Living in Freedom and Enquiry-Part II

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'Sanga' or 'Attachment'

In every action of mine, I am attached to the thoughts of expectation, of reward and recognition, of material benefits. These thoughts molest my efforts in the present and rob me of the effectiveness in work. I never live in the present. I am always hijacked to the future.

I am attached to the resources on hand. I hold on to them. I try to preserve them, protect them. I have sought refuge in them. I imagine that my security in future is in them. I perish hugging to them. I am always conscious of "I and my resources" in all my actions and reactions.

Attachment is three-fold: to the expectation of the fruit of labour, to the resources on hand and to the sense of doership. These are only mental and not physical. They make me shrink within.

'Moha' or 'Passion'

Moha is well illustrated by Dhrutarastra

When I think of 'Moha', always remember Dhrutarastra, the blind king of Hastinaavathi, in Mahabharata. He was obsessed with the passion to promote the interest of his son Duryodhana. Even the best counsel available in the court could not prevail on him.

If he were to recognise the oneness between Pandavas and Kauravas, in working terms, he would not have shrunk within; he would have expanded himself in love towards the Pandavas. His love for his son was only 'Moha', an emotion, obsessed with passion, hence blind and unable to recognise the 'Truth'. In love as an emotion, there is only confusion, attachment and friction. He was caught up in 'Dwandwa'. He was crushed by the dichotomy between head and heart, the thoughts and the emotions - "Dwandwa moha"! All his deeds were deluded from beginning to the end.

'Moha' covered perception of Dhrutarastra. He could not properly perceive the situation. His faculty of discrimination stood dismantled. He worked himself to grief. Delusion and grief are only for Dhrutarastra.

With the starting of enquiry, the 'Dhrutarastra' in me tends to open his eyes. When the enquiry stops, his eyes also tend to close.

To be continued

About the author

This article is written by B.Nagendra for the 'Vedanta Vani' magazine of Chinmaya Mission.