Detachment (CC and other books)

Expressions researched:
"detachment"

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 1.51, Purport:

In a sense, there is nothing but Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and yet nothing is Śrī Kṛṣṇa save and except His primeval personality. This knowledge constitutes a complete transcendental science, and Viṣṇu wanted to give Brahmājī full knowledge about that science. The mystery of this knowledge culminates in personal attachment to the Lord, with a resulting effect of detachment from anything "non-Kṛṣṇa."

CC Adi 7.102, Purport:

There are different grades of Vaiṣṇavas (kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, madhyama-adhikārī and uttama-adhikārī), but to be a madhyama-adhikārī preacher one must be a learned scholar in the Vedānta-sūtra and other Vedic literatures because when bhakti-yoga develops on the basis of Vedānta philosophy it is factual and steady. In this connection we may quote the translation and purport of the verse mentioned above (SB 1.2.12):

TRANSLATION

The seriously inquisitive student or sage, well equipped with knowledge and detachment, realizes that Absolute Truth by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has heard from the Vedānta-śruti.

CC Adi 7.102, Purport:

As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā and other Vedic literatures, the Supreme Person is realized by devotional service which is backed by full knowledge and detachment from material association. We have already discussed the point that devotional service is followed by knowledge and detachment from material association.

CC Adi 7.102, Purport:

Devotional service which is based on the foreground of full knowledge combined with detachment from material association, and which is fixed by dint of the aural reception of the Vedānta-śruti, is the only perfect method by which the seriously inquisitive student can realize the Absolute Truth.

CC Adi 10.134, Purport:

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu considered Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya and Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī to be equal in their renunciation, for although Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya was a gṛhastha engaged in government service and Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī was in the renounced order of complete detachment from material activities, they were both servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who kept Kṛṣṇa in the center of all their activities.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 6.179, Purport:

The ultimate goal of understanding the Vedas is to be elevated to the platform of rendering loving service to the Lord. The Māyāvādī philosophers, however, consider the central point of relationship to be the impersonal Brahman, the function of the living entity to be the acquisition of knowledge of Brahman, resulting in detachment from material activity, and the ultimate goal of life to be liberation, or merging into the existence of the Supreme. All of this, however, is simply due to the imagination of the conditioned soul.

CC Madhya 6.254, Translation:

"Let me take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who has descended in the form of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu to teach us real knowledge, His devotional service and detachment from whatever does not foster Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He has descended because He is an ocean of transcendental mercy. Let me surrender unto His lotus feet."

CC Madhya 8.57, Purport:

This devotional service is supreme knowledge, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and it brings detachment from all material activity.

CC Madhya 8.64, Purport:

Without such spiritual knowledge, simple detachment from material conditions is but another side of material existence. From the spiritual point of view, it is all external.

CC Madhya 19.17, Purport:

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, devotional service is discussed to arouse the living entity to the transcendental position of jñāna (knowledge) and vairāgya (renunciation). As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.12):

tac chraddadhānāḥ munayo jñāna-vairāgya-yuktayā

paśyanty ātmani cātmānaṁ bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā

"The seriously inquisitive student or sage, well equipped with knowledge and detachment, realizes that Absolute Truth by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has heard from the Vedānta-śruti."

This is not sentiment. Knowledge and renunciation can be obtained through devotional service (bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā), that is, by arousing one's dormant devotional consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

CC Madhya 19.215, Translation:

“When a devotee is situated on the platform of śānta-rasa, he desires neither elevation to the heavenly planets nor liberation. These are the results of karma and jñāna, and the devotee considers them no better than hell. A person situated on the śānta-rasa platform manifests the two transcendental qualities of detachment from all material desires and full attachment to Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya 19.228, Purport:

Although in śānta-rasa there is attachment for Kṛṣṇa in awe and veneration—since the two valuable transcendental qualities of this rasa are attachment for Kṛṣṇa and detachment from material desires—nonetheless the sense of intimacy is lacking.

CC Madhya 20.59, Purport:

In the Muktāphala-ṭīkā, it is said:

śamo damas tapaḥ śaucaṁ kṣānty-ārjava-viraktayaḥ

jñāna-vijñāna-santoṣāḥ satyāstikye dvi-ṣaḍ guṇāḥ

"Mental equilibrium, sense control, austerity, cleanliness, tolerance, simplicity, detachment, theoretical and practical knowledge, satisfaction, truthfulness and firm faith in the Vedas are the twelve qualities of a brāhmaṇa."

CC Madhya 20.120, Purport:

This is the test by which one can tell whether he is advancing in devotional service. One must be detached from material enjoyment. Such detachment means that māyā has actually given the conditioned soul liberation from illusory enjoyment.

CC Madhya 20.162, Purport:

Material existence, wherein one thinks, "I am the body, and this belongs to me," is also illusory. One must redirect his attraction to Kṛṣṇa. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.7) states:

vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ

janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam

"By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world."

CC Madhya 22.62, Purport:

The best achievement of all fruitive activity is detachment from material life, and this detachment is spontaneously enjoyed by the devotee firmly engaged in the Lord's service.

CC Madhya 23.18-19, Translation:

“"When the seed of ecstatic emotion for Kṛṣṇa fructifies, the following nine symptoms manifest in one"s behavior: forgiveness, concern that time should not be wasted, detachment, absence of false prestige, hope, eagerness, a taste for chanting the holy name of the Lord, attachment to descriptions of the transcendental qualities of the Lord, and affection for those places where the Lord resides—that is, a temple or a holy place like Vṛndāvana. These are all called anubhāva, subordinate signs of ecstatic emotion. They are visible in a person in whose heart the seed of love of God has begun to fructify.’

CC Madhya 23.25, Translation and Purport:

"'King Bharata was very eager to attain the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is called Uttamaḥśloka because poems and prayers are offered to Him for His favor. In his youth, King Bharata gave up his attractive wife and children, as well as his beloved friends and opulent kingdom, just as one gives up stool after passing it.'"

These are the signs of virakti (detachment) found in a person who has developed bhāva, the preliminary stage of love of Godhead. This verse is quoted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.14.43).

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 9.137, Purport:

By the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka could understand that the material benefits he had achieved were not the ultimate result of meditating upon His lotus feet. The true result comes when one is detached from material opulences. Therefore Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka prayed to the Lord for such detachment.

CC Antya 17.33, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “The gopīs entered the arena of the rāsa dance in ecstasy, but after hearing Kṛṣṇa's words of negligence and detachment, they understood that He was going to renounce them. Thus they began to chastise Him in anger.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 16:

Those who are trying to ascend on the path of mystic yoga are called ārurukṣu. In ārurukṣu yoga, various sitting postures are practiced, and the mind is concentrated. But when one has already ascended to the path of yoga, meditation and detachment are the goals, and when one is no longer attached to working for sense gratification, he gradually becomes free.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 26:

When Lord Caitanya read the verses on the palm leaf, he tore them to pieces, for He never liked to be praised by anyone. The verses only survive because they had been copied by Mukunda Datta. These verses praised the Lord, the Supreme Original Personality of Godhead who had descended as Lord Caitanya to preach detachment, transcendental knowledge and devotional service to the people in general.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 28:

After having his suggestions rejected twice, Rāmānanda proposed that one should forsake his occupational activities altogether and by detachment rise to the transcendental plane. In other words, he recommended complete renunciation of worldly life, and to support this view he cited evidence from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.11.32) wherein the Lord says: "In the scriptures I have described the ritualistic principles and the way one can become situated in devotional service. That is the highest perfection of religion."

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 18:

The senses are always desiring sense enjoyment, but when a devotee develops transcendental love for Kṛṣṇa his senses are no longer attracted by material desires. This state of mind is called detachment. There is a nice example of this detachment in connection with the character of King Bharata. In the Fifth Canto, Fourteenth Chapter, verse 43, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated, "Emperor Bharata was so attracted by the beauty of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa that even in his youthful life he gave up all kinds of attachments to family, children, friends, kingdom, etc., as though they were untouchable stools."

Emperor Bharata provides a typical example of detachment. He had everything enjoyable in the material world, but he left it. This means that detachment does not mean artificially keeping oneself aloof and apart from the allurements of attachment. Even in the presence of such allurements, if one can remain unattracted by material attachments, he is called detached. In the beginning, of course, a neophyte devotee must try to keep himself apart from all kinds of alluring attachments, but the real position of a mature devotee is that even in the presence of all allurements, he is not at all attracted. This is the actual criterion of detachment.

Nectar of Devotion 21:

It is said therein, "Persons who are desirous of becoming great personalities must be decorated with the following qualities: truthfulness, cleanliness, mercy, perseverance, renunciation, peacefulness, simplicity, control of the senses, equilibrium of the mind, austerity, equality, forbearance, placidity, learning, knowledge, detachment, opulence, chivalry, influence, strength, memory, independence, tactfulness, luster, patience, kind-heartedness, ingenuity, gentility, mannerliness, determination, perfection in all knowledge, proper execution, possession of all objects of enjoyment, gravity, steadiness, faithfulness, fame, respectfulness and lack of false egotism." Persons who are desiring to become great souls cannot be without any of the above qualities, so we can know for certain that these qualities are found in Lord Kṛṣṇa, the supreme soul.

Nectar of Devotion 22:

One can enjoy the transcendental blissfulness of merging into the Brahman effulgence after being freed from the contamination of material illusion, false identification, attachment, detachment and material absorption. These are the preliminary qualifications of a person who can realize Brahman.

Nectar of Devotion 35:

Another symptom is that such persons are very careful to step forward when giving speeches. When they speak, they join together the forefinger and thumb. (This is called the jñāna-mudrā position.) They are not against the atheists, nor are they particularly inclined to the devotees. Such persons give stress to liberation and detachment from the materialistic way of life. They are always neutral and have no affection for nor misidentification with anything material. They are always grave, but fully absorbed in thoughts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These uncommon features develop in devotees who are situated in śānta-rasa.

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Easy Journey to Other Planets 2:

For the dhyāna-yogī (meditator) Śrī Kṛṣṇa speaks the following verses:

yad akṣaraṁ veda-vido vadanti

viśanti yad yatayo vīta-rāgāḥ

yad icchanto brahmacaryaṁ caranti

tat te padaṁ saṅgraheṇa pravakṣye

sarva-dvārāṇi saṁyamya

mano hṛdi nirudhya ca

mūrdhny ādhāyātmanaḥ prāṇam

āsthito yoga-dhāraṇām

"Persons learned in the Vedas, who utter oṁkāra and who are great sages in the renounced order, enter into Brahman. Desiring such perfection, one practices celibacy. I shall now explain to you this process by which one may attain salvation. The yogic situation is that of detachment from all sensual engagements.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 2:

It is clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that to realize Brahman identification is not all. Brahman identification may help one become joyful without material attachment or detachment and to achieve the platform of equanimity, but after this stage one has to take to devotional service.

Krsna Book 80:

The result of perfect knowledge is that one becomes detached from the materialistic way of life. This detachment means complete control of the senses, which are always attracted by material enjoyment. The senses of the devotee become purified, and in that stage the senses are engaged in the service of the Lord.

Krsna Book 89:

When a devotee realizes the effect of association with the Supreme Lord, he naturally hates the association of so-called society, friendship and love. This detachment is not dry but is due to achieving a higher status of life by relishing transcendental mellows. It is further stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that after attainment of such knowledge and such detachment from material sense gratification, one's advancement in the eight opulences attained through mystic yoga practice, such as the aṇimā, laghimā and prāpti siddhis, is also achieved without separate effort.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.2:

But to properly understand the knowledge concerning the kṣetra and the kṣetra-jña, one must first cultivate at least twenty good qualities listed in the Bhagavad-gītā (13.8-12):

Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of false ego; the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age, and disease; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth—all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 11, Purport:

The Absolute Truth is realized by the broadminded man who has attained knowledge and detachment by following the eighteen principles of the Bhagavad-gītā described in the purport to Mantra Ten.

Sri Isopanisad 12, Purport:

In other words, the path of salvation from the material clutches fully depends on the principles of knowledge and detachment gained from serving the Lord. The pseudo religionists have neither knowledge nor detachment from material affairs, for most of them want to live in the golden shackles of material bondage under the shadow of philanthropic activities disguised as religious principles. By a false display of religious sentiments, they present a show of devotional service while indulging in all sorts of immoral activities. In this way they pass as spiritual masters and devotees of God.

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 5, Purport:

One who engages in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Being automatically attains detachment from material name, fame, and gain, which are aspired for only by those who do not understand that this name, fame, and gain are merely shadows of the real thing. Material name, fame, and gain are only perverted reflections of the substance—the name, fame, and opulences of the Lord.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 5, Purport:

Only one who renders devotional service to the Lord can attain this stage of indifference to the false and temporary assets of material nature. Such devotional service is not a mental concoction of depraved persons but is an actual process of God realization characterized by full cognizance and detachment and based on the Vedic literature.