Vairagya or Dispassion
What does Dispassion means?
We think dispassion means we don’t want anything. Dispassion means keeping a broader vision in life. Getting a relief from the feverishness is dispassion.
In life,you need passion and also need dispassion. If its only passion,you will get into depression. Not every passion can fructify right away. You need patience to pursue your passion. But it can happen only when there is a dispassion also.
If there is no dispassion, you cannot even sleep.To the degree of dispassion, you get that much to get good sleep. Holding on to things in life comes from childhood. You should also learn to leave things. We cannot rest without letting go. We will get disease otherwise. We sleep after hollowing our mind.
When any thought catches our mind, sleep goes away. That means only lack of dispassion. If you have dispassion, you will sleep peacefully. Happiness is obvious on your body along with a smile. Enthusiasm in life is maintained. We don’t call them dispassionate who sits sorrowful. We have taken the meaning of dispassion so wrongly that someone sitting sad is vairagya. But that is not vairagya.
Depression is counter productive to dispassion. Its lack of dispassion that you get into depression. Depression indicates that you have zero dispassion. The sign of dispassion is not dullness. Sign of dispassion is enthusiasm. You are at peace, you are energetic, you are happy. Unfortunately, we have confused dispassion with depression. The so called dispassionate people will look so depressive.
Now for vairagya or dispassion, Adi Shankara says :
“Kasya sukham na karoti viraga.”
What is the happiness that dispassionate cannot bring it to you? This is the question he asked. There is no joy that you cannot get with dispassion.