Bhartṛhari’s Vairāgya-śatakam is regarded as his masterpiece, in which he portrays worldly pleasure as the greatest misery and complete dispassion (vairāgya) as the only path to liberation. Through a hundred profound verses, he exposes the futilit...
Bhartṛhari’s Vairāgya-śatakam is regarded as his masterpiece, in which he portrays worldly pleasure as the greatest misery and complete dispassion (vairāgya) as the only path to liberation. Through a hundred profound verses, he exposes the futility of worldly life, the dangers of desire, the impermanence of enjoyments, the degrading nature of dependence, and the relentless power of time, while urging control of the mind, discrimination between the eternal and the transient, and ultimate surrender to Lord Shiva for freedom from bondage. The work vividly depicts that mature stage of life when one, fully disillusioned with worldly attachments, embraces renunciation. Tradition further holds that Bhartṛhari, author of the celebrated grammatical treatise Vākyapadīya, was a direct disciple of Guru Gorakhnāth, attained mastery in yoga under him, and finally cast off his body to depart for the divine realm.