1.15 · The Unpicked Fruit

Non-attachment is the awareness of mastery in one who no longer thirsts for objects, whether seen or only heard of.

Word by word

dṛṣṭa

seen

ānuśravika

heard of (through tradition or scripture)

viṣaya

objects

vitṛṣṇasya

of one free of thirst

vaśīkāra

mastery

saṃjñā

awareness, consciousness

vairāgyam

non-attachment, dispassion

Where it fits

This defines the second means of 1.12. Among things 'only heard of', Vyāsa lists heaven and the states of the bodiless and of those dissolved in nature (Woods p. 36). These are the very states 1.19 will show to be temporary, so even spiritual rewards fall within the thirst that non-attachment masters.

Reading

This defines the second means of 1.12, and its key word is mastery, not refusal. Vyāsa's examples of things seen are food and drink, power and lovers (his text, addressed to male practitioners, says 'women'). Things heard of include heaven and other states promised in scripture, so even spiritual rewards are on the list. Vyāsa calls vairāgya an awareness of mastery with nothing to take up or reject, even when its objects are close at hand. It is quiet, and needs no forced turning away.

Vyāsa

“When the mind is free of thirst for things seen, such as women, food and drink, and power, and free of thirst for things promised in scripture, such as reaching heaven …, its awareness of mastery is non-attachment.”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 36.

Practice

Notice one thing you reach for automatically today: a snack, a screen, a compliment. Once, let it sit in front of you for two minutes without taking it. Watch the thirst rise and fade. Then choose freely, either way.

A question to sit with

What do you still thirst for, seen or only heard of?

Where commentators disagree

What is vaśīkāra-saṃjñā, the 'awareness of mastery': a sense of control, or plain indifference?

Vyāsa

When the mind is free of thirst for things seen, such as women, food, drink and power, and for things heard of in scripture, such as heaven, and through meditation sees their faults even when it meets them, it has an awareness of mastery that takes nothing up and rejects nothing. (Woods 1914, p. 36)

Vācaspati Miśra

Gives four stages as the view of 'those who know the tradition': endeavour, discrimination, a single sense and mastery. The last is indifference to objects even when they are near, and the first three are fulfilled in it, which is why the sūtra names only mastery. (Woods 1914, p. 37)

Bhoja

Having given up all eagerness for both kinds of object, because they turn bitter in the end, one reflects: 'These are my subjects; I am not their slave.' (Tatya 1885, pp. 11–12; Mitra 1883, wisdomlib on 1.15)

Rajendralala Mitra

The words literally mean an awareness of being able to subdue, but the commentators take them as indifference, free of both liking and aversion, citing Vyāsa's 'nothing to reject or take up' and Vācaspati's 'a sense of indifference without attachment or hatred'. (Mitra 1883, note on 1.15 (wisdomlib))

Key ideas

vairāgya (non-attachment)