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Homepage of Subramaniam |
| The seminal role that
Vairagyam, dispassion, plays in Spiritual sadhana needs to be
reiterated often as it is this that adds strength to whatever mode
of sadhana we follow. It is a member in the four-fold qualification
that a spiritual seeker is required to be equipped with so that the
enquiry on Brahman will be fruitful. Without this, Adi Shankara says
in the Vivekachoodamani that all other virtues are but a mirage.
That is, the other virtues will remain just a seeming ornament and
would not come of any real use. With a view to remind ourselves of
the need to strengthen this King of virtues, dispassion, I propose
to post now and then messages from a variety of scriptures, books of
recent times, sayings of the Elders, the Wise, etc. Here is a verse
(just the meaning) from Bhartrihari's Vairagya Shatakam: The objects of enjoyment, even after staying with us for a long time , are sure to leave us sometime; then what difference does their privation in this way make to men, that they do not of their own accord discard them? If the enjoyments leave us on their own initiative, i.e. if they tear themselves from us, they produce great affliction of the mind; but if men voluntarily renounce them, they conduce to the eternal bliss of self-possession. (verse 12) The following ten articles describe Vairagyam in greater details. The writings may be downloaded for viewing and printing and they are in pdf file format. . |
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