Now let us try to understand the real form of vairagya/non attachment. As said earlier, it is very important to understand accuracy of abhyasa and detachment because they are very important to proceed in Yoga sadhana.

According to Maharishi, “Lack of craving for objects, seen or described in scriptures, enables the yogi to acquire a state of desirelessness and complete control over senses. This level of desirelessness is called vairagya”.

Class of objects seen/perceived: Women, health, food, wine and wealth. Detachment is not possible till the time you have craving for these worldly affairs. But this does not mean that these worldly pleasures cannot be used even if they guide the yogi onto the path of meditation.

Class of heard/described objects: The objects heard/described are the objects from the experiences of others, mostly through scriptures. The meditator does not have first- hand experience of them. The situation, in which the mind starts imagining some sort of reward as a result of heard objects or becomes greedy, is also an obstacle in Yoga and destroys vairagya. Therefore, taking these heard objects as pure knowledge keeps the mind immaculate.

When the yogi’s mind remains uninspired by the above mentioned temporal objects then he moves ahead in life feeling natural quietness, which coupled with intellect and practice, leads him on the path of complete absorption.

Vairagya/dispassion in simple words means a mind without any craving for worldly pleasures or temptations. It is called Apara vairagya in Yoga Darshana and it is the way to sampragyat Samadhi.

सूत्र: दृष्टानुश्रविकविषयवितृष्णस्य वशीकारसंज्ञा वैराग्यम्

जो कुछ देखा – सुना है अब तक

तृष्णा रहित न हो जाएं जब तक

पूर्ण नियंत्रण हो इंद्रियों और मन पर

जो नहीं किया था तुमने जीवन भर

इसे ही वैराग्य महर्षि कहते हैं

अभ्यास करो, तुमसे कहते हैं।