The Essence Of Renunciation Is Not Giving Up Worldly Things It Is Giving Up Worldly Thoughts 06.02

Transcript

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the essence of renunciation is not giving up worldly things it is giving up worldly thoughts renunciation is often thought of as important on the spiritual path some traditions even hold that unless one renounces the world formally adopting the renounced order one cannot attain perfection in life at the time of the Bhagavad Gita Arjuna was also laboring under state conception and that’s why when confronted with a ghastly patricidal war he felt that renouncing the kingdom would be a better option for his growth in virtue and spirituality however Krishna responds by telling him that everyone has their nature and their level and everybody needs to function accordingly and for Arjuna who was a Kshatriya, a martial guardian of society he had a major responsibility to protect society from disruptors, from antisocial elements and for such protection he needed to do his duty and that situation happened to be fighting so Krishna clarifies the essence of renunciation as being internal rather than external so in 6.1 first he says what renunciation is not this is one who does no work and one who does not light a sacrificial fire is considered a very important duty in those times one who does not do that, that person is not a sanyasi but rather one who is detached from the fruits of the work one who does work without taking shelter of the fruits of the work without being obsessed with them that person is actually announced now what makes us attached to the fruits of the work Krishna uses the precise word some people take shelter of the fruits of work that means they place their consciousness within the dream, the hope the aspiration of getting the shelter getting the fruit and therein feel joy when the pursuit of that goal is very problematic or in general when life itself is problematic and such sheltering in worldly things is the problem not the shelter but the level of thoughts and Krishna therefore in the next verse he says so he says that that is sanyas, that is also yoga and what is that that if one actually does not give up the desire for worldly enjoyment one cannot be a yogi, one cannot be a sanyasi so the essence of renunciation is not rejection of the world but it is connection with the reality beyond this world connection with ultimately the supreme reality Krishna and we connect with Krishna primarily at the level of thoughts by becoming absorbed in remembering him and that remembrance is not possible when we are filled with worldly thoughts so what is essential to give up is worldly thoughts not necessarily worldly things sometimes those worldly things can be used in Krishna’s service and then they can increase our Krishna thoughts also so if you want to grow spiritually if you want to even grow in renunciation a proper understanding of renunciation is important that giving up worldly thoughts is what is central sometimes giving up worldly things helps us in giving up worldly thoughts but sometimes if worldly things are used for spiritual purposes and we have a natural tendency to engage with them and engage expertly with them and then use them in a virtuous way then giving them up will decrease our will prevent us from contributing constructively for the cause of dharma in this world and will also create a vacuum in our mind which will be very difficult for us to fill with direct Krishna thoughts therefore by properly understanding the essence of renunciation that is to give up worldly thoughts and to have Krishna thoughts we can find out the best way we can direct our thoughts towards Krishna using some worldly things or giving up some worldly things when we practice renunciation at the level that works for us we can progress steadily in our spiritual journey