VAIRAGYA

Even when we are blinded to reality by the fulfilment of every worldly desire, there may arise in us the question, " Who am I who enjoy all this ?" This may be the moment in which a revelation of the secret begins.

In a forest full of thorns and briars it is impossible to walk bare-footed. One can do so if the whole forest is covered with leather, or if one's own feet are protected with leather shoes. It is impossible to cover the whole forest with leather, so it is wiser to protect ones feet with shoes. Similarly, in this world man is troubled with innumerable wants and desires, and there are only two possible ways of escape from them, viz.. either to have all those wants satisfied, or to give up all of them. But it is impossible to satisfy all human wants ; for with every attempt to satisfy them, new wants arise. So it is wiser to decrease one s wants by contentment and the knowledge of Truth.

It is very pleasant to scratch an itching ringworm, but the sensation one gets afterwards is very painful and intolerable. So the pleasures of this world are very attractive in the beginning, but their consequences are terrible to endure and contemplate.

A kite with a fish in its beak was chased by a large number of crows and screaming kites, pecking at it and trying to snatch away the fish. In whichever direction it went the flock of kites and crows also followed it. Tired of this annoyance, the kite threw away the fish which was instantly caught by another kite. At once the flock of kites and crows turned to the new possessor of the fish. The first kite was left unmolested ; it calmly perched upon the branch of a tree. Seeing it in this quiet and tranquil state, the Avadhuta saluted it and said, " You are my Guru, O kite; you have taught me that so long as man does not throw off the burden of worldly desires, he cannot escape from worldly distractions and be at peace with himself.

A shy horse does not move straight when its eyes are not protected by eyeflaps. Similarly, the mind of a worldly man, restrained from looking around by the eyeflaps of discrimination and aversion for worldly objects, will not stumble, or stray into evil paths.

When paper is wetted with oil, it cannot be written upon. So the soul stained by the oil of vice and luxury is unfit for spiritual devotion. But when the paper wetted with oil is overlaid with chalk, it may be written. upon; so when such a soul is ' chalked over with renunciation, it becomes fit again for spiritual progress.

There is a venomous spider whose poison no medicine can counteract till the wound is magnetised by passes with turmeric roots held in the hand. After the wound is thus treated, other remedies are seen to produce their effect. So when the spider of lust and wealth has infected a man, he must first get thoroughly saturated with the magnetic remedy of renunciation before he can have any spiritual progress.

If you put a purifying agent, say, a piece of alum, into a vessel of muddy water, the impurities settle down at the bottom and the water is made clear. Discrimination and dispassion for worldly objects are the two purifying agents. It is through these that the worldly man ceases to be worldly and becomes pure.

The caterpillar gets itself imprisoned in its own cocoon. So the worldly soul is caught in the meshes of its own desires. But when the caterpillar develops into a bright and beautiful butterfly, it bursts the cocoon and flies out enjoying freely light and air. So the worldly soul can fly out of the meshes of Maya with the wings of discrimination and dispassion for worldly things.

Reverse turns the key of the room wherein God lives. To reach Him you have to renounce the world and all.

It is useless to pore over the holy scriptures if one s mind is not endowed with Viveka and Vairagya. No spiritual progress can be made without these.

How may one attain God ? One has to sacrifice body, mind and riches to find Him.

What must be the condition of the mind of a bound soul before he can hope to be liberated ? If by the grace of God he can acquire intense dispassion for worldly things, then only can he be released from the attachment to woman and gold . And what is this intense dispassion, this vehement desirelessness ? " By and by I shall realise God —this is the attitude of feeble Vairagya. But he whose Vairagya is acute and strong— his heart longs and pants for God, even as the mother s heart pants for her child. He never seeks anything but God, and to him the world appears as a veritable well wherein he fears he may be drowned any moment. T\> him his relations then seem so many venomous serpents from whom he is inclined to fly away. And such is the strength of his impulse and determination that he never thinks of settling his domestic affairs first before he would seek the Lord.

Why does a God-lover renounce everything for the sake of Him Whom he loves ? The moth after seeing a light has no mind to return to darkness ; the ant dies in the heap of sugar but does not turn back. So the God-lover gladly sacrifices his life for the attainment of Divine bliss, and cares for nothing else.

One becomes a real Jnani, a true Parama-hamsa, only when one has tested all possible conditions of life, from the humblest position of a scavenger to the highest role of a king, through observation, report of others and actual experience, and has become convinced thereby of the trivial nature of all worldly enjoyments.

Jnana never comes without renunciation of lust and possessions. With the dawn of renunciation is destroyed all ignorance, all Avidya. Many things can be burnt by means of a lens held in such a manner that the rays of the sun falls on it directly, but you cannot use it so in the shade of a room. Even so with the mind. You must take it out of the dark cell of this world and expose it to the full blaze of self-effulgent Divinity. Then alone true renunciation will come, and with it all ignorance will be destroyed.

Knowledge (Jnana) cannot be communicated all at once. Its attainment is a question of time. Suppose a fever is of a severe type, the doctor cannot give quinine in that circumstance. He knows that it will do no good. The fever must first leave the patient, which depends upon time, and then quinine or any other medicine should be administered. Analogous is the case with a man who seeks Knowledge. Religious precepts often prove useless as long as one is immersed in worldliness. Allow a man a certain time for the enjoyment of the things of the world. When his attachment to the world has somewhat lessened, then comes the time for fruitful religious instructions. Till then all such instructions will only be lost upon him.

In a room away from their mother, little children play with dolls just as they like; but as soon as the mother comes in, they throw aside the dolls and run to her. crying "Mamma, Mamma". You also are now playing in this world, deeply absorbed in the dolls of wealth, honour and fame, without caring for anything else. But if once you see the Divine Mother in you, you will no more find pleasure in any of these, be it wealth, honour or fame. Leaving them all away, you will run to Her.

Vairagya is of many kinds. One kind of it springs from acute pain due to worldly misery. But the better kind arises from the consciousness that all worldly blessings, though within one s reach, are transitory and are not worth enjoying. Thus, having all, he has not anything.

How many kinds of Vairagya are there? Generally two: the intense and the moderate. Intense Vairagya is like digging a large tank in one night until it gets filled with water then and there. Moderate Vairagya is slow in its growth and procrastinating. There is no knowing when it will become complete.

A person was going to a river to bathe when he heard that a certain gentleman had been preparing for some days past to renounce the world and become a sannyasin. This somehow produced a conviction in the man s mind that the Sannyasin s is the highest mode of life. He immediately determined to be a Sannyasin and without returning home went away in his half-naked condition. This illustrates intense Vairagya.

Dive deep into the ocean of the Absolute Existence-Knowledge-Bliss. Fear not those deep sea-monsters—avarice and anger. Paint yourself thickly with the turmeric of Viveka and Vairagya and these alligators will not approach you ; for the scent of this turmeric is too much for them.