Vairagya and Abhyasa

The Two Wings of Practice

Early in the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali gives the essential formula for stilling the mind:

“abhyasa vairagyabhyam tan nirodhah” (I.12) “The cessation [of mental fluctuations] is through practice and non-attachment.”

These two - abhyasa (persistent practice) and vairagya (non-attachment) - are the twin pillars of yoga, the two wings that allow the practitioner to fly. Neither alone is sufficient; together, they create the conditions for liberation.

Abhyasa - Persistent Practice

Definition

“tatra sthitau yatnah abhyasah” (I.13) “Practice is the effort toward steadiness.”

Abhyasa is the sustained effort to maintain the mind in a state of stillness or focus. It is:

Requirements

“sa tu dirgha kala nairantarya satkara asevitah drdha bhumih” (I.14) “Practice becomes firmly grounded when attended to for a long time, without break, and with devotion.”

Three conditions make practice stable:

Dirgha kala (long time):

Nairantarya (without break):

Satkara (with devotion/respect):

What Abhyasa Includes

Abhyasa encompasses all the practices of yoga:

The particular practices may vary according to constitution, stage of life, and guidance received. What matters is consistent, devoted engagement.

The Role of Effort

Abhyasa requires effort - but the right kind:

Necessary effort:

Unnecessary effort:

The art is sustained effort without strain - persistent but not aggressive, consistent but not rigid.

Vairagya - Non-Attachment

Definition

“drsta anushravika visaya vitrishnasya vashikara sanjna vairagyam” (I.15) “Non-attachment is the consciousness of mastery in one who has ceased thirsting for objects seen or heard of.”

Vairagya is the gradual release of desire for both worldly objects and subtle spiritual experiences. It is:

What Vairagya Is Not

Not suppression: Vairagya is not pushing down desires, which only strengthens them. It is seeing through them.

Not indifference: True vairagya allows full engagement with life - but without the binding quality of attachment.

Not depression: Losing interest because of tamas or failure is not vairagya. Real vairagya is clear-eyed, not dull.

Not hatred of the world: Rejection is still attachment in reverse. Vairagya is neutral - neither craving nor aversion.

Levels of Vairagya

Vairagya develops in stages:

Yatamana (attempting): Beginning efforts to release attachment. Desires still arise strongly; effort is required to not act on them.

Vyatireka (separating): Able to distinguish between necessary and unnecessary desires. Some attachments release while others persist.

Ekendriya (one-pointed): Desires become more refined. Gross attachments fall away; subtle ones remain.

Vashikara (mastery): “vitrishnasya” - “one who has ceased thirsting.” Desires no longer have binding power. This is mature vairagya.

Para Vairagya - Supreme Non-Attachment

“tat param purusha khyateh guna vaitrishnyam” (I.16) “The highest non-attachment is freedom from the gunas, arising from knowledge of Purusha.”

Beyond releasing attachment to objects is releasing attachment to the gunas themselves - to sattva, rajas, and tamas as qualities of experience. This comes from direct knowledge of Purusha, the pure witness beyond all qualities.

At this level, even subtle spiritual experiences are released. Nothing in manifestation binds.

Cultivating Vairagya

Vairagya cannot be forced but can be cultivated:

Understanding impermanence: All objects are temporary. What we crave will not last. Truly seeing this loosens the grip.

Understanding suffering: Craving itself is suffering. Getting what we want leads to fear of loss. Not getting it leads to frustration. Neither path satisfies.

Understanding the Self: As glimpses of the unchanging witness emerge, identification with changing objects naturally decreases.

Discriminative wisdom: Viveka - continuously distinguishing between real (Purusha) and unreal (Prakriti) - develops natural non-attachment.

The Relationship

Complementary Forces

Abhyasa and vairagya work together:

Together they create balanced movement toward freedom.

Dynamic Balance

The balance shifts with the practitioner’s needs:

The skilled practitioner applies what is required in each moment.

The Paradox

The deepest paradox: Practice (effort) leads to non-attachment (effortlessness).

We work hard to become free of the one who works hard. We make effort until effort dissolves. We practice until practice becomes natural as breathing.

This is not contradiction but the nature of spiritual development. Abhyasa creates the conditions in which vairagya can flower. Vairagya releases the attachment to abhyasa itself.

In Daily Life

Practicing Abhyasa

Practicing Vairagya

Both Together

In any moment:

Whether in meditation, work, or relationship - full presence without grasping. Complete engagement without addiction to results.

The Fruit

When abhyasa and vairagya mature together, the mind naturally settles:

This is not a destination reached but a process lived. The two wings continue to lift, practice continues, non-attachment deepens, and the movement toward liberation unfolds naturally.

“yogash chitta vritti nirodhah” (I.2) “Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.”

This cessation comes not through force but through the patient, devoted application of practice and the gradual release of all that binds. Abhyasa and vairagya, carried through a lifetime, are the means to this end - and ultimately, the means dissolve into the end, and only freedom remains.

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