AVG 14.1

Chapter 14 (The Seekers Sense of Serenity): Verse 1
जनक उवाच ॥
प्रकृत्या शून्यचित्तो यः प्रमादाद्भावभावनः ।
निद्रितो बोधित इव क्षीणसंस्मरणो हि सः ॥ १४-१॥

PURPORT:
They whose mind is (by nature) empty of desires
and conditioning indeed have their recollections
of culture, attendant dualities and societal impingements
extinguished. They think of objects and things
without indulging in motive, malice or bias;
as if they had an inner awareness that stays
awake even when they are sound asleep.

TRANSLITERATION:
जनक उवाच ॥
janaka uvāca ॥
प्रकृत्या शून्यचित्तः यः प्रमादात् भावभावनः ।
prakṛtyā śūnyacittaḥ yaḥ pramādāt bhāvabhāvanaḥ ।
निद्रितः बोधितः इव क्षीणसंस्मरणः हि सः ॥ १४-१॥
nidritaḥ bodhitaḥ iva kṣīṇasaṃsmaraṇaḥ hi saḥ ॥ 14-1॥

MEANING:
janaka (जनक) = Janaka
uvāca (उवाच) = said ॥
prakṛtyā (प्रकृत्या) = by nature
śūnyacittaḥ (शून्यचित्तः) = empty-minded: as in a mind that is empty of desires and conditioning (compound of śūnya (शून्य) meaning 'empty/zero/null' and cittaḥ (चित्तः) meaning 'mind/thought')
yaḥ (यः) = who
pramādāt (प्रमादात्) = through dispassion/through an approach grounded without motive or choices
bhāvabhāvanaḥ (भावभावनः) = thinking of entities (compound of bhāva (भाव)  meaning 'entities/things/objects' and bhāvanaḥ (भावनः)  meaning 'thinking/ruminating')।
nidritaḥ (निद्रितः) = asleep/dormant/inactive
bodhitaḥ (बोधितः) = awake/cognizant
iva (इव) = as if
kṣīṇasaṃsmaraṇaḥ (क्षीणसंस्मरणः) = one whose recollections and memories (of worldly events, attendant dualities and cultural impingement) have been extinguished/one who is not under the influence of cultural conditioning (compound of kṣīṇa (क्षीण) meaning 'exhausted/extinguished' and saṃsmaraṇaḥ (क्षीणसंस्मरणः) meaning 'recollections')
hi (हि) = truly/verily/indeed
saḥ (सः) = them (literally translates to 'he')॥ 14-1॥

COMMENT:
The fascinating opening verse of this chapter delves into our own inherently peaceable natures; it opens with two simple concepts that are at the heart of this poem - the first is that a peaceable mind is one that is extinguished of any recollections of the dualities that confront each one of us and the second refrain is that the peaceable individual is that one whose mind is empty by nature.

The extinguishment of recollections of dualities refers to the gradual erosion of the backlog of conceptual designations that have slowly accumulated and built their homes within our minds - collected over the years of living with and working with societally approved monikers and culturally agreed upon name-assignments; this is the mass of name-and-form appellations and the associated dualities that come along for the ride. The seeker understands that the collected store of knowledge that has been amassed, classified and assigned is used to describe the nature of the conventional reality that confronts us. The erosion of this conceptual foundation happens within a mindset that is centered around awareness balanced with an outlook that is fundamentally unbiased and not predetermined. Given the all-pervasive nature of the designated name-and-form ocean that we are immersed within, one is mistaken into thinking that the awareness that sets in (and the subsequent concept/name-erosion that happens) is here to stay and has finality and permanency within the individual. It is noted that the awareness that sets in is also impermanent and one's mind will need to be continuously nurtured and coaxed into keeping that mindset of open awareness.

The second aspect that Janaka mentions is the pure state of mind and clarity that is engendered by the absence of any flirtations of the ego or fluctuations of an abiding self. An empty mind is not likened (colloquially speaking) to a mind that is bereft of knowledge; on the contrary, an empty mind is that mind that is brimming and full - a mind that is fully present, completely open and liberated. It is empty in the distinct sense that all latent distractions, wandering preoccupations, inherent fears, periodic worries and other fluctuations of a like nature are not present within and do not become obstacles to ones path forward. A mind where one does not assign nor find any abiding essence in the form of a soul or a self or a spirit. A mind that does not assign form nor value to the word 'empty' as the one who is thus aware knows that the word empty itself is a conceptual designation employed as a useful means for the seeker to find that middle path that is free of dualities or extremes of demeanor.


NOTE:
A fascinating poem titled 'Things' written by poet Lisel Mueller that delves right into this very topic (and, our unconscious, but, ever-present urge to recast reality within our own image of name-and-form):
What happened is, we grew lonely
living among the things,
so we gave the clock a face,
the chair a back,
the table four stout legs
which will never suffer fatigue.
We fitted our shoes with tongues
as smooth as our own
and hung tongues inside bells
so we could listen
to their emotional language,
and because we loved graceful profiles
the pitcher received a lip,
the bottle a long, slender neck.
Even what was beyond us
was recast in our image;
we gave the country a heart,
the storm an eye,
the cave a mouth
so we could pass into safety.