Sri Krishna teaches us simple and effective lessons on attachment and detachment in the Bhagwad Geeta. He says that the bond of desire that we have with the external world and its things is attachment. Attachment is formed through our gunas or qualities of satwa, rajas and tamas. Satwa is pure, reveals the truth and is free from the vices of mind. It binds us with attachment to happiness and knowledge. Rajas which is full of passion and intense desire binds us through intense action. Tamas which is darkness and crudeness binds us through recklessness, lethargy and sleep. Our five senses of touch, sight, smell, taste and hearing play an important role in formation of attachments. We get attached to certain tastes, smells, sights etc through our senses and are unable to do without them. We identify ourselves with the objects which give us pleasure. When such objects are withdrawn from us or they are damaged or taken away or someone has better things than us, our ego is hit, we get angry or we are extremely grieved. Attachment gives birth to anger, grief and delusion. We have to understand that attachment to possession, people and also the fruits of our work give rise to more karma and the cycle of karma is endless. If we wish to overcome this painful cycle of births and deaths and karma, we need to develop detachment.
Detachment is possible through intense pain, knowledge and wisdom and is a result of going inwards through meditation and contemplation. Meditation helps us to detach ourselves from sense objects and their lures which hold our mind and senses enthralled. We need to experience and identify ourselves as the eternal soul and not the body with its sense organs and thoughts. Only then it is possible to go beyond the driving rage of desires and sense cravings. This story about an army officer and Buddha teaches us the same:
Once, a king faced unrest and rebellion in his kingdom. One of his army officers dealt with the matter successfully and the problem was resolved. The king was pleased and grateful to the officer and as a reward gave him costly gifts and a dancing girl to please him. The army officer relaxed and enjoyed himself for several days. He had the best foods and wine and the dancing girl was very beautiful and graceful. She went out of her way to please him and eventually he fell madly in love with her. One morning he went to the river to take bath. On the way he saw Buddha and his disciples going to the town for seeking alms. He bowed to Buddha as a sign of respect and went on his way. Buddha smiled and remarked to one of the disciples: This officer will come to see me today and after I have preached to him, he will attain full enlightenment and then die. Today this officer will attain nirvana.
The officer had no idea about the prediction made by Buddha. He had visitors and entertained his friends and enjoyed himself fully. They all ate well, drank and watched the beautiful dancer twirl and swirl for their pleasure. By evening, the dancer was exhausted and collapsed and died. The officer was shattered with grief. He wept inconsolably and then recalled that Buddha was camped nearby. He went to Buddha to get some comfort and relief. Even when he sat in front of Buddha, tears were pouring down and he was weeping badly. Buddha told him that he had shed a great deal of tears in his previous births and what he was suffering now was nothing compared to the sum total of his past sufferings. Buddha asked: Is it not time to stop? You are full of sorrow as you have lost the object of your desire. Desire is the root of all sorrows. Get rid of desires and you get rid of sorrow.
At the end of Buddha teachings, the officer was totally detached and beyond desires, senses and the mind. His mind became pure and free from hatred, greed and delusion. He attained enlightenment immediately. And as Buddha predicted, he died within a short time. When we go beyond desires and attain detachment from all vices, our being is filled with Light of God. Let us work for this by following the teachings of the Guru and do the japa of the SitaRam Mantra and meditation.
