संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दु:खमाप्तुमयोगत: | योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति || 6 || योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रिय: | सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते || 7 || |
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“But renunciation, O mighty-armed Arjuna, is difficult to achieve without yoga. By the practice of yoga, the muni quickly attains the state of Brāhman”
“No karmic entanglement occurs to the one who is engaged in yoga, who has conquered ego consciousness, who is victorious over his senses, and who feels his self as the Self existing in all beings.”
Commentary: Renunciation is the quality of working for a higher purpose. This quality helps to not take one’s own body or mind too seriously. When a person is too full of himself and very concerned about his little life and personal desires in this vast universe, where is the scope for evolution? Mother Nature exists to give life experiences to everyone to help forget their identity with the body and personal desires. Such experiences are happily welcomed by conscious seekers but painfully felt by innocent yet ignorant materialists.
During the formative years, typically until the age of around eight, ego or individual self-awareness is relatively undeveloped. During this time, children tend to be naturally curious and absorbed in their own world of exploration and play.
Around eight or nine years of age, a child’s sense of self begins to manifest. Children become more aware of their bodies and start to develop a sense of modesty. As children grow, they learn the rules and expectations of society. These rules and boundaries are important for helping them develop into well-adjusted individuals. They provide a framework for understanding the world and interacting with others.
Once in a while, saints like Sri Trailanga Swami are born to break the rules. During the British colonial era, the Swami, known for his detachment from material possessions, often traversed the ghats unclothed. This unconventional behavior irked the British authorities, who deemed it indecent and subsequently incarcerated him at the Chowk Thana police station in Varanasi. However, to their bewilderment, during a routine inspection, guards found his cell inexplicably vacant, without any signs of forced escape or breach in security. Later sightings revealed Trailanga Swami strolling atop the police station roof, once again in his natural state. Despite repeated attempts to confine him, he continued to elude capture, leaving the perplexed jail authorities unable to rationalize his vanishing acts. He was referred by Ramakrishna Paramahansa as the “Walking Shiva of Varanasi”. Born in Vizianagaram, he lived mostly in Varanasi. A divine yogi normally behaves according to rules of the world but in his consciousness, he is totally detached from identity with little body and therefore supremely joyful in the presence of his Divine Father and Mother.
Divine Father is the manifestation of wisdom, reason, intelligence, stringent karmic and scientific laws. He is worshiped in various forms in Hindu culture as Vishnu, Shiva, Rama and other deities. Divine Mother is the manifestation of nature as beauty, tenderness, protection, calmness, love, forgiveness and compassion. She is equally worshiped again in various divine forms. The treasures of their divine qualities can be imbibed when one forgets or renounces identity with pleasures of the temporary body and mind. Any pleasure that is given to the body, for the sake of pleasure, is a sin. It binds one’s identity even stronger with the body.
Renunciation is not a morbid thought but a blissful existence for a muni. With a child-like devotion and surrender to the Divine Parents, the muni is immersed in the supreme state of cosmic consciousness where he feels his own prana or life force as one with the life forces flowing and operating everything in the universe.