MichaelWhite3: Created article!

2026-04-09T03:00:11Z

Created article!

New page

{{Short description|Sanskrit word meaning sacrifice}}
{{Hinduism}}
{{Jainism}}
'''Tyāga''' ([[Sanskrit]]: [[wikt:त्याग#Sanskrit|त्याग]]) is a [[Sanskrit]] word that means "sacrifice, giving up in generosity, forsaking, resigning" anything of value,<ref>Monier Monier-Williams, [http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/0400/mw__0489.html Tyaga], Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, page 456</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary|author=V.S.Apte|publisher=Digital Dictionaries of South Asia|url=http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=apte&query=tyaga&matchtype=exact&display=utf8|access-date=2014-02-18|archive-date=2021-02-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224142631/http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=apte&query=tyaga&matchtype=exact&display=utf8|url-status=dead}}</ref> as well as "renunciation" depending on the context.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kapil N. Tiwari|title=Dimensional of Renunciation in Advaita|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pdj41OmtVUoC&pg=PA50|year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0825-6|page=50}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Robert Williams|title=Jaina Yoga: A Survey of the Mediaeval Śrāvakācāras|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LLKcrIJ6oscC |year=1991|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0775-4|pages=34–35}}</ref> It is an ethical concept in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

==Etymology==
Tyāga means – sacrifice, renunciation, abandonment, resignation, donation, forsaking, liberality, withdrawal <ref>{{cite web|title=Sanskrit Dictionary|publisher=Spokensanskrit.de|url=http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?tinput=tyAga&direction=SE&link=yes&choice=yes}}</ref> Tyāga which is not merely physical renunciation of the world is different from [[Sannyasa]]; Sannyasa which comes from the root as means – "giving up entirely", Tyāga means – "giving up with generosity what one could probably have kept".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Bhagavad Gita: A text and Commentary for Students|author=Jeaneane D.Fowler|year=2012|publisher=Sussex Academy Press|page=273|isbn=9781845193461|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zU4E5ZidVr0C&q=tyaga&pg=PA276}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Hinduism==

Tyāga or abandonment refers to giving up of all anxieties for enjoying the fruits of actions; through practice of this kind of ''tyāga'' infusing [[discipline]] in daily activities the momentary anxiety to enjoy fruits of actions is overcome. It is a [[Subjectivity|subjective]] renunciation of selfishness and desire.<ref>{{cite book|title=Managerial Ethics: Dilemmas in Decision Making|author=Poonam Sharma|date=16 November 2004|publisher=SAGE|page=106|isbn=9780761932499|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lsWIy-T-0B4C&q=tyaga&pg=PA106}}</ref>

''Yajna is Tyāga ''. The [[Vedic]] interpretation of renunciation (''tyāga '') of the fruits of ritual acts including – ''agnistomena svargakāmo yajeta'' – "the desire for heaven", which renunciation is to be found expressed in the phrase – ''agnaye idam na mama'' – "this is for Agni, not for me" – pronounced by the yajamana at the time of the oblation.<ref>{{cite book|title=Rituals and Mantras: Rules without meanings|author=Frits Staal|year=1996|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|page=121|isbn=9788120814127|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CKLxjjXqAsQC&q=tyaga+rig+veda&pg=PA179 }}</ref>

The [[Tejobindu Upanishad]] belonging to Krishna- yajurveda explains that in ''Tyāga'' ('renunciation') one abandons the manifestations or objects of the universe through the cognition of [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] that is ''Sat'' and ''Cit'' and this is practiced by the wise as the giver of immediate salvation.<ref>{{cite book|title=Thirty Minor Upanishads|author=IslamKatob|publisher=Islamic Books|page=79|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CvXZ0j1UyAAC&q=tyaga+upanishads&pg=PA79}}</ref> Thus, [[Kaivalya Upanishad]] portrays the state of man on the way of renunciation (''tyāga'') as having become free of all attachment to the worldly and who, consequently knows and feels himself only as the one divine essence that lives in all.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Sixty Upanishads of the Veda|author=Paul Deussen|date=September 1997|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|page=791|isbn=9788120814677|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XYepeIGUY0gC&q=tyaga+upanishads&pg=PA975}}</ref>

===Tyaga of Bhagavad Gita===

[[Moksha]] consists in securing lasting freedom from the bondage of existence in the form of birth and death and realizing God who is no other than Bliss (Brahman). Chapter XVIII of the [[Bhagavad Gita]] deals with [[Sannyasa]] and Tyāga, the Paths of Knowledge and Action that are means to the attainment of moksha. [[Krishna]] tells [[Arjuna]] that ''sannyāsa'' is understood as the giving up of all actions motivated by desires, and ''tyāga'' consists in relinquishing the fruit of all actions. There are three kinds of ''Tyāga'' – ''Sattvika'', ''Rajasika'' and ''Tamasika'' (Sloka XVIII.4). Acts of sacrifice, charity and penance (the purifiers of wise men) must be performed without attachment or hope of award. Krishna states - मोहात्तस्य परित्यागस्तामसः (the abandonment of prescribed duty through ignorance) is the ''Tamasika'' form of ''tyāga'' and is not advisable. And if abandonment is owing to कायक्लेशभयात्तयजेत् (abandonment for fear of physical strain) then it is ''Rajasika'' form. If abandonment is –

:कार्यमित्येव यत्कर्म नियतं क्रियतेऽर्जुन |
:सङंग त्यक्त्वा फलं चैव स त्यागः सात्त्विको मतः| (Sloka XVIII.9)

: "A prescribed duty which is performed simply because it has to be performed, giving up attachment and fruit, that alone has been recognized as the Sattvika form of renunciation."

Thereafter, Arjuna is told about the marks of a Sattvika-man of renunciation. Krishna states that no one in possession of a body can give up absolutely all action. Instead, a renunciate is one who abstains from any actions that are prohibited or motivated by desire, and who performs duties and renounces the fruit of actions. No fruits of actions accrue for this kind of renunciate (Sloka XVIII.11-12).<ref>{{cite book|title=Srimadbhagavadgita Tattvavivecani|author=Jayadayal Goyandaka|publisher=Gita Press, Gorakhpur|pages=659–669|url= http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/srimad-bhagavad-gita-tattvavivecani-english-commentary-IDE961/}}</ref> In the preceding discourses, Krishna had recommended to Arjuna actions which ought to be performed as duty (Ch.III.19); He told him to perform ordained actions (Ch.III.8), to be free from attachment (Ch.III.9,19 & Ch.II.48), and to have no desire for the fruit of action (Ch.II.47); Krishna had recommended ''Sattvika-tyāga''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita: An Exposition|author=Chhaganlal G. Kaji|year=2004|publisher=Genesis Publishing|isbn=9788177558708|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uwUiusoi0qQC&q=tyaga&pg=PA558}}</ref>

===Sannyasa and Tyāga===

[[Sannyasa]] literally means – throwing away, absolute rejection, formal monastic life; in the [[Bhagavad Gita]], it means – mental state of thorough-going renunciation, of uncompromising abandonment of all that is unfit and unworthy, of intense dispassion toward things of the world, both internal and external. Tyāga literally means – abandonment, the turning from all that hinders the realization of the Self; in the [[Bhagavad Gita]], it means – renunciation in the sense of relinquishment of the fruit of action. Sannyāsa is external, even though it is based on internal disposition; Tyāga is completely mental, it is a state of thought and attitude. Arjuna is emphatically told that it is possible to act and accrue no karma whatsoever; it is a matter of consciousness.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bhagavad Gita: Commentary Full|author=IslamKotob|publisher=Islamic Books|page=248,250|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b387bE4Ok0oC&q=tyaga&pg=PA248}}</ref>

In this context, [[Chinmayananda]] remarks that abandonment is the true content of the status of renunciation – ''sannyāsa'' without the ''tyāga'' spirit is but an empty show; real abandonment is meant for rising to a nobler status of fulfillment, leading on to the ampler fields of expression, to fuller ways of living and to greater experiences of joy.<ref>{{cite q|Q108731212|year=1996|chapter=18|page=1127,1138|url=https://archive.org/details/holygeetabyswamichinmayana/page/n1193/mode/2up}}</ref> And, [[Sri Aurobindo|Aurobindo]] explains that – "Sannysa in the standing of the terminology of the sages means the laying aside of desirable actions. In that sense Tyāga, not Sannyasa, is the better way. It is not the desirable actions that must be laid aside, but the desire that gives them that character has to be put away from us... The spiritual transference of all works to the Master and his Shakti is the real sannyāsa in the teachings of the Gita.... The essence of renunciation, the true Tyāga, the true sannyāsa is not any rule of thumb of inaction but a disinterested soul, a selfless mind, the transition from ego to the free impersonal and spiritual nature. "<ref>{{cite book|title=Bhagavad Gita and its Message|author=Aurobindo|date=March 1996|publisher=Lotus Press|pages=252–256|isbn=9780941524780|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=QnSE5zrNjVUC&q=tyaga&pg=PA252}}</ref>

[[Self-control|Self-discipline]] too becomes a form of ''Sattvika-tyāga'', during the course of which exercise one has control over negative emotions and behaviours such as anger, greed and pride.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bhagavad Gita on Effective Leadership|author=Pujan Roka|date=April 2006|publisher=iUniverse|page=139|isbn=9780595370405|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PWw-tGKmEYgC&q=tyaga&pg=PA139}}</ref> [[The Bhagavad Gita]] projects action to serve as steps on the path of spiritual ascent, as an effective means to purify the mind through diligently cultivated mental discipline in action; the true fruit of Tyāga is an elevating sense of peace and fulfillment, even if it entails a bit of physical discomfort.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Art of Making Man Part 2|author=Chinmayananda|publisher=Chinmaya Mission|page=339|isbn=9788175974692|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CSiiLlXehVUC&q=tyaga&pg=PA339}}</ref>

==Jainism==

According to [[Tattvartha Sutra]], an ascetic’s [[dharma]] consists of ten elements i.e. abstract virtues, which are – ''ksama'' ('forbearance'), ''[[mardava]]'' ('humility'), ''arjava'' ('uprightness'), ''sauca'' ('desirelessness'), ''satya'' ('truthfulness'), ''samyama'' ('self-discipline'), ''tapas'' ('self-mortification'), ''tyaga'' ('renunciation'), ''akincanya'' ('poverty') and ''brahmacharya'' ('celibacy'). [[Hemachandra]] has recognized only two of the ten ''pratyakhyanas'' viz. ''sanketa-pratyakhyana'' and ''addha-pratyakhyana'', the former, which is of eight types, is symbolic and the devotee refrains from taking food for some time by which renunciation he recalls his mind to his religious duties; the latter, is ritualistic, also connected with abstention from or renouncing food, and has a set methodology to adopt. [[Ahimsa in Jainism|Ahimsa-vrata]] practiced by the ''Svetambras'' refers to the renunciation of killing. Basically, there are five kinds of ''tyāgas'' included in the eleven pratimās viz. ''sacitta-tyāga pratimā'', the stage of renouncing uncooked food; ''ārambha-tyāga pratimā'', the stage of abandonment of all professional activity; ''parigraha-tyāga pratimā'', the stage of transferring publicly one’s property to a son or relative; ''anumati-tyāga pratimā'', the stage of leaving the household and refraining from counselling in household matters, and ''uddista-tyāga pratimā'', the stage of not eating food especially prepared for oneself i.e. the stage of seeking alms like a monk, commonly followed by '' [[Śvētāmbara|Svetambras]] '', '' [[Digambara]]s '' and ''Avasyaka-Curni''. [[Nemicandra]] gives a list of eighty-four asatanas which includes ''sacittanām atayāga'' or failure to remove sentient objects and ''ajive tyāga'' or failure to remove non-sentient objects.<ref>{{cite book|title=Jaina Yoga: A Survey of the Mediaeval Sarvakacaras|author=R.Williams|year=1991|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|pages=34,69,173,227|isbn=9788120807754|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LLKcrIJ6oscC&q=tyaga&pg=PA173}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Nekkhamma]]
*[[Vairagya]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Indian philosophy}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyaga}}
[[Category:Hindu philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Jain philosophy]]
[[Category:Samkhya]]
[[Category:Sanskrit words and phrases]]
[[Category:Vedanta]]
[[Category:Causality]]
[[Category:Asceticism]]
[[Category:Hindu monasticism]]
[[Category:Hindu ethics]]

Tyāga - Revision history

MichaelWhite3: Created article!