AVG 2.3

Chapter 2 (The Seekers Joy at Self-Cognizance): Verse 3

सशरीरमहो विश्वं परित्यज्य मयाऽधुना ।

कुतश्चित् कौशलाद् एव परमात्मा विलोक्यते ॥ २-३॥

PURPORT:

By renouncing the actualized body,

as well as the entire universe, and,

through a little bit of good fortune

and subtle teaching, I now perceive the 

the universe as a quintessence.

TRANSLITERATION:

सशरीरम् अहो विश्वम् परित्यज्य मया अधुना ।

saśarīram aho viśvam parityajya mayā adhunā ।

कुतश्चित् कौशलात् एव परमात्मा विलोक्यते ॥ २-३॥

kutaścit kauśalāt eva paramātmā vilokyate ॥ 2-3॥

MEANING:

saśarīram (सशरीरम्) = with the body (actualized)

aho (अहो) = O, wow! (as in an exclamation of wonderment at newfound knowledge)

viśvam (विश्वम्) = universe

parityajya (परित्यज्य) = having left or abandoned/with the exception of/excepting

mayā (मया) = by me

adhunā (अधुना) = now/at the present moment/at this time ।

kutaścit (कुतश्चित्) = through a little bit/subtle 
x

kauśalāt (कौशलात्) = good fortune

eva (एव) = only

paramātmā (परमात्मा)* = universe as quintessence (the straight translation from the Sanskrit will yield Supreme Self) 

vilokyate (vilokyate) = ॥ 2-3॥

COMMENTS:

These verses build directly off the previous where Janaka joyfully understands that it is by virtue of his sense faculties that he can affirm his own body; and, by extension, the universe is as manifested as revealed by him. 

In these verses Janaka, proceeds to ‘discard’ or renounce the ideas that have conditioned his mind into assigning substantial essence to anything around him – right from his own body to all of the manifest universe around him. Again, one must steer clear of a nihilist reading of these verses. When the body or the universe or any other existent entity is regarded as an illusory phenomenon, understand that it is illusory in terms of the inability for one (however hard one might try) to assign an essence that is core and fundamental to that entity. A core aspect that retains its form, nature, state and remains so without any dependent conditions or causes is not tenable. Such an entity cannot be found however hard one might look and analyze the fundamental structures of things. In this sense, the universe is empty and the body is empty. But, from a conventional perspective, understand that the universe is as it is manifest to us; stars, planets, water, hummingbirds and all.

Therefore, in these verses, Ashtavakra says that he understands that there is a distinct lack of an ultimate foundational essence within the body as well as the universe; and by giving up any notions of ultimate realities posited upon the body in the micro perspective and the universe in the macro, Janaka perceives the universe as quintessence. Janaka is overjoyed to have the good fortune and the subtle understanding from a teacher like Ashtavakra in helping him understand this aspect.

*Let me explain quintessence here: I chose to use the word quintessence here from a dual perspective – the first of them being a reference to the fact that Janaka has begun to understand that the intrinsic and central constituent character of the manifest universe (while conventionally tangible and manifested physically) is, from an ultimate perspective, without characterization – is ultimately empty of character. However hard we try to characterize, the result will only be what our limited-in-perspective sense organs tell us – and that result is limited and relevant just for us and our truths. The second perspective that one may gain from the word quintessence is its use within cosmology. In physics, quintessence is a hypothetical form of dark energy, postulated as an explanation of the observation of an accelerating rate of expansion of the universe. Let me explain a tiny bit here: In physical cosmology and astronomy, dark energy is an unknown form of energy which is hypothesized to permeate all of space, tending to the acceleration and the expansion of the universe. Dark energy right now is the most accepted hypothesis to explain the observations since the 1990s indicating that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. We now know that much of the energy in the Universe is not 'matter'. Over the last 300 years, scientists studied the characteristics of matter and radiation. Today we come to understand that this represents less than 30% of the composition of the Universe. We simply do not know anything about the remaining 70% of the universe. In addition, we have been taught from grade school that most of the energy within the universe is not gravitationally attractive whereas gravity is always an attractive force. We now know that gravity can repel and the possibility of self-repulsive forms of energy follow from the results of the general theory of relativity. We now know that gravitationally self-attracting matter is a minuscule portion of the universe. Also, from a temporal perspective, we seem to be suspended at a fairly unique moment within cosmic evolution where observations inform that we are transitioning from a decelerating, matter-dominated universe to an accelerating, dark-energy-dominated universe. This means that the formation of large scale structures like galaxies and associated complexity that characterized the matter-dominated universe is reaching an end, and we now are rushing headlong into a universe that is without structure and 'empty' from a matter perspective.  This means that the future of our universe is governed and determined by the hypothetical quintessence resulting in dilution and an eventual cooling off of the universe. 

The use of the word paramātmā (परमात्मा) = ‘universe as quintessence’ seemed to straddle nicely between the philosophical thoughts of Janaka as well as a scientific perspective of the word.