Chapter Five


Janaka says:

I became indifferent to and detached from first physical action, then small talk, and finally conceptualizing itself, and so I abide in my natural state.   (107)

Without any attachment to words and sense objects, and as the Self is not an object of perception, my mind has been freed from distraction, and become one-pointed.  And so do I abide in my natural state.  (108)

Having realized that efforts such as meditation are prescribed only for those whose mind is distracted, I abide in my natural state.  (109)

O Brahman, I have seen through the unreality of the interrelated opposites like pleasure and pain, the acceptable and the unacceptable, and so I abide in my natural state.  (110)

Having found that limiting myself to the duties of the particular life stage, and observing the prescribed self-disciplines, et cetera, are distractions, I abide in my natural state.  (111)

Having fully realized that deliberately abstaining from action is as much the outcome of ignorance as the volitional action, I abide.  (112)

Thinking on the Unthinkable means another aspect of conceptualizing and objectivizing.  Having realized this, I abide in my natural state.  (113)

Blessed is the man who has accomplished this.  Blessed is he, indeed, whose very nature is this.  (114)

The tranquility that is the result of the conviction that the entire manifestation is a phenomenal illusion, is rare even for one who possess only a loin-cloth.  Therefore, giving up the very concept of renunciation and acceptance, I remain contented in my natural state.  (115)

There is weariness of the body here, the fatigue of the tongue there, and distress of the mind elsewhere.  Therefore, detached from all action and effort, I remain happily in my natural state.  (116)

Clearly understanding that nothing is actually ‘done’ in Reality, I remain established in my natural state, witnessing whatever happens to be done.  (117)

The spiritual seekers are involved in action or inaction because they are still identified with the body.  Not being concerned with either identity or non-identity, I live happily in my natural state.  (118)

No consequences – good or evil – concern me whether in movement or rest.  Therefore, I am content in my natural state whether the body-mind apparatus is stationary, in movement, or asleep.  (119)

I do not lose anything by relaxing, nor do I gain anything by striving.  Therefore, transcending all concepts of loss or gain, I remain happily in my natural state.  (120)

Having repeatedly observed the inconstancy of the various aspects of pleasure in varying circumstances, I am indifferent to all experience, and remain happily in my natural state.  (121)

He whose worldly recollections have been extinguished, who is in reality, naturally vacant-minded, whose senses respond to their objects without any apparent volition, goes through life as if he were asleep.  (122)

When once my desires have melted away, where is the question of any riches, or friends, or thieves, in the form of sense-objects?  Where, indeed, is the question of scriptures, and even knowledge?  (123)

As I have realized my identity with the supreme absolute, the witness, there is complete indifference both to bondage and liberation, and I feel no concern even for enlightenment.  (124)

The extraordinary condition of one who is devoid of all possible doubts, and goes about as if unaware of his surroundings, uninhibitedly, can be understood only by those who are like him.  (125)