AVG 13.1

Chapter 13 (The Seekers Sense of Well-Being): Verse 1
जनक उवाच ॥
अकिञ्चनभवं स्वास्थ्यं कौपीनत्वेऽपि दुर्लभम् ।
त्यागादानेविहायास्मादहमासेयथासुखम् ॥ १३-१॥

PURPORT:
The distinct sense of tranquility that emanates
from one who wants for nothing and owns
nothing is difficult to obtain. Even the
possession of a loin-cloth whose ownership
gets construed as 'my loin-cloth' is sufficient
to dispel this rare sense of tranquility.
Therefore, by giving up concepts and
thoughts attached to accepting and
renunciation, I am content with how I am.

TRANSLITERATION:
जनक उवाच ॥
janaka uvāca ॥
अकिञ्चनभवम् स्वास्थ्यम् कौपीनत्वे अपि दुर्लभम् ।
akiñcanabhavam svāsthyam kaupīnatve api durlabham ।
त्यागादाने विहाय अस्मात् अहम् आसे यथासुखम् ॥ १३-१॥
tyāgādāne vihāya asmāt aham āse yathāsukham ॥ 13-1॥

MEANING:
janaka (जनक) = Janaka
uvāca (उवाच) =  said ॥
akiñcanabhavam (अकिञ्चनभवम्) = emanating from within one who is without anything (compound of akiñcanabhavam (अकिञ्चनभवम्)  meaning 'without anything/utterly depleted' and bhavam (भवम्) meaning 'coming into being')
svāsthyam (स्वास्थ्यम्) = contentment/tranqulity/wellness
kaupīnatve (कौपीनत्वे) = in having a loincloth (Kaupinam, Kowanagam or Langoti is a cotton loincloth or undergarment with religious symbolism attached to asceticism for the Hindus)
api (अपि) = even
durlabham (दुर्लभम्) = difficult to obtain ।
tyāgādāne (त्यागादाने) = renunciation and acceptance
vihāya (विहाय) = giving up
asmāt (अस्मात्) = therefore
aham (अहम्) = I
āse (आसे) = live
yathāsukham (यथासुखम्) = thus happily (compound of yathā (यथासुखम्) meaning 'thus/hence' and sukham (सुखम्) meaning 'happy/content') ॥ 13-1॥

COMMENT:
Janaka continues his journey of inner exploration and this chapter is a deeper dialogue on the eventual attainment of a state of being internally content and externally tranquil. The kind of imagery that Janaka brings to bear within these line are vivid - mentioning that one does not understand or glimpse this state of contentedness by decamping to the mountains or by secluded living within a deep cave or by wearing the barest of clothing and going through aspects of ritual self-flagellation handed down from books and scripture written many centuries ago.

While some of these techniques might allow for the mind to attain a semblance of focus, the seeker understands that in resorting to these methods of sense-denial, the mind still remains active, alert and in a state of conscious control. In that sense, the mind is still conflicted with desires and memories of such desires. Awareness and internal stillness may not be obtained this way.

Awareness itself has a strange quality - in some respects it is like love - simply put, one knows it if one has it or is in it - the case is similar with love as well as awareness. The quality of being and the mental nature of awareness for one seeker is different from the quality of being and the resultant experience for another seeker. In that sense, awareness cannot be prescribed nor specified in terms of qualifiers that one measures up to - one finds a state of calm tranquility internally where one is engaged within the present and allows for the same quality to be fostered around them - this kind of fostering is achieved by a measure of empathy, kindness and a deep appreciation for the other - where one understands that the other (whoever it be), is, at the end of the day, only doing their very best under their own actualized circumstances. This understanding for the other (sentient human or animal) is key to finding that state of contentment within ones inner self. Janaka understands that this cannot come by detaching oneself from possessions nor family nor even one’s own self (nor, as he implies in this verse, by any form of self-flagellation). The understanding and the state of awareness and the process of reaching there should not be forced nor hurried in any manner - the path should be seamless. To use an analogy, the path should be similar to the manifestation of a ripple or a wave that forms on a body of water - the ripple or splash does not contradict nor is disparate from the source (water) - the ripple is a part of the same water that it springs from; the ripple is the splash is the water.

In closing this beautiful verse, it should be added that the pursuit of awareness should not be taken up as a form of a goal of any kind; especially not of the soteriological kind where the aim of 'attaining' such a state of awareness is predicated with the result of achieving some form of salvation, moksha or freedom from saṃsāra (the cycle of death and rebirth) and thus needing and seeking "deliverance" or "redemption". Such goals only tend to muddy the mind and confuse the seeker further. Awareness needs to be understood and taken up solely for itself and what it has to offer the seeker within themselves. No goals, no achievements and no milestones. In the end, the seeker behooves to renounce even concepts like awareness that culture had created and thus the seeker finds the same.