The central theme of Vairagya Shatakam (also spelled Vairagya Śatakam),
written by the great Sanskrit poet and philosopher Bhartrhari, is
renunciation (vairagya) — the disillusionment with worldly pleasures and
the yearning for a higher, spiritual life.
Vairagya Shatakam is one of the three śatakams (collections of 100 verses)
attributed to Bhartrhari — the other two being:
Śṛṅgāra Śatakam – on love and sensual pleasure
Nīti Śatakam – on ethics and worldly wisdom
Vairāgya Śatakam – on renunciation and detachment
Central Theme: Vairāgya (Dispassion or Detachment)
The Vairagya Shatakam explores the transitory nature of life, emptiness of
sensual pleasures, and the futility of material pursuits. Bhartrhari,
possibly disillusioned by his own life of pleasure and power, turns inward
and emphasizes the path of self-realization, spiritual reflection, and
liberation (moksha).
Impermanence of the World (Anitya)
Everything in the world is fleeting: youth, wealth, beauty, power.
Reflecting on impermanence leads to wisdom and renunciation.
Disillusionment with Sensual Pleasures
Pleasures of the senses are portrayed as ultimately unsatisfying and
dangerous.
They bind the soul and distract from the pursuit of truth.
Praise of Asceticism and Detachment
The ideal life is that of a sage, renouncing the world and living in
contemplation.
Nature (forests, mountains, rivers) is seen as the true home of the wise.
Criticism of Hypocrisy and Greed
Kings, courtiers, and materialists are portrayed as deluded.
Even learned people can fall into the trap of ego and desire.
Search for Truth and Liberation (Moksha)
True peace comes only from within, through knowledge and detachment.
The ultimate goal is freedom from the cycle of birth and death.
Tone and Style: Presentation by BirthrHari
Philosophical, introspective, and at times, deeply emotional.
Uses vivid imagery, analogies, and occasional satire.
Shows the transition of a worldly man to a spiritual seeker.
"Desire never ends with the enjoyment of pleasures —
just as fire increases when fed with clarified butter.
Therefore, abandoning desire,
one should strive for self-knowledge."(Verse 16, paraphrased)
Verse 1: The Futility of Desires
विषयं विषमिवतिरेकबहुलं पश्यन्ति ये बुद्धतः
ते मर्त्याः पशुभिर्न हीनमतयो यैर्हार्दमुद्भाव्यते ।
चेतो दोषवशान्मनोहरगिरां मूढं कथं नर्तति
स्वात्मानं न विदन्ति सन्तमिह ते मूढाः प्रमत्ताः सदा ॥
Viṣayaṃ viṣam ivatireka-bahulaṃ paśyanti ye buddhataḥ
te martyāḥ paśubhir na hīnamatayo yair hārdam udbhāvyate
ceto doṣavaśān manohara-girāṃ mūḍhaṃ kathaṃ nartati
svātmānaṃ na vidanti santam iha te mūḍhāḥ pramattāḥ sadā
"Those who perceive sensual pleasures as deadly poison (viṣam), in whom
wisdom arises — they are truly wise human beings."
"But those whose minds are swayed by desires and sweet words, who
constantly dance to the tune of senses — they are deluded fools."
"They never realize their own Self (Ātman), always lost in ignorance and
distraction."
Theme: Desire is like poison — it may seem sweet, but it destroys the mind
and takes one away from self-realization.
Verse 5: The Impermanence of Life
जातं मृत्यु-पथं कृतं च सुभगं स्त्रीणां गृहे यौवनं
सन्तोषो धनलिप्सया शमसुखं प्रौढो युवा योगिनाम् ।
ज्ञानं श्रद्धधया विनैव लभ्यते किं किं न विपरीतं मे
एवं चिन्तयतः मुनेर्यदि सदा स्यान्निःस्पृहत्वं हि तत् ॥
Jātaṃ mṛtyu-pathaṃ kṛtaṃ ca subhagaṃ strīṇāṃ gṛhe yauvanaṃ
santoṣo dhanalipsayā śama-sukhaṃ prauḍho yuvā yoginām
jñānaṃ śraddadhayā vinaiva labhyate kiṃ kiṃ na viparītaṃ me
evaṃ cintayataḥ muner yadi sadā syān niḥspṛhatvaṃ hi tat
"Youth in a woman's house leads to the path of death."
"Contentment is destroyed by greed for wealth."
"Peace of mind is stolen even from yogis when ego matures."
"Wisdom cannot be gained without faith."
"What then is not upside-down in this world?"
Theme: Everything worldly is inverted — that which seems sweet is
dangerous; peace is disturbed by ego; real wisdom is rare.
Verse 16: Desire Grows Like Fire
तृष्णे जाय मनः शमं दहसि किम् क्रोधं समुत्थापयसि
स्तम्भं चाश्रयसे सखे बत रिपो कार्यं मया किं त्वया ।
मोहं मार्जयसि क्षमां कुरुषसे त्यागं च निन्दास्यसि
स्वार्थान्मन्युमुत्सृजस्यखिलमप्येतत्समं शात्रवैः ॥
Tṛṣṇe jāya manaḥ śamaṃ dahasi kim krodhaṃ samutthāpayasi
stambhaṃ cāśrayase sakhe bata ripo kāryaṃ mayā kiṃ tvayā
mohaṃ mārjasi kṣamāṃ kuruṣase tyāgaṃ ca nindāsyasi
svārthān manyum utsṛjasy akhilam apy etat samaṃ śātravaiḥ
"O desire! You burn the mind's peace, awaken anger, take refuge in pride,
and destroy virtues like patience and forgiveness."
"You hate renunciation and mock sacrifice. You are no less than a sworn
enemy."
Theme: Desire is the root of all disturbances — it gives rise to anger,
pride, greed, and destroys all higher qualities.
Verse 53: The Peace of Renunciation
नास्त्यब्धौ सुरतरुरिह न प्रेक्षणीयं प्रयागे
नैवाश्चर्यं नगपृष्ठतटे नापि गङ्गास्नानसाध्वीकृतेः ।
किं त्वेकस्मिन्सदसद्विवेकविमले प्राप्ते मनः स्थैर्यतां
भिक्षाशन्यपि सन्तुष्टमात्मरतेः कस्य न स्यान्मतिः ॥
Nāsty abdau suratarur iha na prekṣaṇīyaṃ prayāge
Naivāścaryaṃ nagapṛṣṭha-taṭe nāpi gaṅgā-snāna-sādhvīkṛteḥ
Kiṃ tv ekasmin sad-asad-viveka-vimale prāpte manaḥ-sthairyatāṃ
bhikṣāśany api santuṣṭam ātma-rateḥ kasya na syān matiḥ
"There are no wish-fulfilling trees in the ocean, nor are the sights of
Prayag or mountaintops wondrous."
"Even bathing in the Ganga is not remarkable."
"But if one gains firm understanding of truth and falsehood, and is content
with even alms — then who wouldn't revere such a self-realized person?"
Theme: True wonders are not in holy places, but in the mind of a wise,
self-realized person who is detached and content.
Hope is a flowing river. Desires are its water. Longings are its
waves. Attachments for objects are the animals of prey living therein. One
cannot cross this river because of the countless whirlpools of ignorance in
the waters and the precipitous nature of the riverbanks. Only yogis of pure
mind can cross this river and enjoy the highest Bliss.
When you know fully well that all objects of enjoyments in this
world are perishable and would leave you some day, why should you not
voluntarily renounce them right now and enjoy eternal Bliss?
There is no miracle more wonderful to accomplish than that of a man
of discrimination arising from knowledge of Brahman to wholly discard the
wealth which has been giving him enjoyment!
The lives of ascetics living in mountain caves and meditating upon
the Supreme Light are indeed blessed, not of those who live in mansions and
indulge in sensual pleasures and vain imagination. The lives of ascetics
living on alms, sleeping on the bare ground, self-reliant, and having but a
worn-out blanket made up of a hundred patches is indeed the most exalted
and blessed, not of those eating rich dishes, sleeping on royal beds and
wearing excellent costly attire.
While the insects jump into the blazing fire and the fish seizes the
bait attached to the hook through sheer ignorance, man who is supposed to
have discrimination, and a knowledge of right and wrong does not abandon
sensual pleasures that are attended with various defects! How inscrutable
is the power of delusion!
Ignorant are those that think that possessing tall buildings,
learned sons, tons of gold, a young beautiful lady as wife, and vigorous
health constitute real blessedness, for they are deluded to run into the
prison house of worldliness, whereas the truly blessed are those that
renounce the world with all its joys and pleasures on account of its
transitoriness.
Is it that those Himalayan valleys and the celestial Ganga banks
are all engulfed in ruin that shameless men hanker after wealth, women and
wine? Ts it that roots and herbs are no more available in those
mountain-caves or that fruit-bearing trees are all destroyed that these men
always want to revel in filth of worldliness?
Arise, O ignorant man, come with me. Let us go to solitary caves
where even the name of that ignoble rich man is not heard. Let us live on
roots and herbs and forest fruits; drink the cool, refreshing water of the
holy Ganga and lie on soft beds of tender twigs and creepers. Let us repose
on stone-beds in mountain-caves, meditate deeply day and night upon the
All-merciful Shiva, and lead a contented and peaceful life. Let us be
happy, let the greedy and the avaricious be miserable. Even if gold equal
to Mount Meru in weight were conferred upon me, I will not accept it.
Worldly life is always attended with fear, whereas
renunciation alone makes man absolutely fearless.
Birth is eaten by death, blooming youth by old age,
contentment by greed, happiness of self-control by the dangerous wiles of
young women, virtues by jealous men, kings by the wicked ministers and
power itself by transitoriness. Tell me what on earth is not eaten away by
something else?
Health of men is subjected to various physical and mental
ailments, wealth to peril of robbers, and whatever is born is carried away
by death again and again. Enjoyments are fleeting, life is short and
youthful happiness too little to quench one’s thirst. Oh, this world is
unreal. God alone is real. Renounce desires for worldly enjoyments and
attain knowledge of the Self.
How dare you say there is happiness in this world, when you have
come forth from within an impure womb, when in youth you are polluted by
sensual pleasures and mental distraction, and in old age you become the
laughingstock of lustful women?
How wonderful that man goes on doing sinful and vicious acts as
usual regardless of everything when he knows that old age is waiting like a
vulture to devour him, when diseases afflict his body and mind in various
ways, and when days are wasted in useless pursuits!
O little man of little faith! Believe me, this world with all
its enjoyments and sensual pleasures, is evanescent and fleeting. Why do
you vainly search for happiness in these worldly objects and break your
legs? If you really want happiness, do as I tell you. Concentrate.
Meditate. Realize. Then you will enjoy the highest happiness.
Where are those lovely cities, powerful kings, their feudatory
kings or vassals, their cabinet of shrewd ministers, those beautiful women
with moon-like faces, those princes and lords of illimitable wealth and
fame, those minstrels and their songs of praise and flattery that once
flourished?
How strange again that man wants to enjoy the same pleasures of
the senses, eat the same delicious foods, drink the same wine, enjoy the
same women, pass the same day and night again, and that disgust for these
have not yet arisen!
The span of man’s life is very short-only a hundred years.
Half of it is spent in sleep, and out of the rest, half is passed away in
childhood and old age. Then there are periods of illnesses, bereavements
and troubles, and serving others. What happiness can there be for a man in
this world?
Who is great–a king or an ascetic? If you are a king of wealth
and lands, I too am the king of the highest wisdom. If you are a king of
great repute, my reputation resounds in all the four quarters of the globe
and is envied greatly by all learned men. If you are cold and indifferent
towards me, I too am perfectly indifferent towards you and your riches. If
you exercise your kingly powers over riches I do the same over words. If
you are a great warrior in the battlefield, I have the skill and the
faculty to humble down the proudest of disputants.
O king, if you are rich in royal garment, I am perfectly
contented with the bark of trees. He is verily poor whose desires are
boundless, while he is truly rich who is contented with his lot.
O let us eat begged food, let the sky be our clothing, let the
earth be our bed. We have absolutely nothing to do with the riches.
What a great fool you are to set thyself to winning good graces,
so difficult to secure? O mind, wander not hither and thither. Rest in
peace. Let things happen, if happen they must. Brood not over the past, nor
plan about your future.
O mind, be calm and never desire for sensual enjoyments. Expel
delusion and cultivate devotion unto Lord Shiva, the Lord of lords, the God
of gods, the Yogi of Yogis. Choose to live on the banks of the Ganga, the
celestial river.
O mind, never again think of the frail Goddess of Fortune. Plunge
thyself into deep and profound meditation on the Atma.
When there is devotion to Lord Shiva, and fear of birth and
death, when there is not the least attachment for family and excitement for
sexual passions, when there is the solitude of the forests where the air
breathed by worldly men does not exist, what better life is to be wished
for?
Meditate on the supreme, infinite, ageless, effulgent Brahman,
bereft of all imperfections and attain supreme knowledge and bliss.
When this body is free from disease and old age, when the senses are yet
unaffected and life is still young, wise people should leave no stone
unturned for the sake of their own supreme good, for it is of little avail
to dig a well when the house is already on fire.
In our quest through the nook and corner of the three worlds
ever since the beginning of creation, none has come within sight or hearing
of a means to control the elephant of his mind, when maddened by the
mysterious, deep-rooted infatuation for the female elephant of
sense-objects.
If there is a loin-cloth worn out and shredded a hundred times,
if one is free from all disquieting thoughts, if there is food, obtained
from begging, and sleep on the cremation ground or in the forest, if one is
at perfect liberty to wander about alone without any hindrance, and if one
is steadfast in the festive joy of Yoga, what then is worth the rulership
of the three worlds?
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13, Verse 8-12
अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम् |
आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रह: || 8||
इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहङ्कार एव च |
जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदु:खदोषानुदर्शनम् || 9||
असक्तिरनभिष्वङ्ग: पुत्रदारगृहादिषु |
नित्यं च समचित्तत्वमिष्टानिष्टोपपत्तिषु || 10||
मयि चानन्ययोगेन भक्तिरव्यभिचारिणी |
विविक्तदेशसेवित्वमरतिर्जनसंसदि || 11||
अध्यात्मज्ञाननित्यत्वं तत्वज्ञानार्थदर्शनम् |
एतज्ज्ञानमिति प्रोक्तमज्ञानं यदतोऽन्यथा || 12||
amanitvam adambhitvam ahinsa kshantir arjavam
acharyopasanam shaucham sthairyam atma-vinigrahah
indriyartheshu vairagyam anahankara eva cha
janma-mrityu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha-doshanudarshanam
asaktir anabhishvangah putra-dara-grihadishu
nityam cha sama-chittatvam ishtanishtopapattishu
mayi chananya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicharini
vivikta-desha-sevitvam aratir jana-sansadi
adhyatma-jnana-nityatvam tattva-jnanartha-darshanam
etaj jnanam iti proktam ajnanam yad ato ’nyatha
BG 13.8-12: Humbleness; freedom from hypocrisy; non-violence; forgiveness;
simplicity; service of the Guru; cleanliness of body and mind;
steadfastness; and self-control; dispassion toward the objects of the
senses; absence of egotism; keeping in mind the evils of birth, disease,
old age, and death; non-attachment; absence of clinging to spouse,
children, home, and so on; even-mindedness amidst desired and undesired
events in life; constant and exclusive devotion toward Me; an inclination
for solitary places and an aversion for mundane society; constancy in
spiritual knowledge; and philosophical pursuit of the Absolute Truth (19)
—all these I declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to it, I call
ignorance.
K RAJARAM IRS 2925
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