According to Advaita Vedanta, Vairagya means dispassion / detachment and is one of the qualifications specified as part of Sadhana Chatushtaya (Fourfold Qualifications).
Vairagya - Dispassion
One who has Viveka (discriminative wisdom) cannot fail to have Vairagya (dispassion) as they are interdependent. It is nothing but renunciation of all momentary enjoyments and instant gratifications. With the power of Viveka, Vairagya can be explained in simple sentences in three levels.
First level -> “Whatever I have, I have it, whatever I don’t have, I don't have.”
Second level -> “If I have something, so what, if I don't have something, so what.”
Third level -> “If I have something or if I don’t have something it’s of no consequence, the most important thing is how much I am happy at any given moment.”
Basically, it is not gloating over something we have and not desperately craving for something which we do not have. Both are achieved by dropping the ego. Viveka (reasoning) and Vairagya (dispassion) help us to drop the ego.
We need to develop contentment with whatever little we may have, then we could live like a king. If we continuously have desires and wants then no matter how much wealth we might possess still we would be living like a beggar. Only a king does not want to receive anything but a beggar is continuously in need.
We know that
- Continuously eating even at a great dining place becomes nauseating.
- Continuously relaxing at a great luxurious resort also becomes boring.
- Continuously travelling around the world visiting various tourist locations becomes tiring.
Vedic texts say that the purpose of everything present in this world is for us to realize their temporariness, momentariness and impermanence.
Many of the eastern philosophies state “Life is full of suffering”. This is often totally misunderstood as that eastern thinking considers the human life as miserable, full of suffering, worthless and hence it is immaterial whether life is there or not. What the statement actually means is explained in the previous paragraph. It is understanding the truth that everything the world has to offer provides only temporary enjoyment.
One who does not use the intellect, does not understand the temporariness of worldly pleasures, pretends that one could escape disease, old age and death due to the wealth, intelligence, technology, comfort and luxuries, keeps indulging in sense gratifications, never satisfied and ever in need of something with endless desires, whose thoughts are always self-centered is actually considered to be in the state of suffering and bondage.
Poverty, dimwit, handicap, disease, etc., are not considered suffering, it is misfortune.
Through the famous poem "Bhaja Govindam", Shankara conveys that the tendency of human being to not understand the truth despite being endowed with intellect and ignorantly clinging on to temporary worldly pleasures and shackled by self-centered thoughts till the very end until the life gets snatched abruptly by death is considered as bondage and suffering.
Does that mean we should not enjoy with what the world has to offer? No. Advaita Vedanta is not saying that we should never enjoy. It is asking us to understand the temporary, fleeting nature of everything and just take it easy to avoid endless mental agitation, excessive exertion and extreme exhaustion.
Swami Vivekananda concurs by saying, “Fulfil your desire for power and everything else, and after you have fulfilled the desire, will come the time when you will know that they are all very little things; but until you have fulfilled this desire, until you have passed through that activity, it is impossible for you to come to the state of calmness, serenity, and self-surrender”.
Interestingly this is exactly what Socrates says, “The unexamined life is not worth living”, urging us to indulge in the worldly things so that we can have a deep comprehension of the world, clearly understand and realise the transient and momentary happiness they provide.
It was the same poverty-stricken Socrates while striding through the city’s busy central marketplace, looking at the mass of several things for sale, he would harrumph provocatively, “How many things I have no need of!“. That’s the sign of the wise who have developed Vairagya (dispassion).
Shankara says a sincere seeker practicing Vairagya should develop an indifference to the worldly things just like the kind of indifference we show to the excreta of a crow. On another occasion, Shankara says the seeker should develop utter dispassion, distaste and disgust for the momentary happiness provided by the sense organs, just like the disgust we have towards vomited food.
Vairagya is developing dispassion, disinterest and disgust towards all the things that are not required and are actually impediments in achieving the goal. The same Vairagya fiercely advised by Shankara can be followed to succeed in attaining any desired goal.
A Truth seeker develops dispassion towards all worldly attractions and pleasures.
Actually for all others also same is the case. For example, an architect, a software engineer, a business person, a professional sports person, etc. also need to develop disinterest towards all worldly attractions such as movies, TV, watching sports, relaxing in resorts for few days, extensive shopping, etc. because they would be considered not only as waste of time but also as serious distractions if one is extremely serious in attaining the desired goal.
We should attend to only the necessary duties and at all other times be contemplating or working and progressing towards the goal.
Vairagya means any distraction should be found irritating, any diversion of time and resource should be frowned upon, develop a prodigious appetite to succeed and stoke the fire in the belly to put in the unflinching relentless Sadhana (effort) towards attaining the desired goal.
For a seeker of the ultimate Reality, the goal is to attain Self-Realization, for a professional, it is to succeed in the current project, for a Student, the goal is to successfully complete the learning, etc.
The key is to not to get distracted by unwanted things that are impediments towards attaining the desired goal, stay highly focused and develop utter dispassion towards such distractions which is what is called as Vairagya.
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