Question :
If I have to develop vairagya, I will become passive, and will not enjoy life. If I have to have vairagya, why am I given this body and senses to enjoy?
Sri Prabhuji:
Very good question. We have to understand “Vairagyam” – dispassion. Vairagyam is not a prescription by Upanishads. Vairagyam is a maturity. As we grow internally we develop vairagyam naturally. For example – as kid we had lot of attachment to toys, marbles. If one toy is lost we cried. After growing up are you attached to toys or marbles? Do you cry for loss of toys or marbles ? Why you have out grown the childhood games? You laugh now when child cries for toys. This “out growing process” is called maturiy or Vairagyam. What used to attract us once, no longer attracts us.
Why do we out grow or develop vairagyam ? When we see the limitation of objects of our desire, we develop vairagyam. Why do we develop vairagyam or dispassion ? Now our desire or interest shifts to something different. We have developed vairagyam for child hood toy car. We no longer get happiness from toy car. Now we want a bigger car to be happy. Bigger the better. BMW sounds good ! So our object of attention has shifted from toy car to bigger car. We have developed vairagyam for toy car but attachment to bigger !
Why we are attached to bigger car ? It gives us happiness. If we get more happiness from something then we develop vairagyam for bigger car ! So vairagyam means dropping objects of small happiness to bigger happiness. Bigger the happiness, better it is.
Any happiness from objects is limited. Be it car or power or position – it is very limited for a limited duration. SELF realization is the ultimate bliss. Nothing is comparable to SELF realization in Bliss. When you realize the infinite bliss of SELF realization every other happiness appears insignificant. This is called vairagyam. When you drink nectar, do you still crave for milk ? You develop vairagyam for milk when you aspire for Nectar.
This is true for any aspects of life. If you want to get something in life, you have to drop something else. If you want medical, you have to drop engineering. If you want to marry one girl/boy you have drop other girls/boys. If you want to get one job you have to drop other jobs. Holding onto something and dropping something is natural process. Vairagyam is the dropping process when you hold on to something greater. Vairagyam arises out of maturity.
Question is why am I given this body and senses to enjoy ? Good question. When you go to a sweat shop, shop keeper wants to sell you halwa. He gives one sample of halwa to you to taste. He knows if you are happy with one piece of halwa, you will purchase 1 kg of halwa. One piece is sample. Similarly pleasure through sense organs or body is sample given to us. Pleasure from body, mind, senses is one small drop of happiness of infinite SELF. It is sample given to us to motivate us to seek Infinite Happiness of SELF. Do you want hold onto small and limited happiness of sense organs and mind or seek infinite SELF ? The choice is yours !
We may think that vairagyam means dropping. In reality it is not dropping. A Jnani will enjoy sense objects like anyone else – but he is not attached – he has no craving for sense objects. That is why Ishavasya upanishad says “Tena Tyaktena Bhunjithaa – enjoy by renouncing !”. What it means is if you are not attached to the object your happiness in sense objects is manifold. If you are attached to sense objects, your mind is constantly thinking of holding of that object for long – fear of losing object is there. Enjoyment is mixed with fear. Enjoyment is not complete. A jnani on the other hand experiences any sense objects fully without attachment. He is blissful internally and enjoying sense objects he has no fear/craving. Hence a jnani is called – maha bhogi – great enjoyer of any thing. Vedanta is not a “life negative” teaching to deprive joy from life. On the contrary Vedanta is teaching us how to have infinite joy even in small things in life ! This is the true spirit of Vairagyam.