In this episode of “5 Minutes,” Dr. Robert Svoboda explores Tyaga and the deeper meaning of renunciation.

Tyaga means renunciation. The word has been used in India for many centuries, if not thousands of years, to describe giving up worldly life, turning away from the structures of society, and living as an ankhoret, a penitent, a sadhu, swami, yogi, or another person living at the edges of society.

Such a person still interacts with society enough to receive food and sometimes shelter, but remains separate from ordinary social life. This is possible for some people, even today, provided that it is not being done as a way of escaping from something, but rather because they are moving toward Supreme Reality.

Vimalananda, who lived for some time as a sadhu, spoke about meeting many other sadhus. Some of them, he said, had simply escaped from difficult marriages, creditors, the government, or the police. They were running away from something.

This is why it is sometimes said that people who do not have the ability or willingness to function meaningfully in society become sadhus because they know that, to some degree, they can beg and receive support from others. Then they can avoid responsibility and remain inactive. But this is not what Tyaga truly means.

Tyaga is about recognizing the inevitability of death. It is about understanding that eventually you will leave this human society and be separated from everything connected with it. Renunciation is the practice of preparing yourself for that great transition before it actually happens.

Lord Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita, repeatedly emphasizes that most people do not have the ability to completely withdraw from the world. At a particular point in life, many people also do not have the circumstances necessary to do so.

Therefore, Krishna does not teach that one should reject all action or completely abandon the world. It is impossible to stop all activity because through thought, word, and deed we are constantly creating actions. Every action that we identify ourselves with becomes karma.

The most important aspect of Tyaga is therefore not abandoning action, but abandoning identification with action. It means letting go of the thought, “I am doing this because I want this result,” or “I am doing this because I do not want that result.”

It also means letting go of attachment to the fruits of action. We should perform actions that are worthy of being performed, actions that we have the ability and responsibility to perform. We should do what needs to be done because it is the right thing to do.

Then we should not become attached to the results. We should do our best and allow nature, God, or Supreme Reality to determine what comes from those actions.

Vimalananda used to say that the essence of Dharma, your path through life, is Tyaga. The true improvement of yourself comes from abandoning the desires that you have held onto so strongly and instead following the path of doing what you know you need to do.

Allow whatever nature wishes to provide to come to you.