13. आशापाशसमुच्छेत्ता Āśā-pāśa-samucchettā

One who completely rent asunder the fetters of desires

Lord Kṛṣṇa explains the mechanism of the rise and consequences of āśā, desire, thus: “As one thinks of sense objects, one develops attachment towards them. From attachment springs desire and from (frustration of) desire, anger. From anger is born delusion (marked by the loss of the power of proper discrimination between right and wrong); due to delusion, the recollections of what one has been taught regarding righteous conduct is lost. This destruction of memory disrupts the functioning of the intellect and a person in this state is as good as destroyed.”⁴⁵ The Lord proceeds to caution, “It is desire and it is anger, born of the guṇa rajas, all devouring and sinful. Know that to be the foe here.”⁴⁶

Elsewhere, Bhagavatpāda’s compelling words are, “On deep analysis it is seen that there is a sharp contrast between Yama, the God of death, and Kāma, the God of desire. Yama does what is beneficial despite being unpleasant, whereas Kāma, while being pleasing, wreaks havoc. Yama brings adversity only upon the vile but confers happiness on the virtuous, whereas Kāma, by hindering the progress of the virtuous, brings disaster upon them. What then need be said of the fate of the vile in Kāma’s hands!”⁴⁷ Surely, longing is a terrible foe.

This foe cannot be conquered by enjoying the objects of desire because such enjoyment only causes the desire to grow in strength, thereby leading to greater disaster. At any rate, enjoyment of objects of desire are themselves fraught with fears such as the fear of losing the object. Further, joy got from sense objects is but momentary and only leads to greater craving. Thus, objects of desire are, by their very nature, sources of sorrow. Indeed, desire is a dangerous snare, comparable to pāśa, fetters, that bind one.

The Bhāgavata-purāṇa drives home this point assertively through the interesting story of a pigeon couple that perish in a hunter’s snare owing to extreme attachment. In that context, the avadhūta teaches King Yadu, “He who, even on attaining a human birth, which is verily an open door to liberation, remains attached to his family, is known as one who has fallen from a lofty state. O King! Pleasure born of the senses is got equally in hell and in heaven, just as misery too is had in both places. Therefore, amongst embodied ones, he who does not desire is a wise man.”⁴⁸ Moreover, a person chained by desires is incapable of pursuing higher goals, for the Lord pronounces that the ultimate tranquillity is never achieved by a person given to desires⁴⁹.

Since it is well known that an effect is completely annihilated only when its cause is eliminated, it follows that comprehensive removal of desires is achieved only when its cause, thinking of an object of desire as a source of joy, is uprooted. It is in this precise sense that the prefix ‘saṁ’, meaning ‘completely’, is used for the word ‘ucchettā’ meaning ‘One who rents asunder’. This nāma states that His Holiness was samucchettā, One who completely rent asunder, the pāśa, fetters, of āśā, desires, of disciples.

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Apart from giving a glimpse of the potency of His Holiness’s instructions and grace, His total lack of ego and intense devotion to His Guru, the following episode narrated by His Holiness to a disciple encapsulates His invaluable advice regarding surmounting desires.

“When I was about twenty years of age, two Bairāgīs, who lived on the banks of the Narmadā in Madhya Pradesh, came to Sringeri. They wanted to have my Guru’s darśana and seek some clarifications from Him. As He was in seclusion at that time, they were unable to approach Him. They met me. One of them looked weak and somewhat effeminate, while the other had powerful muscles and resembled a wrestler.

“In the course of his conversation with me, the first one hesitatingly said, ‘I have been leading a life of renunciation but am not free from sexual desire. While I never misbehaved with any woman, bad thoughts troubled me off and on. This was the situation till a few months ago, when I met a Bābā and posed my problem to him. He gave me a large packet of medicinal powder and said that if I consumed a little of it every day, I would obtain relief. I have been sincerely following his advice. My desires have largely vanished. I think that I have gained a great spiritual benefit. However, my muscular strength has come down and my chest has become a little like that of a female. My companion is in need of help to deal with lust. He is hesitant to take the Bābā’s medicine because he fears that his muscles will become weak. He wanted to ask Guruji whether in the interest of spiritual growth, he should overcome his hesitation and resort to the medicine. I wanted to ask Guruji if I should continue with this medicine or whether Guruji would give me some other medicine without the side effects. We have, however, not had the good fortune of being able to talk to Him. Would you like to keep and use some of the medicine that I have? I can replenish my stock from the Bābā who gave it to me.’ I declined his offer.

“The second person asked me, ‘You are young. Are you not troubled by sexual thoughts?’ I answered that I was not. At this, both of them asked, almost in unison, ‘Will You please help us and tell us what we should do?’ I answered, ‘Do not use the medicine. You cannot gain any spiritual benefit by checking the sexual instinct through it. Kings employed eunuchs in their harems because they were confident that the eunuchs would not be tempted and misbehave with the women. However, none regards those eunuchs as great celibates. None deems that they became spiritually great on account of castration. On the other hand, all of us regard sage Śuka as established in continence and as spiritually great. His body was intact but he was so free from desire that even damsels in the nude did not care to cover themselves when he passed by them. A dumb person cannot utter a lie but because of that he is not looked upon as one who never lies. A person who is unconscious is not revered as a yogin just because he is free from all thoughts of the world. Incapacity does not confer spiritual benefit. The medicine with you temporarily and partially renders you equivalent to a eunuch. It is, as far as gaining spiritual benefit is concerned, no better than castration. I shall provide you a medicine that will enable you to be rid of lust and to gain spiritual benefit.’

“I asked them to go to Śāradāmbā’s temple, spend half an hour gazing at Her with devotion and to pray to Her with faith to rid them of lust. They returned after half an hour. I told them, ‘In the Durgā-saptaśatī it is said that all women are the Divine Mother’s forms. Whenever you are tempted by the sight of a woman or think of a female with desire, immediately think of the gracious Divine Mother. Feel that it is She who is in the form of all women. Also implore Her now and then from the bottom of your heart to free you from lust.’

“‘Need not contempt for women be cultivated to combat lust?’ asked the muscular Bairāgī. I replied: ‘No. Just as desire is bad for your mind, so is hatred. Both likes and dislikes are impurities that agitate the mind. The scriptures speak of seeing the defects in an object just to neutralise a pre-existing attachment born of the notion that the object is pleasurable. The aim is definitely not to generate hatred. Śuka certainly did not hate or look down upon any woman. He looked upon everything as the Supreme Brahman.’

The Bairāgīs left Sringeri shortly thereafter. “They returned after about a year. This time, both of them looked healthy and muscular. On seeing me, they joyfully said, ‘Swamiji, your ‘medicine’ is very effective and has no side effects.’ I clarified that Śāradāmbā’s grace and their dedicated efforts were what had cured them. During this trip, they had the great good fortune of getting my Guru’s darśana and blessings.”

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The following was narrated by a disciple of His Holiness who was serving Him at the Maṭha. This episode happened on the evening of 16^th September, 1989. His Holiness shed His mortal frame on the 21^st.

“His Holiness was seated in the semi-open veranda on the first floor of Sacchidananda Vilasa. Sri C. V. Giridhara Sastry, His Private Secretary, and I prostrated before Him, sat facing Him and brought up, one by one, the letters received. A letter read out by Giridhara Sastry was from a devotee who sought His Holiness’s guidance on how he could control his senses and tackle distractions.

“Looking at Giridhara Sastry and giving His response, He said, ‘As long as an object is perceived as pleasing, it is but natural that a want develops towards that object. By discrimination, when one recognizes its inherent worthlessness, the craving, and hence, the consequent distractions, cease by themselves. ‘doṣa-dṛṣṭyā muhur-muhuḥ (By the repeated discerning of the defects)’⁵⁰ – this is the means to be adopted. No matter what the object is, it is sought after only if one sees positive attributes in it, sees it as pleasurable.’ Then turning to me, He said, with His countenance and tone leaving me in no doubt that He was instructing me, ‘What else? That is all. ‘doṣa-dṛṣṭyā muhur-muhuḥ (by the repeated discerning of the defects).’ An object perceived as a cause of unhappiness does not generate desire.’ Continuing to look at me, He nodded his head, as if to ensure that what He had stated had been grasped by me. ‘Yes,’ said I, meaning that I had paid attention to what I felt were His personal and direct instructions to me. This turned out to be the last day that letters were presented to Him.”

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