AVG 4.5

Chapter 4 (A seeker's perspective into the beauty of self-awareness): Verse 5
आब्रह्मस्तम्बपर्यन्ते भूतग्रामे चतुर्विधे ।
विज्ञस्यैव हि सामर्थ्यमिच्छानिच्छाविवर्जने ॥ ४-५॥

PURPORT:
Amongst the entire neighborhood of sentients,
from the all-creating big-bang singularity
right down to a clump of grass,
it is the indeed the one who distills awareness
who is solely capable of eschewing desire and aversion.

TRANSLITERATION:
आब्रह्मस्तम्बपर्यन्ते भूतग्रामे चतुर्विधे ।
ābrahmastambaparyante bhūtagrāme caturvidhe ।
विज्ञस्य एव हि सामर्थ्यम् इच्छानिच्छाविवर्जने ॥ ४-५॥
vijñasya eva hi sāmarthyam icchānicchāvivarjane ॥ 4-5॥

MEANING:
ābrahmastambaparyante (आब्रह्मस्तम्बपर्यन्ते) = from brahma* down to a knot of grass (compound of ā (आ) meaning 'from' and brahma* (ब्रह्म) meaning 'creator god in Hinduism - sometimes viewed as a form (saguna) of the otherwise formless (nirguna) Brahman - the ultimate metaphysical reality in Vedantic Hinduism' and stamba (स्तम्ब) meaning 'clump or a tuft of grass' and paryante (पर्यन्ते) meaning 'including/counting').
bhūtagrāme (भूतग्रामे) = in all beings in communities (compound of bhūta (भूत) meaning 'beings' and grāme (ग्रामे) meaning 'in the communities')
caturvidhe (चतुर्विधे) = of four** sorts or kinds (reference to the four types of species (crawling, swimming, flying, walking))।
vijñasya (विज्ञस्य) = of the wise one/of the one with awareness
eva (eva) = alone
hi (हि) = surely/indeed
sāmarthyam (सामर्थ्यम्) = fitness/strength/capability
icchānicchāvivarjane (इच्छानिच्छाविवर्जने) = in eschewing desire and aversion (compound of icchā (इच्छा) meaning 'desire' and anicchā (अनिच्छा) meaning 'aversion' and vivarjane (विवर्जने) meaning 'renouncing/eschewing/shunning')॥ 4-5॥

COMMENT:
This beautiful verse captures the sentiment expressed in the previous verses perfectly - Janaka asserts that the person of awareness in their interplay with all of the objects of this world, both sentient and otherwise, is wise and aware enough to understand and not be overly attracted and influenced by what they like, and, in a similar manner, not to be repelled and transformed by what they dislike. The equanimity of the individual's mind in the world of name-and-form is the key import that Janaka imparts here. Again, as previously alluded to, these lines does not mean that the beginning seeker nor the experienced teacher abandon all worldly pleasures and pains and retreat to that cliff above all the fray. These lines absolutely do not subscribe to such a point of view: in fact, in my seeker's understanding, the lines point to the opposite - stay within the milieu, enjoy and savor every interaction however pleasurable or painful, but not be overly or overtly swayed by such interactions. This can be achieved by an inculcation of a mindset that looks, feels and thinks choicelessly, unbiasedly and impartially. The casting away of preset notions and doctrines that one brings to the interaction is the first step in cultivating this particular mindset. The continuous application of such a mindset to all of our interactions on a gradual basis will allow for the expansion of such a mindset and the eventual equanimity that Janaka talks about in this particular verse.

NOTES:
*One way to consider brahma is to correlate the ancient creator mythos equivalent to a personification of the singularity (the singularity in the Big Bang cosmological model for the observable universe that drove the expansion from the earliest known periods through its subsequent large-scale evolution).

**Note on caturvidhe (चतुर्विधे): Every philosophy tries to understand the relation between universe, a supposed creator and the individual. The AdvaitaVedanta philosophy denotes the individual as jIva. Three body forms are associated with the jIva - sthUla sharIra or gross body, sUkShma sharIra or subtle body and kAraNa sharIra or causal body.  The word caturvidhe (चतुर्विधे) denotes the four kinds of gross bodies. They are jarAyujAni  - viviparous or bringing forth live young that have developed inside the body of the parent like humans, mammals; anDajAni - oviparous (of a bird, reptile etc.) producing young by means of eggs that are hatched after they have been laid by the parent; svEdajAni - in the ancient days, it was thought that the birthing of flies and inspects happens via moisture and udbbijAni - taking birth by breaking the earth (plants and trees). Thus, a jIva can take birth in any one of the four gross bodies. In this particular context, it means the entire creation comprising all sentient beings.