AVG 2.19

Chapter 2 (The Seekers Joy at Self-Cognizance): Verse 19 

सशरीरमिदं विश्वं न किंचिदिति निश्चितम् ।

शुद्धचिन्मात्र आत्मा च तत्कस्मिन् कल्पनाधुना ॥ २-१९॥

PURPORT:

I have known, for certain, that this universe,

along with this body, is unalloyed emptiness.

I am that unconditioned, non-dual essence of awareness;

now therefore, why would I hypothesize the presence

of something, when it is really nothing?

TRANSLITERATION:

सशरीरम् इदम् विश्वम् न किञ्चित् इति निश्चितम् ।

saśarīram idam viśvam na kiñcit iti niścitam ।

शुद्धचिन्मात्रः आत्मा च तत् कस्मिन् कल्पना अधुना ॥ २-१९॥

śuddhacinmātraḥ ātmā ca tat kasmin kalpanā adhunā ॥ 2-19॥

MEANING:

saśarīram (सशरीरम्) = along with the body

idam (इदम्) = this

viśvam (विश्वम्) = universe

na (न) = not

kiñcit (किञ्चित्) = something/some bit/a little bit

iti (इति) = this (as in ‘this’ understood by me)

niścitam (निश्चितम्) = determined/ascertained/known for certain ।

śuddhacinmātraḥ (शुद्धचिन्मात्रः) = pure and unconditional non-dual essence of awareness (compound of śuddha (शुद्ध) meaning unqualified/absolute/pure and cinmātraḥ (चिन्मात्रः) meaning just that specific indivisible non-dual essence; can also be taken to mean just that indivisible moiety of pure awareness)

ātmā (आत्मा) = innate nature/self

ca (च) = and

tat (तत्) = therefore/so

kasmin (कस्मिन्) = upon which/in what

kalpanā (कल्पना) = idea/concept/hypothesis/imagination

adhunā (अधुना) = at present/at this time/now ॥ 2-19॥

COMMENTS:

From my reading and understanding of these lines, the critical message that Janaka passes on to us here is the concept of the original mind. A state of mind as if it were empty of concepts and devoid of conceptual clutter as one would envisage a clean stretch of a sandy beach before the summer crowds arrive. Let me explain a tiny bit more to expand this idea using the metaphor of the beach itself. The original mind is always in equilibrium with the body - taking care of the primary functions in an unsullied manner; firstly homeostasis - ensuring the continued survival of the sentient being moment to moment and secondly, transmission of genetic material to ensure generational persistence of the sentient being itself. This is accomplished in relative equilibrium with the rest of the beings with whom we share this universe. The waves that wash upon such a beach as this is akin to the slow gradual changes that are temporally perpetuated and punctuated by the natural adjustments and transitions inherent in the shifting dynamics towards various equilibria within the universe.

Now, think of the summer crowds arriving at such a beach and covering the beach with billboards, letters, numbers, signs and other paraphernalia derived from common parlance – jargon and lingo that we have advanced as a culture over millennia. Such is the nature of intellect and learning upon the original mind. Intellect and conditioned learning as a tumbling mélange of clutter and chaos upon the minds blank slate ensuring the steady and incessant supply of emergent thoughts to keep us occupied, distracted and engrossed – the same way that graffiti, doodles, scribbles and associated signage work at the beach. The beach thus is no longer that clean, sandy stretch, but, is now defined, appropriated and cordoned off using the subjective specifications that idiosyncratic summer crowds instinctively impose using a group-herd mentality.

Now imagine that the same set of people visiting the stretch of beach overlay their subjective interactions mentioned above with their own partisan opinions, biased judgements, tendentious fears, partial prejudices and irrational choices. Add to this the tendency within our species to impose these subjective ethics and morals by the majority-in-numbers upon the beach and people at the beach. I would compare the set of opinions, judgements, fears, prejudices and choices brought into the beach as analogous to the garbage and trash that is leftover daily at the beach at the end of a summer day if the beach is left uncleaned.

If left untended, the rubbish piles will grow into evermore greater quantities as the summer season progresses. Our culturally defined identities are similar to a neglected beach at the end of the summer season, piled sky high with the detritus of culture that includes names, shapes, forms, practices, religions, cults, gods, goddesses and other similar cultural rubble cluttering the otherwise empty and pristine nature of our minds.

Janaka, on understanding the truer nature of being as well as reality remarks that he starts to see and understand that his true unconditioned, non-dual essence of awareness is similar to the pristine beach. On seeing thus, Janaka asks “now therefore, why would I hypothesize the presence of something, when it is really nothing”?