RENUNCIATION

RENUNCIATION is a quality not given to man! From the time of his birth he is subjected to various attachments. He has his father, mother, brothers and sisters,uncles, aunts and other relationships! As he grows he develops association with other friends. When he enters the school he meets his teachers and is influenced by them. When he is a youth and an eligible bachelor he meets his chosen spouse and the cycle repeats itself when children are born!  So man's life is a continuous process of attachment to some person or object known or unknown to him! There is more and more attachment and It increases as he grows and there is no question of his coming out of these attachments!!

What is the cause of this attachment? It is because of illusion or Maya which creates ego or ‘ ahankara’! Man begins to think that it is his body,.his father, his mother and so on! He becomes possessive more attached to them. He feels that he cannot exist in the world without them! To him all these relationships become indispensable! The moment the child is born, it is enveloped by the six inner enemies viz ‘ arishadvargas’ that lie embedded and develope silently in it! We are surprised to see the anger in the child when some toy is seized from its hand and we are delighted to witness it's anger and possessiveness! The roots of selfishness are already sowed into its individuality!Out of the six inner enemies of man KAMA or desire is the most dangerous and fatal!The second is Lobha or miserliness. These two lead to anger, arrogance, jealousy and never ending attachment! Unable to extricate himself from these hidden foes man becomes a victim helplessly!

 

What is RENUNCIATION? Is it possible for him to achieve that in his lifetime? Or is he doomed for ever to be an abject slave of these ‘ arishadvargas'?’Arjuna was assailed with attachment or “mamakara” as he stood in front of his mentors and kith and kin on the battlefield at Kurukshetra! He refused to fight and threw down his famous bow Gandiva! ? He went to the extent of saying that he would rather beg than eat the bloody meal after killing all of them! It is then the Lord delivers his Divine discourse, the Bhagavad-Gita and clears all his doubts! Unless attachment is discarded renunciation cannot come.Attachment to mundane things has to be  given up and attention devoted to spiritual things and meditation on God! Attachment to the body must be given up as well as to other things which is the most difficult part of man's life!

The Vedas proclaim that it is sacrifice or renunciation that makes man immortal!  “ nakarmana na Prajaya na dhanena thayge naikena amrutatwa manasuhu” It is not through karma or action or progeny or money but by sacrifice or renunciation that immortality is achieved! Those whom we consider as immortals have sacrificed something that  made them immortal!   “Giving up evil qualities is the real renunciation. That is the real Thyaga( sacrifice) and yoga. Body attachment is human and total detachment is Divine” declares Bhagawan Sri Says Sai Baba! Our sages and seers were all totally nonattached and employed themselves in total meditation on God! They were, no doubt, family men, but untouched by ‘ mamakara’ or  attachment. Renunciation can be attained by constant concentration and meditation on God! It is also possible to develop the quality by association with devotees and sathsang! This will lead to ‘ nisssangatwam’! This will take him to “ nirmohatwam--non attachment and finally to emancipation or ‘ jeevanmukti’! “ satsangatve nisssangatvam  nissangatve nirmohatvam nirmohatve--nischalatatvam  nischalatatve jivan muktihihi”declares Adi Sankara in his Bhajagovinda sthothra!

It should be the aim and purpose of every single individual to be as non attached as possible! It does not mean that you should refrain from all karmas or actions! As a father, mother or son you should discharge your duties perfectly--not more not less! Otherwise you will be drawn into the cycle of samsara! The less we are involved in mundane affairs the better! We need not go far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife and sit under the greenwood trees for serious meditation or tapas!  The  stories of our Nayanmars and Azwars and Ramadas, Kabirdas and a host of others remind us that pure  devotion and total surrender to the will of God shall lead us to the rarest of the rare grace of God! Nothing more is needed for non attachment!