Thyaga and Vairagya are two terms very often used in spirituality. Thyaga means sacrifice. one has to give up things that he loves most! It includes self sacrifice and sacrificing for the sake of the nation! It is a very rare quality that we do not find in ordinary mortals. The Vedas and the Upanishads speak very highly of sacrifice. How can one become an immortal? asks the Upanishad. Is it through your deeds or people or by your money? Not at all. “ Thyage naikena amrutatwa manasuhu”-- It is through sacrifice alone that man attains immortality. We remember the illustrious Patriots of our country who had laid down their lives for the sake of liberating the country from the shackles of British Imperialism! In the same way we cannot forget those that have died for the betterment of society and making it more comfortable for living. Vairagya , on the other hand is more difficult than thyaga or sacrifice. It means total detachment from all mundane affairs and activities! With the inescapable bond of Samsara, its relationships vicissitudes, desires, and disappointments it is practically impossible for ordinary man to develop detachment! His attachment to life increases day by day until he is lost irretrievably!
Detachment should come naturally. One should be born detached! it is rather difficult to cultivate detachment as life will not allow it! Child devotees Dhruva and Prahlada are classical examples of ideal detachment! Detachment from worldly affairs leads to attachment to Divinity! Cutting off all connections from family and other things is called “sarvasanga parithyaga”-- total severance from all connections! One cannot be half baked in thyaga and Vairagya! Having taken to the path of thyaga and Vairagya he cannot and should not return to normal family life. A tyagi and a Viragi is expected to look at all objects dispassionately! They should consider the most valuable things on earth as worthless and be not enchanted or ensnared by them! It is believed that the famous Seshadri Swamigal of Tiruvannamalai used to apply dirty mud onto his body and drink gutter water! He considered everything equal! For such great siddhas, who are exceptional, such consideration is possible! But to all of us it looks strange and incredible!
Renunciation entails both thyaga and vairagya. It is not a show to impress others. A husband and wife renounced the world and went on a pilgrimage to all the holy shrines. They visited the important shrines in the South as well as in the north.They paid respects to the presiding deity Kamakshi, of Kanchipuram, went to Madurai and had darshan of Devi Meenakshi. Later they worshipped Sri Ramanatha Swamy at Rameswaram and came to the north! They continued visiting Varanasi and various other shrines and were filled with spiritual thoughts during their entire travel. Once while walking along the road, the husband, a little ahead of his wife, noticed a glittering object on the road. He was curious to know what it was! Slowly bending down and examining it, he found that it was a piece of diamond!
He was surprised to see a diamond on the road but suddenly scooped some ground to hide it from the view of his wife! He thought that his wife would be attracted to the diamond if she were to see it! She may be greedy and want to have it for herself! Women are always fascinated by diamonds and other jewelry he thought. What will happen to their goal of renunciation if she were to see the diamond herself? These thoughts hovered over his mind even as he scratched the ground to hide the diamond! His wife, slowly walking behind, noticed her husband doing something and approached him. She wanted to know what was happening.
Reaching him, she wondered why he was bending down and scratching the ground and trying to hide something! She asked her husband what he was doing. He was apologetic and evasive in his answer! She wasn't satisfied with his reply. She scratched the ground and found the diamond that he was trying to conceal. She knew what her husband had thought about her! He had mistaken that she would be fascinated and tempted at the sight of the diamond! How foolishly he had mistaken her she thought! She indicated to him how detached she was and renounced everything before they started their pilgrimage together. The question she posed to her husband was, “ Why did you leave the world, if you still feel the distinction between diamond and dust?” in short, a person of real non attachment has to see gold, diamond and other valuable articles as worthless as dust! For an ordinary man the temptation is too much! It is the sovereign quality of a tyagi and and Viragi to treat valuable articles no better than dust!! Many instances are found in the life of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa when his supporters tried to give him money without his knowledge! He rejected their offers and proved to his disciples and supporters that he was a real, ideal tyagi and viragi!
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