Patanjali Yoga Sutra — dṛṣṭānuśravikaviñayavitṛṣṇasya vaśīkārasaṃjñā vairāgyam||1.15||
दृष्टानुश्रविकविषयवितृष्णस्य वशीकारसंज्ञा वैराग्यम् ||१.१५||
Detachment is the renunciation of all those mundane or worldly things which affect sādhaka’s yogasādhana (resolute repetition in his endeavor for salvation).
It is said that man has two mārgās (Paths): pravṛtti mārga and nivṛtti mārga. pravṛtti mārga is indulging in first three of the chaturvidha Purushārthas namely, Dharma, Artha and Kāma. Here desire, being a sense of incompleteness, guides his actions in the world. Whereas, nivṛtti Mārga is engaging in the last namely mokṣa of the chaturvidha Purushārthas. Having delegated his duties to his successors, sādhaka renounces the material life and propels his sādhana towards salvation or liberation. Is this renunciation really required for salvation? ‘Yes’ say our scriptures. If a bird wears various jewels (Just because jewels are very beautiful and precious), the bird is virtually burdened and owing to weight, very freedom of the bird to fly is challenged. The very hard shell of tortoise itself takes away his freedom to walk freely. So is the case with a man burdened with worldly affairs — good or bad. ‘Freedom is the indispensable condition for growth’, says Swāmi Vivekānanda.
When one is full of wants, desires, innumerable demands, one is tossed with countless prayers to satisfy them. But it is always dangerous, as one may go wrong in calling the right kind of prayer. The following story is humorous but a warning to such people.
A man was wandering on a seashore. He finds a bottle. It was very beautiful indeed. But inside of the bottle was not visible. Wondering what it could be, he opened the cap. Suddenly, a devil (spirit) rushes out of the bottle! The man was awestruck. The devil consoled the man saying, ‘do not be panic. In fact, I was captive for many years in this bottle. You have released me. I am very grateful to you. You may ask anything you want. I will give instantaneously.’
The man was thrilled and said, ‘ Oh devil, very kind of you. Please give me lots and lots of wealth.’
The devil chanted, hrām, hrīm, hrūm, etc. Suddenly a very big heap of currency notes, jewels, etc was present in front of him.
Man — ‘I need a beautiful bunglow’.
Again the devil recited, bhoom, bhoom, etc. A beautiful bungalow was present.
Man — ‘I need a luxury car’.
The devil recited some words and suddenly a luxury car was present.
Devil — ‘Do not worry, you may ask anything and everything. No limit at all.’
Man — (Thinks for a while) ‘I should be liked by all the girls’.
Again the devil chanted some sounds and suddenly our man became a chocolate bar!
Science says, “Two things cannot occupy the same place at the same time.” In the case of the human mind also, this holds good. So long as one’s mind is attached and hankers for worldly pleasures, one cannot focus on divinity and liberation or salvation is just a mirage — say our scriptures. Hence, it can be proclaimed that detachment is the first and foremost observance in one’s spirituality or yogasādhana. A mountain does not own a single drop of water falling from clouds but gets rid of every drop and allows to roll down to the bottom and is free from all possession. The very nature of the mountain does this. When a yogi is totally detached and has lost the sense of agency (i.e., I am not the doer, but things are getting done by the Supreme through me), remains untainted even if he slays the entire world, says Bhagavān:
यस्य नाहङ्कृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते।
हत्वापि इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते॥गीता १८.१७॥
yasya nāhaṅkṛto bhāvo buddhiryasya na lipyate|
hattvāpi sa imāllokānna hanti na nibadhyate||Gītā 18.17||
The message should not mislead us. It is not a permit or license to kill someone or to do immoral actions. The message of Bhagavān is, like burnt seeds, such actions fail to produce any karmaphalas.
