Stages in Vairagya (=Dispassion)

What Is Vairagya?: An Internal Mental State

Raja Janaka, though he ruled a kingdom, was a perfectly dispassionate man. So was Raja Bhagiratha, too. Queen Chudala possessed perfect Vairagya, though she ruled a dominion, while her saintly husband, Raja Sikhidhvaja, who retired into the forest to practice penance and Yoga, was intensely attached to his body and Kamandalu (waterpot).

You cannot form a correct opinion of any Sadhu or Sannyasin or even householder as to his mental state of Vairagya or mental condition by just having a casual talk with him for a few hours or staying with him for a few days. You will have to live with him for a very long time to study his internal mental state.

Generally most people commit serious blunders in these matters. They are deluded by mere external appearances. They mistake a physically nude Sadhu for a great Mahatma in the beginning. Later on they feel obliged to change their impression after closer contact. Physical nudity alone will not constitute real Vairagya. The mind of the physically nude Sadhu may be full of fantastic desires, cravings and appetites. Who knows! What is wanted, therefore, is mental nudity, i. e., complete eradication of Vasanas, egoism, etc. Do not be deceived by external appearances. Beware! Beware!! Beware!!!

Defects of Sensual Pleasures

If you do not possess Viveka (=discrimination), if you do not try your extreme level best for the attainment of salvation, if you spend your whole life-time in eating, drinking, sleeping, marrying and propagating race, you are no better than a horizontal being. You will have to sit at the feet of these animals and learn several lessons from them. Even animals possess self-restraint to an astonishing degree. O man, where has your self-restraint gone.

Sensual enjoyment is attended with various defects. It is attended with various sorts of sins, pains, weaknesses, attachments, slave-mentality, weak will, severe exertion and struggle, bad habits, cravings, aggravation of desires and mental restlessness. Therefore shun all sorts of sensual enjoyments and rest in peace.

The Narayana Upanishad says: "In the beginning these two roads were laid-the road, through Karma and Sannyasa. The latter consists of the renunciation of the threefold desire (son, wealth, and fame). Of these the road through Sannyasa is preferable." The Taittiriya Upanishad also says: "Renunciation (Tyaga) certainly is to be preferred."

Mere outward giving up of thing is nothing. It is not real renunciation. Real Tyaga or Sannyasa is absolute renunciation of all Vasanas and destruction of the heart knot (ignorance), the Chit-jada-Granthi.

There are four stages in Vairagya:

(1) Yatamana: This is an attempt not to allow the mind to run into sensual grooves;

(2) Vyatireka: In this stage some objects are attracting you and you are endeavouring to cut off the attachment and attraction. Slowly Vairagya develops for these objects also. Then, the Vairagya matures. When some objects tempt and delude you, you should ruthlessly avoid them. You will have to develop Vairagya for these tempting objects and it must also mature. In this stage you are conscious of your degree of Vairagya towards different objects;

[Admin's Note: American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines "avoid" as "shun". In its explanatory notes, it says, "'Avoid' always involves an effort to keep away from what is considered to be a source of danger or difficulty. 'Shun' refers to deliberately keeping clear of what is unwelcome or undesirable.]

(3) Ekendriya: The senses stand still and subdued, but the mind has either Raga or Dvesha for objects. Mind is, in other words, the only sense that functions independently;

(4) Vasirara: In this highest stage of Vairagya, the objects no longer tempt you. They cause no attraction. The senses are perfectly quiet. The mind also is free from likes and dislikes (Raga and Dvesha). Then you get supremacy or independence. Now you are conscious of your supremacy. Without Vairagya no spiritual progress is possible. 

Vairagya is of three kinds viz., dull (Manda), intense (Tivra) and very intense (Tivratara). Dull Vairagya cannot help you much in the attainment of your goal.

Vairagya is the opposite of Raga, or desire. It is dispassion or non-attachment. It is indifference to sensual objects herein and hereafter. Vairagya thins out the fatty sensual mind. It turns the mind inward (Antarmukh Vritti). This is the most important qualification for an aspirant. It is the one and the only means to enter into Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

Vairagya that is born of discrimination is lasting and steady. If you seriously think of the various kinds of pain in this Samsara such as birth, death, worries, depression, suffering, disease, loss, hostility, disappointment, fear, etc., if you understand intelligently the defects of sensual life (Dosha Drishti), and the transitory and perishable nature of all objects of the world, Vairagya will immediately dawn.

(An excerpt from How to Get Vairagya: https://www.dlshq.org/download/vairagya.htm#_VPID_17)