What the scriptures say about attachment

What do the scriptures say about attachment?

The texts call it saṅga (सङ्ग). Holding on to results, people, things, and a fixed picture is the first link of the Gita's ladder of fall. The Mahabharata expresses it in two syllables, ma-ma. They set letting go against it.

48 verses
11 stories
Weighs on the mind

Read the verses Find it on the map

Krishna

योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय । सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते ॥

yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā dhanañjaya | siddhyasiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṃ yoga ucyate ||

Established in yoga, do your work, Dhananjaya, giving up attachment, the same in success and failure. This evenness is called yoga.

Bhagavad Gita 2.48

Attachment in the texts' own words

Someone in the verse is in it, or the text names it outright. Many readers find their own day here.

perhaps it is a failure and yet we cannot give it up.
Swami Vivekananda
Chirakari
मुच्यते बन्धनात्पुरुषं फलं वृक्षान्प्रमुच्यते / क्लिश्यन्नपि सुतस्नेहैः पिता पुत्रं न मुञ्चति
mucyate bandhanātpuruṣaṃ phalaṃ vṛkṣānpramucyate / kliśyannapi sutasnehaiḥ pitā putraṃ na muñcati
A grown person is freed from his bonds as fruit drops from the tree. But a father, even suffering through his love, never lets go of his child.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma: Mokshadharma
Shows a parent's holding on named with tenderness. our reading
Krishna
योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय । सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते ॥
yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā dhanañjaya | siddhyasiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṃ yoga ucyate ||
Established in yoga, do your work, Dhananjaya, giving up attachment, the same in success and failure. This evenness is called yoga.
Bhagavad Gita 2.48
Krishna
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते । सङ्गात् संजायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ॥
dhyāyato viṣayānpuṃsaḥ saṅgasteṣūpajāyate | saṅgāt saṃjāyate kāmaḥ kāmātkrodho’bhijāyate ||
When a person dwells on objects, attachment to them is born. From attachment comes desire, and from desire, anger.
Bhagavad Gita 2.62
Medhavin
नास्ति विद्यासमं चक्षुर्नास्ति सत्यसमं तपः / नास्ति रागसमंदुःखं नास्ति त्यागसमं सुखम्
nāsti vidyāsamaṃ cakṣurnāsti satyasamaṃ tapaḥ / nāsti rāgasamaṃduḥkhaṃ nāsti tyāgasamaṃ sukham
There is no eye like knowledge, no discipline like truth, no sorrow like attachment, and no happiness like letting go.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Mokshadharma

What feeds it, step by step

Sequences the texts state outright, in their own order.

Arjuna's collapse

Bhagavad Gita 1.28-30; 1.47; 2.6-8

Seeing his own people, Arjuna is overcome and his limbs fail. He drops the bow and sits down in grief. He cannot tell which course is better. Confused about what is right, he asks to be taught.

Arjuna
अर्जुन उवाच कृपया परयाऽऽविष्टो विषीदन्निदमब्रवीत् । दृष्ट्वेमं स्वजनं कृष्ण युयुत्सुं समुपस्थितम् ॥
arjuna uvāca kṛpayā parayā’’viṣṭo viṣīdannidamabravīt | dṛṣṭvemaṃ svajanaṃ kṛṣṇa yuyutsuṃ samupasthitam ||
Arjuna said: Krishna, when I see my own people standing here, eager to fight, I am overcome with pity and sorrow.
Bhagavad Gita 1.28
Arjuna
सीदन्ति मम गात्राणि मुखं च परिशुष्यति । वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्च जायते ॥
sīdanti mama gātrāṇi mukhaṃ ca pariśuṣyati | vepathuśca śarīre me romaharṣaśca jāyate ||
My limbs give way, my mouth is parched, my body trembles and my hair stands on end.
Bhagavad Gita 1.29-30
Sanjaya
सञ्जय उवाच एवमुक्त्वाऽर्जुनः संख्ये रथोपस्थ उपाविशत् । विसृज्य सशरं चापं शोकसंविग्नमानसः ॥
sañjaya uvāca evamuktvā’rjunaḥ saṃkhye rathopastha upāviśat | visṛjya saśaraṃ cāpaṃ śokasaṃvignamānasaḥ ||
Sanjaya said: Having spoken this on the battlefield, Arjuna sank down on the seat of the chariot, letting fall his bow and arrows, his mind overwhelmed by grief.
Bhagavad Gita 1.47

Misery comes through attachment, not through work

Vivekananda, Karma-Yoga

Expectations
Attachment
misery

Attachment comes only where we expect a return. Misery comes through attachment, not through work.

"Misery comes through attachment, not through work."
Swami Vivekananda
Attachment comes only where we expect a return.
Swami Vivekananda
not from the fact that we love, but from the fact that we want love in return.
Swami Vivekananda

The ladder of fall

Bhagavad Gita 2.62-63

dwelling on objects
Attachment
Craving
Anger
Confusion
loss of memory
ruin of judgement
loss of memory

Dwelling on an object breeds attachment. Attachment breeds desire. Desire breeds anger. Anger breeds delusion. Delusion causes loss of memory. Loss of memory ruins judgement. With judgement gone, one is lost.

Krishna
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते । सङ्गात् संजायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ॥
dhyāyato viṣayānpuṃsaḥ saṅgasteṣūpajāyate | saṅgāt saṃjāyate kāmaḥ kāmātkrodho’bhijāyate ||
When a person dwells on objects, attachment to them is born. From attachment comes desire, and from desire, anger.
Bhagavad Gita 2.62
Krishna
क्रोधाद्भवति संमोहः संमोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः । स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति ॥
krodhādbhavati saṃmohaḥ saṃmohātsmṛtivibhramaḥ | smṛtibhraṃśād buddhināśo buddhināśātpraṇaśyati ||
From anger comes delusion; from delusion, confusion of memory; from confusion of memory, the ruin of understanding; and with understanding ruined, a person is lost.
Bhagavad Gita 2.63

The river called Hope

Bhartrihari, Vairagya Shataka 10

Hope is a river whose water is wishes and whose waves are craving. Its crocodiles are attachment and its birds are restless thoughts. It uproots the tree of steadiness and its whirlpools are delusion. Its high banks are worry. Those who cross it with a clean mind rejoice.

Bhartrihari
आशा नाम नदी मनोरथजला तृष्णातरङ्गाकुला रागग्राहवती वितर्कविहगा धैर्यद्रुमध्वंसिनी । मोहावर्तसुदुस्तरातिगहना प्रोत्तुङ्गचिन्तातटी तस्याः पारगता विशुद्धमनसो नन्दन्ति योगीश्वराः ॥
āśā nāma nadī manorathajalā tṛṣṇātaraṅgākulā rāgagrāhavatī vitarkavihagā dhairyadrumadhvaṃsinī | mohāvartasudustarātigahanā prottuṅgacintātaṭī tasyāḥ pāragatā viśuddhamanaso nandanti yogīśvarāḥ ||
There is a river called Hope. Its water is wishes, its waves are craving; passions are its crocodiles, doubts its birds; it uproots the trees of courage; its whirlpools of delusion are hard to cross and deep, and its banks of worry tower high. Only great yogis, pure in mind, who reach the far shore, rejoice.
Bhartrihari · Vairagya Shatakam

What heals it

What the texts set against it, and the verses that give footing.

Letting govairāgya
Letting go cures the clinging mind without removing one's home or work. stated in the text
Gita 6.35; Chudala
Non-possessivenirmama
Nirmama lets one hold lightly. stated in the text
MBh 14.13; Gita 2.71; Janaka
Giving up the fruitkarma phala tyaga
Like a lotus leaf in water. stated in the text
Gita 2.47; 5.10

Krishna
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन । मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
karmaṇyevādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana | mā karmaphalaheturbhūrmā te saṅgo’stvakarmaṇi ||
Your right is to the work alone, never to its fruits. Do not let the fruit be your motive, and do not cling to doing nothing.
Bhagavad Gita 2.47
Krishna
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः । लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ॥
brahmaṇyādhāya karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ | lipyate na sa pāpena padmapatramivāmbhasā ||
One who acts offering all actions to the Supreme, giving up attachment, is not touched by wrong, as a lotus leaf is not wet by water.
Bhagavad Gita 5.10
Gives away the claim on one's work so the work stops clinging. our reading
Krishna
श्री भगवानुवाच असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलं । अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ॥
śrī bhagavānuvāca asaṃśayaṃ mahābāho mano durnigrahaṃ calaṃ | abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate ||
The Blessed Lord said: Undoubtedly, mighty-armed one, the mind is restless and hard to control. But it is held by practice and by detachment, Kaunteya.
Bhagavad Gita 6.35
Krishna
द्व्यक्षरस्तु भवेन्मृत्युस्त्र्यक्षरं ब्रह्म शाश्वतम् / ममेति द्व्यक्षरो मृत्युर्नममेति च शाश्वतम्
dvyakṣarastu bhavenmṛtyustryakṣaraṃ brahma śāśvatam / mameti dvyakṣaro mṛtyurnamameti ca śāśvatam
Two syllables are death; three syllables are the eternal. 'Mama' (mine) in two syllables is death; 'na mama' (not mine) is the eternal.
Mahabharata · Ashvamedhika Parva · Ashvamedhika
Locates bondage in the single thought mine. our reading
Kalakavrikshiya
भूत्वा च न भवत्येतदभूत्वा च भविष्यति / शोके न ह्यस्ति सामर्थ्यं शोचेत स कथं नरः
bhūtvā ca na bhavatyetadabhūtvā ca bhaviṣyati / śoke na hyasti sāmarthyaṃ śoceta sa kathaṃ naraḥ
What was, ceases to be; what was not, comes to be. Grief has no power to change this. Why then should anyone grieve?
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Rajadharma
Places loss of position inside the ordinary coming and going of things. our reading
Medhavin
नास्ति विद्यासमं चक्षुर्नास्ति सत्यसमं तपः / नास्ति रागसमंदुःखं नास्ति त्यागसमं सुखम्
nāsti vidyāsamaṃ cakṣurnāsti satyasamaṃ tapaḥ / nāsti rāgasamaṃduḥkhaṃ nāsti tyāgasamaṃ sukham
There is no eye like knowledge, no discipline like truth, no sorrow like attachment, and no happiness like letting go.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Mokshadharma
Names clinging the greatest sorrow. our reading
Ram
सब कै ममता ताग बटोरी। मम पद मनहि बाँध बरि डोरी॥ समदरसी इच्छा कछु नाहीं। हरष सोक भय नहिं मन माहीं ॥ अस सज्जन मम उर बस कैसें। लोभी हृदयँ बसइ धनु जैसें॥ तुम्ह सारिखे संत प्रिय मोरें। धरउँ देह नहिं आन निहोरें ॥
sab kai mamatā tāg baṭorī| mam pad manahi bāṁdh bari ḍorī|| samadarasī icchā kachu nāhīṃ| haraṣ sok bhay nahiṃ man māhīṃ || as sajjan mam ur bas kaiseṃ| lobhī hṛdayaṁ basai dhanu jaiseṃ|| tumha sārikhe saṃt priy moreṃ| dharauṁ deh nahiṃ ān nihoreṃ ||
Gathering the threads of attachment to all of these, he twists them into one cord and ties his mind to my feet. Even-minded, wanting nothing, with no elation, grief or fear in his mind: such a good person lives in my heart as wealth lives in a miser's heart. Saints like you are dear to me; I take a body for no other reason.
Ramcharitmanas, Sundar Kand 5.46 (chaupai 3)
Shows scattered attachments gathered, not cut. our reading
Ribhu
अतो निदाघ तत्त्वज्ञ व्यवहारेषु संसृतेः । नष्टं नष्टमुपेक्षस्व प्राप्तं प्राप्तमुपाहर ॥
ato nidāgha tattvajña vyavahāreṣu saṃsṛteḥ | naṣṭaṃ naṣṭamupekṣasva prāptaṃ prāptamupāhara ||
So, Nidagha, knower of truth, in the dealings of worldly life, let go of whatever is lost, and take up whatever comes.
Maha Upanishad 5.170
Shows a lost deal, job or plan is allowed to be over. our reading

Practices that grow letting go

Verses that give something to do, today or in the hard moment.

Krishna
श्री भगवानुवाच असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलं । अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ॥
śrī bhagavānuvāca asaṃśayaṃ mahābāho mano durnigrahaṃ calaṃ | abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate ||
The Blessed Lord said: Undoubtedly, mighty-armed one, the mind is restless and hard to control. But it is held by practice and by detachment, Kaunteya.
Bhagavad Gita 6.35
Shows loosening the pull of what the mind runs to. our reading
Kausalya
यह बिचारि नहिं करउँ हठ झूठ सनेहु बढ़ाइ। मानि मातु कर नात बलि सुरति बिसरि जनि जाइ ॥
yah bicāri nahiṃ karauṁ haṭh jhūṭh sanehu baṛhāi| māni mātu kar nāt bali surati bisari jani jāi ||
Thinking this over, I will not insist out of false affection. I bless you, son; only keep the bond of a mother, and don't forget me.
Ramcharitmanas · Ayodhya Kand
Markandeya
स होवाच । वैराग्यतैलसम्पूर्णे भक्तिवर्तिसमन्विते । प्रबोधपूर्णपात्रे तु ज्ञप्तिदीपं विलोकयेत् ॥ मोहान्धकारे निःसारे उदेति स्वयमेव हि । वैराग्यमरणिं कृत्वा ज्ञानं कृत्वोत्तरारणिम् ॥
sa hovāca | vairāgyatailasampūrṇe bhaktivartisamanvite | prabodhapūrṇapātre tu jñaptidīpaṃ vilokayet || mohāndhakāre niḥsāre udeti svayameva hi | vairāgyamaraṇiṃ kṛtvā jñānaṃ kṛtvottarāraṇim ||
In a vessel full of awakening, filled with the oil of detachment and fitted with the wick of devotion, behold the lamp of knowing. In the hollow darkness of delusion it rises of itself. Make detachment the lower fire-stick and knowledge the upper.
Dakshinamurti Upanishad 26-27
Shows letting go as the fuel. our reading
Ribhu
अतो निदाघ तत्त्वज्ञ व्यवहारेषु संसृतेः । नष्टं नष्टमुपेक्षस्व प्राप्तं प्राप्तमुपाहर ॥
ato nidāgha tattvajña vyavahāreṣu saṃsṛteḥ | naṣṭaṃ naṣṭamupekṣasva prāptaṃ prāptamupāhara ||
So, Nidagha, knower of truth, in the dealings of worldly life, let go of whatever is lost, and take up whatever comes.
Maha Upanishad 5.170
Shows no second look at what has gone. our reading
Your duty is to afford opportunities and to remove obstacles.
Swami Vivekananda
Shows there the duty ends. our reading
Dhritarashtra asks; Vidura answers
नित्योद्विग्नमिदं सर्वं नित्योद्विग्रमिदं मनः / यत्तत्पदमनुद्विग्नं तन्मे वद महामते नान्यत्र विद्यातपसो नान्यत्रेन्द्रियनिग्रहात् / नान्यत्र लोभसन्त्यागाच्छान्तिं पश्यामि तेऽनघ
nityodvignamidaṃ sarvaṃ nityodvigramidaṃ manaḥ / yattatpadamanudvignaṃ tanme vada mahāmate nānyatra vidyātapaso nānyatrendriyanigrahāt / nānyatra lobhasantyāgācchāntiṃ paśyāmi te’nagha
Dhritarashtra: 'Everything is always unsettled, and this mind is always unsettled. Wise one, tell me of the state that is free from unrest.' Vidura: 'I see no peace for you apart from learning and discipline, apart from mastering the senses, apart from giving up greed.'
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Vidura Niti
Krishna
अथैतदप्यशक्तोऽसि कर्तुं मद्योगमाश्रितः । सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं ततः कुरु यतात्मवान् ॥
athaitadapyaśakto’si kartuṃ madyogamāśritaḥ | sarvakarmaphalatyāgaṃ tataḥ kuru yatātmavān ||
If you cannot do even this, then taking refuge in my yoga and with self restrained, give up the fruit of all actions.
Bhagavad Gita 12.11
Gives up the fruit of all actions. our reading
Krishna
तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर । असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः ॥
tasmādasaktaḥ satataṃ kāryaṃ karma samācara | asakto hyācarankarma paramāpnoti pūruṣaḥ ||
Therefore, always do the work that has to be done, without attachment; by working without attachment a person reaches the highest.
Bhagavad Gita 3.19
Cultivates work without clinging. our reading

People who lived it

Someone in the scriptures went through this, and the story shows what turned.

From the Mahabharata
The parrot who stayed with the withered tree
A hunter's poisoned arrow withers the tree where a parrot has always lived. The parrot refuses to leave it. Indra, moved by its loyalty, restores the tree.
Loyalty means staying through the bad season, not only the good.
From the Ramayana
Janaka says goodbye to his daughter
After the wedding the time comes for Sita to leave Mithila. The palace, even the pet parrots, are in tears. Janaka, known everywhere for his detachment, holds his daughter and loses all composure; his ministers have to remind him it is time.
Even the wisest parent breaks a little when a child leaves home; that is love.
From the Yoga Vasishtha
Prahlada: effort and grace are not rivals
After telling how Prahlada awakened, Vasishtha faces Rama's challenge: if everything comes by effort, wasn't Prahlada saved by Vishnu's grace? Vasishtha answers that Prahlada earned it himself, that the Self and Vishnu are not two, and that sometimes we wake by our own effort and sometimes by grace reached through devotion. Steady daily practice ripens the mind like a mango.
Grace and effort work together; keep practising daily, and let the mind ripen slowly.
From the Ramayana
Dasharath lets his sons go
The sage Vishwamitra asks King Dasharath to send the teenage Ram and Lakshman to protect his forest rites from demons. Dasharath, who had his sons late in life, offers land, cows, treasure, even his own life instead. Vasishtha reasons with him, and he finally embraces the boys and hands them over.
Parents protect children best by letting them go when the time comes.

Is this where you are?

Write a line about today. Your words find their place on the map, with a verse for each.

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Questions people ask

What is the Sanskrit word for attachment?

Saṅga (सङ्ग). Clinging, attachment, 'mine'.

Which Bhagavad Gita verse speaks about attachment?

Bhagavad Gita 2.48: Established in yoga, do your work, Dhananjaya, giving up attachment, the same in success and failure. This evenness is called yoga.

How do the scriptures say to overcome attachment?

They set letting go against it. Letting go cures the clinging mind without removing one's home or work. (Gita 6.35; Chudala) Nirmama lets one hold lightly. (MBh 14.13; Gita 2.71; Janaka)

Verses, translations and stories come from the Wisdom library, read with the traditional commentaries. A line marked stated in the text is a link the verse or a named commentator makes; our reading is Wisdom's own reading of the verse.