The verse and its meaning · Avadhuta Gita · Avadhuta Gita — The Song of the Free

Holding All, Held by None

Avadhuta Gita 2.13

पृथिव्यां चरितं नैव मारुतेन च वाहितम्। वरिणा पिहितं नैव तेजोमध्ये व्यवस्थितम् ॥ आकाशं तेन संव्याप्तं न तद्व्याप्तं च केनचित्। स बाह्याभ्यन्तरं तिष्ठत्यवच्छिन्नं निरन्तरम् ॥ सूक्ष्मत्वात्तददृश्यत्वान्निर्गुणत्वाच्च योगिभिः। आलम्बनादि यत्प्रोक्तं क्रमादालम्बनं भवेत्

Meaning · English

It does not wander on the earth, and the wind does not carry it. Water does not cover it. It stands in the midst of fire. The sky is filled by it, yet nothing fills it. It abides outside and inside, unbroken, without a gap. It is subtle, it cannot be seen, and it has no qualities. That is why the yogis speak of supports and the like, and what is called a support becomes a support, step by step.

The avadhuta Dattatreya goes through the elements one by one and says the self is not undone by any of them. Earth cannot be walked on, wind cannot blow it away, water cannot cover it, fire cannot burn it. Then he names the fifth element, akasha, the sky or open space, from a root meaning to shine. Space holds everything, and he says the self fills even that, while nothing contains the self. It is inside and outside at once. The word avacchinna means cut off or divided, and he says it is the opposite: unbroken, with no seam between inner and outer. Then he says why it is so hard to grasp. It is subtle, so it is finer than anything the senses can catch. It is unseen. And it is nirguna, without qualities: no colour, size or weight to hold on to. That difficulty explains the last line. Because the self gives the mind nothing to grip, teachers offer an alambana, a support, from a root meaning to hang from. A form, a name or a practice is something to hang from. He says that what is offered as a support does become one, in due order, step by step. The supports are not scorned. They are a stair toward what has no handle. The verse answers the question of where the free self is and what could touch it. His answer is that it is not apart from any place, so nothing can reach it from outside.

A clay pot sits in a river. The same open space is inside the pot and outside it, and the clay wall does not cut that space in two. Fire could bake the pot and water could fill it, yet the space is untouched. In the same way, the self runs through body and world alike, and no wall divides it.

1. At dusk today, stand at a window or open door for two minutes and look at the sky. 2. Notice what crosses it: cloud, smoke, a bird, rain. Notice that the sky keeps no mark of any of it. 3. Then bring to mind one hard moment from today, such as a sharp word or a worry. Ask only whether the part of you that watched it was marked in the same way. Do not look for an answer.

A man stands in his courtyard after a small kitchen fire. The flames are out, the floor is wet from buckets, and his hands will not stop shaking. His mind keeps replaying what could have burned. The avadhuta's words give that moment a different footing. Fire, wind and water each did something to the kitchen, the smoke and the wet floor. The verse says none of them touched what is aware of all this. The man can let the loss be a loss of walls and cupboards, and keep the watcher apart from it. Seen that way, he can look at the damage without being swallowed by it. Ordinary experience agrees that after a fright the body shakes for a while and settles by itself, and slow breathing helps it settle. The verse does not repair the kitchen, remove his fear, or replace having the wiring checked. It speaks of what stays steady while those tasks are done.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Where No 'I' Stands · Avadhuta Gita 2.10
• Next: Letting Go of Supports · Avadhuta Gita 2.16
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