such a person, like the sky, lives the life accepting whatever the life brings and remains undisturbed.  

Comments: When we can detach our Atman from our body and mind, then we can live like the sky mentioned in the shloka.

Atman is eternal and it can take many bodies. Thus, each body is just like a hotel room occupied for a time being.

Once a wandering monk somehow got into a king’s palace and started living in a corner of the palace. After sometime, the guards found him and told him that this is a king’s palace and he cannot live there. The monk laughed and said that ‘this is not a king’s palace, but is a hotel.’ Out of respect for the monk, the guards did not use the force, but tried to convince him to leave.  But, the monk was stubborn and keeps repeating that ‘this is not a palace, but a hotel room’. The king came to know about this and out of amusement went to the monk and presented himself. The following is the dialogue took place between the monk and the king:

The monk: “O King, since how long have been living here?”

The king: “For the last 40 years.”

The monk: “Who lived before you?”

The king: “My father lived here.”

The monk: “Who lived here before your father?”

The king: “There was another king.”

The monk: “Who lived here before that king?”

The king: “There was another king who lived here and he had built this palace.”

The monk: “You see what I am talking about. Nobody lived here permanently. Everyone lived here for a while and left. This is just like a hotel.

The king saluted the monk, thanked him for his words of wisdom and made an arrangement for his stay.

Thus, our body is a temporary place for our Atman to stay and do Its work. When time comes we have to live this body. While staying in the body, we enjoy when favorable things happen and we have to go through the sufferings of the body without complain thinking that we have to pay the property tax for living in the body. A person who has realized Atman lives with an attitude ‘seek not, avoid not’.