What is anasakti (अनासक्ति)?

I came across the word 'anasakti' (अनासक्ति) many times while reading translations of the Bhagavad Gita or commentaries about it. One can find mention of this word while reading stuff about Hindu religion or Indian mythology. This term has been used in many ways to describe detachment or non-attachment from worldly pleasures or bonds. Generally, most people misunderstand it as an "aversion" but according to me, it's not aversion even though it's very similar to it. Actually, aversion is also one form of attachment, it's a negative attachment. Someone is attached to wealth and another person is attached to renunciation of wealth, both are strongly attached with some feeling (either affirmative or negative towards the same thing). One is running towards wealth and the other one is running away but both are running, they are performing the same action but in opposite directions. We can call one as a positive attachment (running towards something) and the other a negative attachment (running away from something) but both are sort of attachments according to me.

That's why I think "Anasakti" or non-attachment is a totally different stage than aversion. It's neither an attachment nor an aversion. I think it is the stage where you don't get affected by attachment or aversion (love or hate). Where you act as a mere spectator no matter what is the situation. Wealth or no wealth person behaves the same, he/she is neither addicted to a thing nor hates it. For example, no matter what food they get they enjoy it. Wearing saffron clothes, leaving all worldly pleasures, or abandoning home doesn't make a person unattached but he/she gets too attached to the feeling of rejecting everything. 'Sakti' (सक्ति) means compulsion, something one is forced to do or follow, like the rule of law or some dictator's commands. There is no choice in Sakti, one has to follow it whether one likes it or not. Anasakti means non-compulsion, the life of a free bird, life without any compulsion. It sounds really simple and one may argue that it's easier to live a life without any compulsion (where one can do whatever he/she wants) than a life of compulsion. However, life without compulsion doesn't mean life without any control or a wayward life. It means life without any desires, without any feeling of hate or love. Hate and love are the two most dominant feelings that control our lives. All our feelings or actions are the result of either one of these two or a mixture of both these feelings in different proportions.

The meaning of 'anasakti' sounds very simple but I think it's very difficult to practice. It's not easy to detach ourselves from everything (whether we love or hate those things). We can see that even people who claim to be detached from worldly pleasures and declare themselves gurus or sanyasis are strongly attached to their own God, beliefs, and habits like food. They are so attached to these things that they almost repel all other things and then feel happy about it. This so-called detachment of many people is very superficial and is just for show. In a real sense, everyone is attached to something no one is completely detached from everything. Getting attached to something comes very naturally to humans. We are born that way that's why we need to make a lot of effort to detach ourselves from anything. Let it be anything, living or nonliving, tangible or intangible, for example, our own ego or anything that we love or hate. Aversion is comparatively easy, it's easy to reject things that one doesn't like. Attachment is also easy and natural. But to detach completely from something without any emotion (love or hate) is not that easy. However, if we can do it, then nothing like that. Total detachment or non-attachment has the potential to make our every act selfless and enjoyable. We can act without any expectation or frustration. I know that it's not possible to do it for everything but we can try to do it whenever we can and slowly learn to practice it. I personally feel very happy whenever I can act like this. Feeling love is very beautiful and one of the most essential parts of being a human but sometimes it can also create a problem. Anger and hate are not good emotions for us or our society. It will be great if occasionally we can make ourselves free of all these feelings and act like a free spirit. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)