Vairagya does not mean abandoning social duties and responsibilities of life. It does not mean detachment from the world. It does not mean a life in the solitary caves of the Himalayas or in the cremation ground. It does not mean living on neem leaves, cow’s urine and dung. It does not mean wearing of matted-hair and having a kamandal made of fence-gourd or coconut shell in the hand. It does not mean shaving the head and throwing of clothes.
Vairagya is mental detachment from all connections with the world. That is all. A man may live in the world and discharge all the duties of his order and stage of life with perfect detachment. He may be a householder. What if? He may live with family and children, but at the same time he may have perfect mental detachment. He can do his spiritual sadhana. The man who has perfect mental detachment while remaining in the world is a hero indeed. He is much better than a sadhu living in the Himalayan caves, because the former has to face the innumerable temptations of life every moment.
Wherever a man may go, he carries with him his fickle, restless mind, his vasanas and samskaras. Even if he lives in solitude, still he is the same worldly man, if he is engaged in building castles in the air, and thinking of the objects of the world. In such case, even the cave becomes a big city to him. If the mind remains quiet, if it is free from attachments, one can be a perfect vairagi even while living in a mansion in the busiest part of a city like Calcutta or Bombay. Such a mansion will be converted in a dense jungle by him.
A dispassionate man has a different mind altogether. He has a different experience. He is a past master in the art or science of separating himself from the impermanent, perishable objects of the world. He has absolutely no attraction for them. He constantly dwells on the Eternal or the Absolute. He identifies himself every moment of his life with the witnessing consciousness that is present in pleasure and pain, in joy and sorrow, in censure and praise, in honour and dishonour, in all states of life. He stands adamantine as a peak amid a turbulent storm, as a spectator of this wonderful world show. He is not a bit affected by these pleasant and painful experiences. He learns several valuable lessons from them. He has, in other words, no attraction for pleasant objects and repulsion for painful ones. Nor is he afraid of pain. He knows quite well that pain helps a lot in his spiritual progress and evolution, in his long journey towards the Goal. He stands convinced that pain is the best teacher in the world.
Let me sound a note of warning here. Dear aspirants, vairagya also may come and go, if you are careless and mix promiscuously with all sorts of worldly-minded people. You should develop vairagya, therefore, to a maximum degree. The mind will be waiting for golden opportunities to get back the things once renounced. Whenever and wherever the mind hisses or raises its hood (for the mind is verily like a serpent), you should take refuge in viveka and in the imperishable fortress of wise, dispassionate mahatmas.
There are different degrees in vairagya. Supreme dispassion comes when one gets established in Brahman. Now the vairagya becomes perfectly habitual. A man can develop inner mental detachment from pleasure and pain while living in the world. He should see that he is not carried away by the pleasant experiences of the world. He should not cling to them. He should simply remain as a silent spectator. If he thus practises for some years, every experience will be a positive step in his ascent on the spiritual ladder.
Eventually he will be crowned with success. He will then have an unruffled mind. He will have a poised mind also. A dispassionate man is the happiest and the richest man in all the three worlds. He is also the most powerful man. How can Maya tempt him now?