Three Kinds of Detachment

Disciple:

O Lord who has taken me like rice out of paddy that is liable to sprout again! you have just said that the planes of knowledge lead even contemptible mlecchas to final liberation. But some say that liberation cannot be gained unless the person renounces all domestic ties and retires as a sannyasin. Please clear my confusion on this point.

Master:

Son worthy of respect by the righteous! your doubt is right; hear me clear it. The renunciation which snaps domestic ties is of four kinds. They are 1. kuteechaka 2. bahoodaka 3. hamsa and 4. paramahamsa, all of which are a panacea to the miseries of the world. But detachment and not the habiliments (ochre robes) is the sole requisite for such renunciation.

Detachment is again of three degrees according as it is dull, intense and very intense. That which is caused by a shock, is impulsive  and dull. Discarding home and wealth for good is the intense form. Disgust for brahmaloka as being illusory is the very intense.

Dull detachment does not qualify one for sannyas. Intense detachment makes the person eligible for the first two orders of sannyasa. If strong and fit he must move about as a bahoodaka; otherwise he must stay (at one place) as a kuteechaka.

When detachment is very intense, he can take to the hamsa or paramahamsa order. They say that the hamsa cannot gain final liberation unless through satyaloka, whereas the paramahamsa can gain it here and now.