Importance of vairagya

Next, yamaraja gives the reason for the importance of vairagya, by describing the position of hiranyagarbha which naciketa rejected, because naciketa can see the limitation of karma.

kāmasyāptim jagataḥ pratiṣṭhām kratorānantyamabhayasya pāram |

stomam mahadurugāyam pratiṣṭhām dṛṣṭvā dhṛtyā dhīro naciketo’tyasrākṣīḥ ||1.2.11||

Oh naciketa! Having considered the vast, adorable, and glorious state (hiranyagabha) which is the limit of pleasure, which is the support of the universe, which is the infinite result of meditation, (and) which is the highest state of fearless, (you) the discriminative one, discarded (it) firmly.

Hiranyagarbha is the total upādhi of entire subtle aspects of worlds, therefore it is jagataḥ pratiṣṭhām - the support of the universe, where the whole gross experiential world (which is endowed with sound, touch, form, smell, and taste) comes from, along with individual sense organs and their presiding deities. Only with this combination of names and forms, with the subject-object division, then the whole transactional world is possible. In the words hiranyagarbha is said to be the support of the universe because the gross transactional world is always supported by the subtle. Since all experience is made possible because of him, and we all desire for pleasant experience alone, thus this position is the highest limit of pleasure - kāmasyāptim.  This position is  kratorānantyam - the limitless result of upāsana, limitless here means relatively infinite compared to other possible results of upāsana. And abhayasya pāram - highest limit of fearless, since it is the highest position among those endowed with upādhi. This fearless is also relative because absolute fearlessness is there only in non-duality.

stomam mahadurugāyam pratiṣṭhām dṛṣṭvā - having considered such a vast, adorable, and glorious state (hiranyagabha), being offered by yamaraja, dhṛtyā dhīro naciketo’tyasrākṣīḥ - naciketa being the discriminative one, renounced it firmly, for the highest goal of life, moksa. Indeed naciketa is endowed with excellent quality of viveka - discriminative capacity between permanent and impermanent, and vairagya - dispassion for enjoyment of here and hereafter.