AVG 13.6

Chapter 13 (The Seekers Sense of Well-Being): Verse 6
स्वपतो नास्ति मे हानिः सिद्धिर्यत्नवतो न वा ।
नाशोल्लासौ विहायास्मदहमासे यथासुखम् ॥ १३-६॥

PURPORT:
I do not face misfortune when I remain
inactive nor do I achieve success by
striving actively. Forgoing thoughts
related to any misgivings on account
of me not acquiring possessions or
feelings of elation due to my
acquisition of material possessions,
I, therefore, live in blissful serenity.

TRANSLITERATION:
स्वपतः न अस्ति मे हानिः सिद्धिः यत्नवतः न वा ।
svapataḥ na asti me hāniḥ siddhiḥ yatnavataḥ na vā ।
नाशोल्लासौ विहाय अस्मात् अहम् आसे यथासुखम् ॥ १३-६॥
nāśollāsau vihāya asmāt aham āse yathāsukham ॥ 13-6॥

MEANING:
svapataḥ (स्वपतः) = sleeping (as in remaining inactive)
na (न) = not
asti (अस्ति) = there is
me (मे) = my
hāniḥ (हानिः) = loss/deficit/misfortune
siddhiḥ (सिद्धिः) = achievement/success
yatnavataḥ (यत्नवतः) = striving
na (न) = not
vā (वा) = or ।
nāśollāsau (नाशोल्लासौ) = destruction and delight (compound of nāśaḥ (नाशः) meaning 'destruction/annihilation' and ullāsaḥ (उल्लासः) meaning 'cheerfulness/happiness/splendor')
vihāya (विहाय) = forgoing/from abandoning
asmāt (अस्मात्) = so/thus
aham (अहम्) = I
āse (आसे) = live
yathāsukham (यथासुखम्) = thus happily ॥ 13-6॥

COMMENT:
This follows from the previous verse where gain or loss is not attributed to the seeker of awareness and the seeker does not acquire nor is deprived of things either by standing up or lying down or by moving to someplace else.

This line of thinking is extended here within this verse where the metaphor of sleep is used to refer to the state where the seekers senses are quiescent and are deemed inactive. Therefore the loss of pleasure on the account of the seeker not achieving anything during this period of quiescence or the elation that the seeker experiences as a result of striving to acquire possessions has been extinguished.

The overall message being that within quiescence, the state of presence is not lost and the individual is left undiminished; and, in the same vein, within action and movement, the seeker is attended upon with the same state of presence as is during times of quiescence.

A seeker intent on developing and fostering a heightened state of awareness understands three recurring motifs that keep coming up with astonishing regularity within these chapters - the motif of concentration within the present, a pattern of presence that is uplifting in spirit and a theme of equanimity of character. Attending to any one of these to the exclusion of the others will not result in clarity. For example, if one where to solely attend to concentration within the present moment, then it is possible that the mind becomes oblivious of the context of the present moment and the seeker is lost. If the seeker were solely employing all of their energies intent on a pattern of spirit that is uplifting in character, it is possible that their outlook tends to restless nervousness and the seeker again is lost; and thirdly, if the seeker were solely focused with just an emphasis on equanimity, it is possible that their intellect tends to banality and yet again, the seeker is lost. The key is to apply oneself to the present with equal aspects of each and every one of these three without being overly fixated on any one facet to the exclusion of the rest - this way, one applies a middle path that look to focus in the present, a presence that is uplifting in character and equanimity of bearing so that the seeker is pliable yet not compliant, adaptable yet not impressionable and radiates outwardly yet not incandescent - a middle way of clarity.