Raga-Dvesha - The Binding Force of Likes and Dislikes

In Vedanta, rāga-dveṣa (raga-dvesha) means likes (rāga) and dislikes (dveṣa). They are the fundamental psychological forces that color our perception of the world and drive most human action. While the world is mithya — name and form with utility — the jiva becomes overwhelmed when it treats its likes and dislikes as absolute.

Swami Dayananda often said: We do not live in the public world but in a private world of our raga-dveshas. Objects and people are not experienced as they are but through the filter of attraction and aversion. What I like, I chase; what I dislike, I avoid. These compulsions seem natural but become binding when they override dharma and reason.

The Bhagavad Gita identifies raga-dvesha as the seed of samsara. Krishna advises Arjuna not to fight out of love or hate, but in alignment with dharma. Duryodhana, ruled by raga (for the kingdom) and dvesha (for the Pandavas), exemplifies how they lead to adharma. Arjuna is told instead: “Take pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat as the same. Do what must be done, not what your raga-dvesha dictates.”

From a deeper perspective, raga-dvesha arise from a sense of incompleteness (apurnatva). We chase what we think will make us whole and reject what we think threatens us. But as teachers remind us, love and hate are never about the object; they are reflections of our own Self. Desire is destroyed not by suppression but by recognizing the Self as limitless. Then raga-dvesha lose their binding force.

The yogic disciplines of shama (mastery of the mind) and dama (restraint of the senses) train us to create distance between ourselves and our impulses. We cannot stop likes and dislikes from arising, but we need not become their servants. Freedom lies in acting by dharma rather than compulsion. Ultimately, a jñani may still experience preferences, but they no longer bind; they are like ripples on the surface of the limitless Self.

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Root & Meaning

• Rāga = attraction, attachment, like

• Dveṣa = aversion, dislike, hate

• Together: Rāga-dveṣa = the pair of likes and dislikes.

Scriptural References

• Bhagavad Gita (2.47–48; 3.34; 6.27): warns against acting under raga-dvesha, teaching equanimity instead.

• Vivekachudamani: describes obsession with objects (vishayanuchinta) as bondage.

• Mandukya Karika (3.36–37): Gauḍapada calls obsession with nama-rupa (name and form) “abhutabhinivesha” (deep clinging).

Traditional View

• Raga-dvesha are natural but become binding when compulsive.

• They lead to adharma when one acts against what should or should not be done.

• A yogi or karma-yogi manages raga-dvesha, choosing dharma over compulsion.

Vedantic Analysis

• Rooted in ignorance of one’s wholeness (purnatva), raga-dvesha are attempts to secure happiness from objects.

• Desire and fear are two sides of the same coin; both rest on misidentification with limitation.

• Self-knowledge reveals security and fullness as one’s true nature, dissolving raga-dvesha as binding forces.

Common Misunderstandings

• That raga-dvesha must be eliminated entirely: They are inevitable as long as the body-mind functions. The point is to master them, not eradicate them.

• That following every like/dislike is freedom: True freedom is not enslavement to impulse but the ability to act with discrimination.

• That love or hate are about objects: They reflect one’s own relationship to the Self.

Vedantic Resolution

Raga-dvesha lose their power when seen as mere superimpositions on mithya nama-rupa. The wise accept likes and dislikes as part of the mind but do not obey them blindly. Mastery of raga-dvesha is mastery of life, leading naturally to inner freedom.