In the Bhagavad Gita the Lord declares – to those who worship Me with great love, I give the Knowledge by which they come to Me. Bhagavan blesses those that seek refuge in Him, with the virtues required to gain that Knowledge. Then He gives that Knowledge and also its result.  He is the giver of everything.

According to Vedanta, the tuning of the mind with the Lord occurs in the presence of dispassion (vairägya) and discriminative understanding (viveka). Bhagavan is the giver of these virtues. When vairägya and viveka are pointed out, students of Vedanta will know that all other virtues like the six-fold virtues (ñaö-sampatti) and longing for liberation (mumukñutvam) are also included. The six-fold virtues are: control of the mind, mastery over the senses, withdrawal of the mind, forbearance, faith and absorption of the mind.

In the peace invocation of Kenopanishad, the student prays – O Lord, may I be blessed with all the virtues prescribed for knowing one’s own Self.

When we have these virtues, we gain the knowledge of Vedanta. Bhagavan is the giver of this Knowledge. The result of this Knowledge is sämräjya-vimukti and the Lord is the giver of the sovereignty or empire of liberation. Even in this world, He is the giver of lordship, prosperity and wealth (aiçvarya) and also great joy (harña).

Degrees of Vairägya

Vairägya is of different levels. Releasing ourselves from the physical dependence on external objects is the first level. For example, some people do not know how to travel light. Even for an overnight stay, they carry two suitcases, complete with tea or coffee sachets and a personal pillow! There are thousands of things without which we cannot seem to live. Our first step towards vairägya must be that we are able to live without all these, without any slavery to them.

The second level of vairägya is to drop our personal likes and dislikes. Right now, we are happy only when our personal likes are fulfilled; else we get upset. When the set-up changes, we get upset! Bhagavan’s advice is, “Do not come under the sway of räga and dveña.” The world will not dance to our tune. It is not possible to always get what we like. Not being carried away by the happenings of life is also a form of vairägya.

The next and highest level of vairägya stems from viveka, the discrimination that comes by the Lord’s grace. With viveka, comes the understanding that what we seek in life should be something permanent, something eternal, which the world cannot give us. Our actions produce finite results, but we want enduring joy. People struggle to become the president, prime minister or minister of the nation, but even those are only temporary posts. However, the posts of a ‘former president’, ‘ex-minister’ are permanent! After a detailed examination of the results gained thus far, we find that whatever we do, we gain only temporary results. Often, despite striving for a particular result, we get something else!

Where Are We Going?

Once, I had to fly from Indore to Mumbai but someone booked my ticket to Delhi! In those days, anyone could get a boarding pass. Normally I check and re-check my ticket, this time I overlooked doing it!

It so happened that the same airline had two flights departing at the same time – one to Mumbai and the other to Delhi. I went to board the Mumbai flight and was informed at the desk that my boarding pass was for Delhi.

I told the flight supervisor, “ No, I don’t want to go to Delhi. I want to go to Mumbai!”  It looked rather foolish, but I saved face by mumbling that my office must have committed the mistake.

She refused to let me off the hook so easily and retorted, “The office might have blundered, but you should have checked!”

The situation that unfolded was that I wanted to go to Mumbai, but the ticket I had was for Delhi. Every day, we commit such mistake. We want permanent happiness but carry a boarding pass for temporary happiness. We are headed for where we do not want to go!

For unending and permanent happiness, we need to develop viveka, which gives rise to vairägya. As a consequence, there is no interest in the ephemeral joys of the world. We then seek only the eternal. Vairägya does not imply that we hate or dislike the world. It simply means that we do not want to chase the fleeting joy it gives. The enjoyments of the world are not for us; it is alright for others to enjoy them, but we want unending happiness. Along with viveka and vairägya, an intense longing for liberation (mumukñutvam), deep faith in the Scriptures and the words of the Teacher (çraddhä) are also required. These come in the form of grace and blessings from the Lord. We, of course, put forth our best efforts, but to acquire all these virtues, the grace factor is crucial. His grace is essential.