Key idea of the Yoga Sūtras
vairāgya · non-attachment
Freedom from thirst for objects and, at its height, for the guṇas themselves.
Vairāgya, literally freedom from colouring passion, is the partner of practice in stilling the mind (1.12). Patañjali defines it carefully: it is the awareness of mastery in one who no longer thirsts for objects, whether seen or only heard of (1.15). 'Heard of' covers promised pleasures, such as heaven in scripture, as well as worldly ones. The key word is mastery. Non-attachment is not disgust or suppression; the objects simply no longer pull. There is a higher form. The highest non-attachment comes from knowing the self, and it is freedom from thirst for the guṇas themselves (1.16), that is, for nature as a whole, including its most refined states. Book III applies it at the summit: non-attachment even to the sovereignty and knowledge of 3.49 wears away the seeds of fault and leads to liberation (3.50). Non-attachment is what lets a practitioner pass through attainments without stopping in them.
Vyāsa
“[One yogin becomes] passionless on knowing the inadequateness of [all] objects, seen or revealed. … Thus passionlessness is of two kinds. Of these [two], the latter is nothing but an undisturbed calm of perception [untouched by any objects whatsoever].”
Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya in J. H. Woods' translation (1914), p. 37–38.
How it has been read
Vyāsa takes 'heard of' (ānuśravika) as objects revealed in the Vedas, such as heaven (on 1.15). The four stages of non-attachment often taught with this sūtra (yatamāna and the rest) are not in Vyāsa. Vācaspati Miśra gives them as the view of 'those who know the tradition' (Woods p. 37).
A common misreading
Vairāgya is often read as coldness or not caring. The text defines it as mastery (1.15), and the same Book teaches friendliness and compassion (1.33).
Where the text defines it
- 1.12 They are stilled by practice and non-attachment.
- 1.15 Non-attachment is the awareness of mastery in one who no longer thirsts for objects, whether seen or only heard of.
- 1.16 The highest non-attachment comes from knowing the self: it is freedom from thirst for the guṇas themselves.
- 3.50 By non-attachment even to that, as the seeds of fault wear away, comes liberation.