________________
IV
RENUNCIATION
CIRCUMSTANCES LEADING TO RENUNCIATION
ONE day Mula Chandra lost a large amount of money in gambling, and was, in consequence, severely taken to task by his parents. It was then that he began to think of the vanity of possession, the instability of wealth, the fickleness of fortune, and the greed for money which had caused him to displease his parents, and his parents to punish him. By defeat, by humiliation, by loss of sympathy and support, he came to learn a wider truth and humanity than before. For now comes the moment when, for the first time, he says to himself, 'I have had enough of all this; I no longer care for money or wealth-it ends in sorrow and disappointment; I no longer care for riches, opulence, or affluence-they are a burden rather than a joy; I no longer care for the things that break in the enjoyment; I no longer care for the things that perish in the using.' And then sets in that dissatisfaction, that divine discontent with the fleeting and the transitory goods of this earth; that which the Shastras call Vairagya-dispassion, freedom from passion. He becomes indifferent to earthly objects. These objects have no power over him; they no longer attract him; they have lost their attractive power.
