From the Archives of Swami Jyotirmayananda
There is a force pulling you toward what you love and another force pushing you away from what you dislike. Every day, without rest. Most people spend their lives managing these two movements — seeking more of what pleases them, escaping what does not. Sri Swami Jyotirmayananda, senior-most living direct disciple of Swami Sivananda, offers a different way of reading them: raga (attachment) and dvesa (aversion) are not your enemies. They are the raw energies of the soul, waiting to be redirected.
This article draws from Yoga Vasistha Lesson 149, Upasama Prakarana, Section 13 — a class that opens with the five klesas and closes mid-verse, in the heart of the jivan-mukta teachings.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali name five afflictions — klesas — that keep the soul in bondage. At the root is avidya (ignorance of one’s true nature). From avidya grows asmita (ego). From ego grow the central pair: raga, the impulse toward what is pleasant, and dvesa, the impulse away from what is unpleasant. At the end of the chain is abhinivesa — the clinging to bodily life, the fear of death.
Swamiji focuses on raga and dvesa because these are what we actually experience. Not metaphysical abstractions — the daily pull toward a person, a food, a comfort, and the daily push against a situation, a person, a loss. “That’s the most highlighted aspect of every person’s daily life.” Like tender blossoms on a tree shaken by every passing breeze, the mind is in constant agitation as long as raga and dvesa run unchecked.
The question the Yoga Vasistha raises is not how to suppress these forces. It is what happens when you redirect them.
Raga Sublimated: From Attachment to Anuraga
Raga, at the worldly level, attaches to finite objects. You find something that brings joy — a person, a possession, a circumstance — and the mind immediately begins working to secure it, protect it, keep others away from it. Happiness lasts only briefly. Then the securing work begins again.
When this same energy is turned Godward, something different happens. Love directed toward the infinite does not require securing. It expands. Swamiji calls this anuraga — a Sanskrit term meaning deepening, increasing love that leads the devotee further inward rather than into grasping. “Your love is leading you to increasing love.” Instead of locking joy under a lock and key, the mind relaxes. The source of happiness is no longer outside, no longer threatened.
At its full movement, raga transformed becomes the attitude: all is Brahman, all is love. Nothing finite is excluded from this vision — every face, every situation carries the presence of God. Raga has become universal.
Dvesa Sublimated: From Aversion to Neti Neti
Dvesa follows the same logic in the opposite direction. Ordinary dvesa repels particular unpleasant people, situations, and experiences. It creates friction, conflict, and the mental habit of wishing things were otherwise.
When dvesa is sublimated, it becomes the discipline of neti neti — “not this, not this” — the systematic negation used in Advaita Vedanta to strip away false identification. The aversion that once pushed against individual annoyances is now directed toward the entire world-appearance as a whole: nothing that is transient, limited, or changeable is Brahman. The mind relinquishes its hold on phenomena not through hatred but through clarity.
“Dvesa, when sublimated, becomes neti neti, negation of the world process.” At its full expression, dvesa transformed becomes the recognition: nothing exists except Brahman.
Both movements — all is God, nothing exists but God — point to the same non-dual reality.
The Jarasandha Metaphor: What Bondage Looks Like
Swamiji illustrates this through the Puranic story of Jarasandha, the demoniac king of the Mahabharata who was born in two halves and joined together by a rakshasi (a demoniac witch). He imprisoned countless kings and could not be killed until the hero Bhima discovered his secret: the two halves had to be torn apart and thrown in opposite directions.
In the Yoga Vasistha’s reading, Jarasandha is the bound individual soul. The two halves are raga and dvesa. The demoniac witch who fuses them is ignorance — avidya. As long as raga and dvesa are joined in service of the ego, the soul is imprisoned. Bhima’s divine strength tears them apart: raga is thrown toward “all is Brahman,” dvesa toward “nothing exists.” Bondage ends. This is the path to jivan-mukti — liberation while living.
The Qualities of a Jivan-Mukta: The Verse
With the theoretical ground laid, Swamiji introduces a verse from the Yoga Vasistha that lists the qualities of a jivan-mukta, a soul liberated while still in the body. He names each quality and explains it with practical illustrations:
Nirasata – Desirelessness
Not the refusal to eat when hungry, but the deep understanding that one’s true happiness cannot be supplied by the world. The world is transient. Dependence upon it for lasting joy is the fundamental mistake.
Nirbhayata – Fearlessness
Fear arises when we forget our true nature. “The sun cannot abandon its reflections.” God cannot abandon any soul. When this understanding settles in the heart, fear loses its grip. Even fear of death dissolves: death is for the body, not for the awareness that animates it.
Nityata – Sense of Eternity
The mind that lives in time is always anxious: time is running out, opportunities are passing. But the soul is the sky, not the clouds passing through it. “You are the sky. All things happening are clouds.” Nityata is the capacity to remain rooted in what does not change, even while fully present in what does.
Niskriyata – Actionlessness
Not passivity, but the recognition that the Self does not act in the ego-bound sense. The sun does not “do” anything, yet through limited minds it accomplishes countless things every moment. The jivan-mukta acts with full engagement but without the sense of personal authorship. Praise makes such a person humble, not proud.
Mrduta – Tenderness
Swamiji returns here to something simple and observable: the tenderness a parent naturally has toward a small child, even when the child behaves badly. Why should that tenderness be reserved only for the very young? The highest spiritual development, Swamiji says, is characterized by this quality — a heart that wishes no ill to anyone. “The greatest indication of one’s spiritual advancement is how he uses his words.”
The class closes here. The remaining qualities of the jivan-mukta will be taken up in Lesson 150.
Scholar’s Corner
The verse Swamiji recites belongs to the Upasama Prakarana of the Yoga Vasistha, the section traditionally devoted to the “extinction of the mind” (uparama). The jivan-mukta qualities described here correspond closely to the sthitaprajna (person of steady wisdom) described in Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 — a connection Swamiji draws explicitly during the class. The teaching lineage runs from Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, whose direct disciple Swami Jyotirmayananda has transmitted these teachings for over 60 years in the West.
Sanskrit Glossary
- Raga – attachment; the impulse of the mind toward what is experienced as pleasant or desirable
- Dvesa – aversion; the impulse of the mind away from what is experienced as unpleasant or threatening
- Anuraga – deepening love; raga directed Godward, expanding rather than grasping
- Neti neti – “not this, not this”; the Advaita Vedanta method of negating false identification with the transient
- Jivan-mukta – one who is liberated while still living in a body
- Nirasata – desirelessness; freedom from dependence on the world for happiness
- Nirbhayata – fearlessness; the natural result of recognizing one’s identity with the deathless Self
- Nityata – sense of eternity; rootedness in the unchanging Self amid changing circumstances
- Niskriyata – actionlessness; acting without personal doership
- Mrduta – tenderness; the quality of a heart from which all ill-will has been removed
Watch Yoga Vasistha Lesson 149: {{VIDEO_URL}}
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