“O friend. Sita now wishes to give to your wife a pearl necklace, a string of gold and a girdle. O gentle one, please take them.” (Lord Rama speaking to Suyajna, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 32.7)

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हारं च हेमसूत्रं च भार्यायै सौम्य हारय
रशनां चाधुना सीता दातुमिच्छति ते सखे

hāraṃ ca hemasūtraṃ ca bhāryāyai saumya hāraya
raśanāṃ cādhunā sītā dātumicchati te sakhe

1. Living simply

“You are asking about the Sanskrit concept known as vairagya? You want my opinion as to how to measure renunciation? Well, for starters, someone who is actually renounced would never go around advertising it. The humble person is never proud of how humble they are, for instance. If I hear a person showing off how little they have, it raises a red flag. It is similar to when people give marriage advice; perhaps holding a seminar on the topic. The people who actually succeed in marriage realize the struggle involved. They never tempt fate by trying to teach others how to survive through it. And trust me, it is survival, in the truest sense of the word.

“The most basic test for vairagya is the manner of living. Does someone live simply? Are they okay with the bare necessities? Are they steady in this simplicity? You would judge by symptoms; not necessarily the conditions. That is my opinion on the matter.”

2. Not affected by loss

“Hmm, so you want to test vairagya? You want to judge within a group of individuals to see how renounced they are? To me, I want to see how well they adapt to loss. The life experience involves two basic endpoints: attachment and aversion. I believe Shri Krishna explains the same in Bhagavad-gita, as the source of delusion, or moha.

इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत
सर्वभूतानि संमोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप

icchādveṣasamutthena dvandvamohena bhārata
sarvabhūtāni saṃmohaṃ sarge yānti parantapa

“O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conquerer of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.27)

“If a person is truly renounced, they will not fall into such delusion. I am not saying they will turn into a robot. They will still feel emotion. They will be sad upon the demise of a loved one, for instance. But it should not make a long-term negative impact moving forward. They should be able to shake off any loss.”

3. Not greedy

“A person with vairagya is not greedy. I often say that in the modern day, you can never have enough money. There is always another expense to consider. The children and their college tuition. Health insurance. Transportation. The size of the home. Taxes. Fees. The monthly expenditures are almost too much to keep track of.

“The renounced person is not anxious for accumulating more wealth. They are more or less okay with what they have. They are satisfied, in a manner corresponding to the Sanskrit word santosha. That is my opinion on the matter.”

4. Not trying to impress others

“It is amazing how much of the adult life experience involves setting up pictures. You go to this new place just so you can snap photographs. You won’t really look at the photos yourself; they are for sharing with others. Now, are those other people going to be happy that you are supposedly enjoying in some exotic destination? Not really. It is more than likely they will be envious, but then that is the entire point.

“If I am looking for someone with vairagya, they must be above such petty competitiveness. They should not be concerned with impressing their friends, their family, their neighbors, their colleagues, and so forth. They should act for their own interests. The car they drive should be of practical value; not a status symbol. Such a person is not necessarily cheap; either. The extreme of trying to save a buck at every corner also shows a kind of attachment. The person with vairagya behaves in a practical way, free of outside pressures.”

5. Giving away valuables

The spark for this discussion is the definition provided in the Vedas to the otherwise abstract concept of God. We tend to refer to that entity in generic terms, such as the man upstairs, the Almighty, the Supreme Being, and the highest deity. Since we are living human beings, travelling through the life experience, the wise seers think there should be a way to relate based on that experience. From what we know, from what we have as points of reference, we should be able to compare in order to get a better understanding of what the rest of the world might only know through vague concepts.

ऐश्वर्यस्य समग्रस्य
वीर्यस्य यशसः श्रियः
ज्ञान-वैराग्ययश् चैव
षण्णां भग इतीङ्गना

aiśvaryasya samagrasya
vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ
jñāna-vairāgyayaś caiva
ṣaṇṇāṁ bhaga itīṅganā

“Bhagavan means who possesses these six opulences in full: all riches, all strength, all influence, all wisdom, all beauty, all renunciation.” (Vishnu Purana, 6.5.47)

A term commonly found within Vedic literature is Bhagavan. This is also a name. Parashara Muni gives the meaning behind the name. Bhagavan refers to someone who has six distinct opulences. Bhagavan holds these opulences in full and simultaneously. There really is only one person who fits the criteria. The name Bhagavan might be used for several different entities, out of respect and their connection to the original Bhagavan, but the name most often describes God. Bhagavan shows that God is a distinct individual, with features that are somewhat identifiable. There is still no way to accurately quantify the presence of those opulences, and so another name for Him is Adhokshaja.

“Akshaja means ‘the measurement of our senses,’ and adhokshaja means ‘that which is beyond the measurement of our senses.’” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3.19.25 Purport)

The six opulences belonging to Bhagavan are beauty, wealth, strength, fame, wisdom, and renunciation. It is the last opulence in the list that is pertinent to this discussion. The Sanskrit word is vairagya. The literal meaning is “absence of attachment.” How can someone hold the most wealth and not be attached to it? Is not strength something to be proud of? Fame requires action to maintain. If a person wants to stay famous, how does that desire not conflict with a spirit of renunciation?

The above opinions on what makes vairagya apply to Bhagavan. We have evidence in the exhibition of vairagya of the avatara named Shri Rama. He holds the other opulences, as well, in the visible sense. As the prince of Ayodhya, Rama has immense wealth. No one is more beautiful, and He is known throughout the world. He has the strength to lift the heavy bow of Lord Shiva and draw string to it in the unit of time measurement known as nimesha.

इत्युक्तस्तेन विप्रेण तद्धनुस्समुपानयत्
निमेषान्तरमात्रेण तदाऽनम्य महाबलः
ज्यां समारोप्य झडिति पूरयामास वीर्यवान्

ityuktastena vipreṇa taddhanussamupānayat
nimeṣāntaramātreṇa tadā’namya mahābalaḥ
jyāṃ samāropya jhaḍiti pūrayāmāsa vīryavān

“Hearing the words of the vipra, my father brought the bow forward. Bending the bow in the twinkling of an eye and applying string to it, the mighty prince Rama, who was full of valor, quickly drew the bow at full length.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 118.47-48)

The person who has the most is also not attached to any of it. He not only holds vairagya, but it is at the highest possible numerical value, if there were a way to quantify. The clearest evidence is the lack of disruption in the abrupt change of plans within Ayodhya. Within moments, Rama goes from prince to pauper. Instead of ascending the throne as previously planned, agreed upon, and celebrated by everyone throughout the community, Rama must leave home and roam through the forests like a mendicant ascetic.

Rama takes the news in stride. Prior to departing, Rama gives away wealth. The worthy recipients are brahmanas within the community. As is standard, the gifts are physically distributed by the wife, who is an incarnation of the goddess of fortune. This is the manner in which God bestows blessings upon His devotees. The physical gifts are from Lakshmi Devi, whose only business is serving her husband, who is known as Narayana in the spiritual realm of Vaikuntha.

Rama gives away valuable jewels and necklaces. The recipients may try to politely decline, but their refusal will be to no avail. God is satya-sankalpa; what He desires will always take place. If He wants to make someone wealthy through donations, the recipient will have to accept. Devotees tend to only want to please the Supreme Lord, to see to His wellbeing, but as He is not a miser, Rama certainly reciprocates whenever necessary. He is never a loser in the proposition, due to vairagya, and neither is the worshiper.

In Closing:

News coming at striking cost,
But Rama never at a loss.

Since vairagya to hold,
Seen in events to unfold.

Wealth distributing liberally there,
To brahmanas of Ayodhya where.

Without hesitation leaving behind,
From kingdom the forest to find.

Categories: the five

Tags: dailyprompt, detachment, life, poem, poems, poetry, ramayana