The Mind Is the Battlefield- The Eternal Conflict Between Desire and Detachment

The scriptures and Vedas present two seemingly contradictory statements. One states that detachment from the world must happen first, while the other declares that attachment to God must come first.

In explaining this, Shri Maharaj Ji has emphasized a crucial point - both detachment and attachment happen only in the mind. The scriptures, Vedas, and God do not consider the other kind of detachment or attachment (i.e., that of the body) as genuine, nor does it bear any fruit.

bahu janma kare yadi śravaṇa kīrtana, tabhū na pāya kṛṣṇa pade prema dhana -
You may practice the navadhā bhakti, the ninefold path of devotion, for endless lifetimes, but if your mind is not attached to God, it is all meaningless. "Meaningless" does not imply that it has no value or that it is bad in its entirety. If you continuously chant God's name, you will occasionally experience devotional sentiments for God. You will still attain your goal, but it will happen slowly. However, one day, you must completely attach your mind to God.

Just as children are initially taught to write by holding their hand in school, the Saints have said -
bhāva kubhāva anakha ālasa hūm
One should chant God's name in any way possible - after all, it is the name of God. But this is a long path. Human life is so short, and there is a condition that you must attain your goal in this body itself - it cannot be achieved in any other life form.

Therefore, both scriptural statements are correct:
That detachment should happen first is also true, and
That attachment should happen first is also true.
The scriptures and Vedas are divine words. They cannot be wrong. Just as the Vedas are divine and eternal, so too are the words of the Ramayana. This is because God performs every action of a Saint. From the moment a Saint attains God-realization, they cease all personal action - their sense of 'doing' ends.

In the Bhāgavatam, when Shukdev narrated the episode of Rās Leela, King Parikshit was shocked. He wondered why God performed Rās with the wives of other men. He asked Shukadev -
saṁsthāpanāya dharmasya praśamāyetarasya ca। avatīrṇo hi bhagavānaṁśena jagadīśvara:॥
sa kathaṁ dharmasetūnāṁ vaktā kartābhirakṣitā। pratīpamācarad brahman paradārābhimarśanam॥
"God incarnates to establish righteousness - He has said this Himself in the Gita. Then why did He engage in the Rās?"
Shukadev smiled and said, "You are a king, so even at the moment of death, your intellect remains that of a king."
He added -
The capable ones, meaning God and Saints, may sometimes perform actions that appear contrary to dharma. A mystery lies behind such acts. None of their actions is without a purpose. There are some subtle aspects to it, such as -

1. Their actions are always intended for the welfare of others, and
2. Their actions have connections from previous lives. Our material intellect cannot grasp these subtleties. Therefore, do not attempt to reason using your intellect in that case.

Īśvarāṇāṁ vachaḥ satyaṁ - Just follow the instructions of a saint.
'tathaivācaritaṃ kvacit' - You must only follow those behaviors of Saints that are appropriate for your spiritual level.

A student cannot start teaching simply by sitting in the teacher’s chair. One must first complete their education. If someone attempts to teach without authority, they will be unable to answer questions because they lack the necessary knowledge.

So, both scriptural statements - detachment must come first, and attachment must come first - are correct.

Similarly, detachment and attachment will not just 'happen'. Never say, 'it will happen on its own over time.' People often go to a saint and say, "My mind doesn't get attached to God; it remains attached to the world."

What is attachment? It is something which happens on its own. The mind automatically gets attached to the world. Why is this so? Because for countless lifetimes -

1. You have believed that happiness lies in the material world.
2. You have consciously attached your mind to worldly pleasures.
   Both of these have deep and very strong roots. When others told you that happiness is in the world, you believed them and attached your mind accordingly.

For anything to happen naturally, you must first practice. Practice leads to a natural habit. Because your mind has been attached to the world since eternity, it remains there.
Therefore now -

1. Your first task is to withdraw your mind from the world. Do not say it cannot be done. Forcefully detach it. How? First, understand the philosophy that there is no happiness in the world; the world has been created for the body, but you are the divine soul. Your bliss is divine, and it lies in God. Use this understanding to withdraw the mind from the world. By withdrawing your mind using philosophical knowledge, the mind will begin to get detached from the world.
2. However, after withdrawing the mind from the world, do not stop even for a moment. Immediately attach it to God. Both must be done together. Remember, this will not happen automatically.

There has never been and never will be any saint who can give you a magical potion that makes your mind automatically attach to God. God has incarnated infinite times and is even seated within our own heart. Yet, He does not do this work for you. You must do it yourself.

Thus, practice is required - the practice of withdrawing the mind from the world (detachment) and attaching the mind to God (attachment). You must consciously do both.

'abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate' - both are necessary.
Then, by repeatedly withdrawing the mind from the world and attaching it to God, the process begins to take root. While meditating on God, worldly thoughts may arise due to old habits. But do not be disturbed by this - simply withdraw and reattach your mind.

Before you could stand for the first time as a child, you fell a thousand times. Similarly, as you continue your efforts, your mind will begin to get attached to God. But then it will repeatedly wander back to the world. Up to the 50% mark, your efforts will outweigh the results. But once you cross 50%, your mind will start attaching more readily to God.

At that point, if someone says 'Radhey,' you immediately take notice. You think, "This must be a good person - perhaps a devotee of Maharaj Ji", even though the person might have said 'Radhey', referring to his mother. This response is due to great divine grace. God connected you with Shri Maharaj Ji, who filled our intellect with philosophical knowledge again and again. He makes this effort because we cannot understand by listening just once or twice. Even if you feel at the time that "Maharaj Ji explains very well, and I understood everything," you will soon forget.

As the mind becomes more attached to God, it will withdraw from the world in equal measure. After passing 50%, the mind will naturally withdraw from the world. Then, when someone discusses worldly matters, you feel irritated. You begin to think, "There is always some disturbance or another in the world. Let me walk towards God."

By practicing in this way, eventually you will reach the state of 'mamekam sharanam vraja' - complete surrender. When your attachment to God becomes 100%, 100% detachment from the world happens automatically. This is known as natural attachment (sahaj anurag) and natural detachment (sahaj vairagya) - 'sahaj virag roop man mora' - this is the perfected state of devotion.

But this state is not attained first. You must first make an effort and practice devotion yourself.

Recommended books by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj related to this topic:

Bhagavad Bhakti - English