Datta Maata 154 : There is no sin greater than attachment and there is no greater happiness than detachment

Na sangēna samam pāpam|
Vairāgyēna samam sukham||
This means that there is no sin greater than attachment and there is no greater happiness than detachment. Attachment means being attached to objects. It also implies attachment to the world. Because of this, one incurs only sorrows and not happiness. With such attachment, one may get temporary happiness however that also finally gives sorrow only. Many feel that amassing wealth beyond necessity and passing the same to the children will make them happy. It may give temporary happiness but finally it ends up in sorrows only. In order to acquire permanent happiness, one must make the friendship of the pious. Then, the mind will get less infatuated to the worldly matters. Such pure mind will walk towards God which gives rise to a feeling of detachment towards the worldy affairs. This is "Vairagya". We can learn about this from the story of Rishabha.

Rishabha is the incarnation of Vishnu. A part of his kingdom is this Indian sub continent. The son of Rishabha is "Bharatha". It is upon his name that India is known as "Bharatha". Rishabha was rich in the power of penance, valor, radiance and Yoga. He had both worldly and spiritual knowledge. He was also the king of Yoga. Rishabha coronated his son and left for forest to do his Yogic practice and penance. In front of Rishabha's hermitage, a river flows by.

One day, a heavily pregnant deer came to the river. While it was drinking water, it heard the fearful sound of a lion's roar. The deer got scared of the sound. As a result, while it was crossing the river, it gave birth to a fawn in the water itself and died in the next moment. Rishabha had observed all this. Out of compassion, he brought the fawn and started bringing it up. Gradually, he started developing love on the young one. To take care of that, he had completely given up his Yogic practice. Worrying that in his absence, the fawn will become prey to a lion, he used to spend the entire day with it. This Yogi has reached his final stage of life. Thinking of the fawn, he left his body. Because of this, in his next birth, Rishabha was born as a deer. When one leaves the life force, the thoughts must be noble. What one thinks of while leaving the body, one will become like that in the next birth. Since Rishabha had the knowledge of previous birth, he always took the names of God at all times and in all situations, even in the form of deer.

This is the result of the power of God's names. That is why, one must incessantly chant the divine names. If it is done so, at the time of death, one gets to say those names. Nobody knows when and how death will catch hold of us. There will be no intimation. That is why, it
is wrong to think that we can do spiritual practice relaxedly after retiring. Do not say that you have no time now. Many people plan to do great services after retirement. They do not do anything now. Remember every moment -"Nityam sinnihito mrityuḥ" (Death is very dear to you every moment) We must be cautious every moment. We must not forget the names of God at all. It is with this great intention that our elders have given the names "Rama", "Krishna" and "Lalitha" to the children. Their intention is - at least we will take God's names in this manner. However, we call the children with some other pet names - Lalitha as Lalli, Parvathi as Paru, Satyanarayana as Sattu. It is good that Thilakavathi is not cut short as Thithi. Many do not know how to pronounce Rama. By doing so, the main intention of keeping such names is lost in itself. If we call them properly, we get good merit as well. If one always thinks of the worldly matters, the voice gets choked at the time of last breath. Despite any amount of efforts, one cannot say God's names at that time. Death with the God's names bestows salvation. To think of God, there is nothing like appropriate time. Anytime is worth chanting the divine names.