Vairagya 01

भर्तृहरि - Bhartṛhari on Vairāgya  and Conquest of Fear

Swami Sivananda has published a booklet titled "Conquest of Fear". A PDF copy of that book is available in the following link.
http://www.dlshq.org/download/conquest_fear.pdf

This book starts with the Verse 31 from वैराग्य शतकं vairāgya śatakaṁ of Bhartṛhari.
भोगे रोगभयं कुले च्युतिभयं वित्त नृपालाद्भयं
माने दैन्यभयं बले रिपुभयं रूपे जराया भयम्‌।
शास्त्रे वादिभयं गुणे खलभयं काये कृतान्ताद्भयं
सर्वं वस्तु भयान्वितं भुवि नृणां वैराग्यमेवाभयम्‌॥ ३१॥

bhoge rogabhayaṁ kule cyutibhayaṁ vitta nṛpālādbhayaṁ
māne dainyabhayaṁ bale ripubhayaṁ rūpe jarāyā bhayam |
śāstre vādibhayaṁ guṇe khalabhayaṁ kāye kṛtāntādbhayaṁ
sarvaṁ vastu bhayānvitaṁ bhuvi nṛṇāṁ vairāgyamevābhayam || 31||

In enjoyment, there is fear of disease; 

In social position, there is fear of falling off; 

In wealth, there is the fear of (hostile) kings; 

In honour, there is the fear of humiliation; 

In power, there is the fear of foes; 

In beauty, there is the fear of old age; 

In scriptural erudition, there is the fear of opponents; 

In virtue, there is the fear of traducers; 

In body, there is the fear of death; 

Everything in this world pertaining to men is attended with fear; renunciation alone leads to fearlessness.

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Swami Parmarthanada's talk on vairāgya śatakaṁ verse 31 is available in the link below.

Vairāgya śatakaṁ does not directly deal with mokṣa, but deals with Vairāgya which is one of the qualifications for brahma jñānaṁ. Brahma jñānaṁ is self knowledge that you are pūrṇaṁ - you are brahman - you are complete in all aspects and lack nothing.
Śaṅkara lists the qualifications for jñānaṁ  in Viveka Chudamani Verse 19 and they are - viveka, vairāgya, śamādi ṣaṭka sampattiḥ and mumukṣutvam. Swami Parmarthanada calls them as 4Ds.
1. Discrimination 2. Dispassion 3. Discipline and 4. Desire for freedom

These 4Ds are the prerequisites for atma jnanam.
Out of these 4Ds Bhartṛhari deals exclusively with vairāgyam in his work Vairāgya śatakaṁ.
Vairāgyam is synonymous with संन्यास saṁnyāsa.
संन्यास saṁnyāsa – external renunciation
वैराग्यं vairāgyaṁ – internal detachment

Vairāgyam is a very important qualification for a serious spiritual seeker. 

While vairāgyaṁ and saṁnyāsa are synonymous, it is entirely possible for a house holder to have sufficient vairāgyaṁ to attain jñānaṁ without having to take up saṁnyāsa.

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Further Reference: Viveka Chudamani Verse 19

आदौ नित्यानित्यवस्तुविवेकः परिगण्यते।
इहामुत्रफलभोगविरागस्तदनन्तरम्‌।
शमादिषट्‌कसम्पत्तिर्मुमुक्षुत्वमिति स्फुटम्‌॥ १९॥
ādau nityānityavastuvivekaḥ parigaṇyate |
ihāmutraphalabhogavirāgastadanantaram |
śamādiṣaṭkasampattirmumukṣutvamiti sphuṭam || 19||
śamādi ṣaṭka sampattiḥ - Six fold virtues are 1. śama 2. dama 3. uparati 4. samādhāna 5. śraddhā and 6. titikṣā.
Viveka Churdamani and the topic of śamādi ṣaṭka sampattiḥ will be handled separately.