“All embracing love is Viraga”
– Mother
IT is declared in all the Sastras and scriptures that Viraga or dispassion is essential for Realisation and hence that the seekers must cultivate Vairagya. This leads several to the donning of the ochrerobes and declaring themselves as Sanyasis and Viragis.!
The very rationale behind the insistance on Viraga as a must for Realisation is that it is one of the chief qualities of God. For in fact all the qualites like love, selflessness,patience,equanimity which are enjoined upon the seekers by all the world’s scriptures is that, all religious discipline consists in cultivation of likeness of God who is the very Perfection of those qualities. This is testified by the one thousand names of the Lord that are recited by the Hindus and the ninetynine names of God recited by the Muslims. The cultivation of Godly qualities is what is called by the Christians as the imitation of Christ!! Though this idea is universal, it’s true spirit is rarely understood. For real dispassion comes only out of a sense of equality for all: Love and compassion, the other Godly quali ties that are enjoined upon the seeker are a result of absence of selfishness coupled with Love for God and His creatures- a sense of brotherhood so to say. Real dispassion or Viraga is therefore a result of self lessness (which in its turn is possible only when one has conquered his likes and aislikes), and love for all crea tures. Only when love for all has been cultivated, the narrow attachment to any particular creature is made immpossible. This is the purport of this statement of the Mother. In fact it describes the truth about God, and his manifestations, the attitudes of such realised saints like Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi and Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi.
This saying of Mother also exposes the futility of donning the ochrerobes with out a cultivation of these qualities which renders ‘Sanyasa hypocritical; and if these qualities are inwardly developed, then for such a person superificial paraphernalia of Sanyasa are super fluous! This is enough to satisfy those who question why, if Mother is a really Reaslised one, does not Mother don the dress of a Viragi and why she should continue to be a housewife.
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi once said “Renuncia tion does not imply apparent divesting of costumes,family ties, home etc; but renunciation of desires. One who renounces desires actually merges in the world and expands his love to the whole universe. Expansion of love and affection would be a far better term for a devotee of God……… a Sanyasi who casts away his clothes and leaves his home does not do so out of aversion for his immediate relations but because of the expansion of his love to others around him.” It is this universal love that the Maharshi had manifested in himself. Squirrels, monkies, dogs, peacocks, the cow in fact all creatures enjoyed the warm sun shine of this love and responded to him as they would never do to any human being! That is Viraga. That is univer sal love or ‘Anuraga’. Earlier devotees of Mother tell us how in her presence the cats and dogs shed their natural enmity and suckled one another’s offspring! While Mother rested in the afternoon after her daily chores, rats played on the lose end of her sari. Even insects, frogs, dogs and cats are seen to display aware ness of Mother’s love.
For such a one as Mother whose Anuraga is universal, it matters little whether they live in Samsara or outside it. For Mother said that one can live in Samsara but Samsara should not be allowed to dwell in one’s heart. This point is amply borne out by the fact that the members of her family do not enjoy any special attention of Mother, which others do not. This perfect equality is the touchstone of the spirit of true Viraga.