Ashtavakra Gita 4.6 -

Attraction and repulsion (rāga and dvesha) are the pair of opposites (dvandva), leading ordinary people to various kinds of activity, interaction and involvement. Normally, with every passing day these grow, making their hold on the mind stronger and deeper. This is the pravṛtti-mārga, the path of involvement.

Spirituality is a reversal of this process. In it rāga-dveshas are sublimated every time and the mind grows purer every day. This is nivṛtti-marga, the path of withdrawal and recession.

Fear is the third urge which troubles and binds the mind of the seeker. Mind is virtually a rope made of these three strands – attraction, repulsion and fear. Maharshi had already spoken about rāga-dveshas, ishṭa-anishṭas. He now speaks about fear, the third of the triplet. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita that one able to sublimate rāga, dvesha and bhaya, verily attains Krishna’s own transcendental state (4.10 ).

The first to disappear is rāga, desire, ishṭa. The second is dvesha, anishṭa. The third is fear, bhaya. With the sublimation of fear, the mind attains to a very lofty state. The Knower floating in such a transcendental state, is not governed by any sense of duty or obligation. Whatever he thinks, speaks and does is a free expression of his being, like breath and heartbeat. It will always be to the benefit of the world, not of himself. The Knower is a model human, whose life is a benediction to the society any time!