Love and Detachment

SEEMA BURMAN





Burdened with attachment towards his relatives, Arjuna was reluctant to wage war.Krishna tells him that a man who has become free from attachment, fear and anger is a man of wisdom; that true freedom lies in not doing what the mind craves for, because the mind makes us its slave. Once the mind desires something, it is stored up as vasanas and these vasanas get fulfilled one day , even if it means taking many births to fulfil it, but there is no surety that after fulfilment its outcome will bring happiness.Through life, we believe ourselves to be the body and refuse to rise above it. As for the mind, it gets used to expecting rewards. As a baby , we laugh and play with everyone. But as we grow older, we expect a smile to be returned. Once the mind learns to work without expectations, it gets filled with purity and becomes free. Each of us is a free, detached, realised soul, the only hindrance being attachment to the body .
Explaining the true meaning of Krishna's detachment, Swami Ranganathananda says that the capacity to detach oneself from the sensory system is present in humans alone. Such people are able to love all. Love truly flows from within, with true detachment. The mind is the only instrument with which we can deal with the world or spiritual life.
So, the mind must be kept pure, fresh and strong. One can develop tremendous detachment and yet have concern for the welfare and happiness of all -not the kind of detachment that makes us apathetic and unconcerned.