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Spirit of renunciation

CHENNAI: Scriptures have taken into account the different stages in the life span of a human being and allotted duties accordingly. As an individual travels from childhood through youth, manhood and old age, he is expected to equip himself in a way that will lead him to salvation. During one’s youth the advice is to learn scriptures and lead a disciplined life of chastity and then seek the life of a householder to propagate the lineage. The next stage is opting to retire from worldly life and renounce attachments so that the goal of getting liberated from the cycle of birth is always in focus.

In the Jabala Upanishad, Sage Yajnavalkya while expounding the tenets of Sanyasa (renunciation) to Janaka, points out that though scriptures have spelt out such a systematic development in the life of an individual, true renunciation is in one’s inner self alone when the mind does not hanker after worldly attractions at all, said Sri Mani Dravid Sastrigal in a lecture.

This entails the truth that a person qualifies purely on the basis of remaining totally detached. Without this Vairagya (detachment), Sanyasa is not possible. This also implies that that a person who is young and unmarried or a family man with domestic duties may feel the urge to withdraw from worldly pulls and remain a Vairagi. By meditating on the Supreme Brahman one can slowly be absolved of one’s sins. When one chooses to adopt the way of life of an ascetic with the distinguishing marks of a Sanyasi — ochre robe, shaven head, eating what is got from alms, and practising ahimsa to all — the aim is to realise the Supreme Brahman through mental resolve when following this path.

The test for true renunciation is the quality of fearlessness and this is exemplified in those known as Paramahamsa Sanyasis. All beings experience some kind of fear that is rooted in attachment — of loss of wealth, health, possessions, loved and near ones, etc. Even scholars fear the likelihood of losing in debates.

A person who remains fearless and is unaffected by loss or gain exemplifies the spirit of true Vairagya. Such renounced souls are free from a sense of possessiveness and for ever meditate on the Brahman.

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