CHAPTER 96 — अभावस्य उपयोगित्वम् | Servility of Non-being

अरकाश् च लोहं च सम्मेलितानि, किन्तु केन्द्र-छिद्रम् एव चक्रं करोति॥१॥

arakāś ca lohaṃ ca sammelitāni, kintu kendra-chidram eva cakraṃ karoti॥1॥

Spokes and metal join together, but it is the center hole that makes the wheel.

वयं लोहं घटे रचयामः, किन्तु अन्तर्-रिक्तता एव यद् यद् वयम् इच्छामस् तद् धरति॥२॥

vayaṃ lohaṃ ghaṭe racayāmaḥ, kintu antar-riktatā eva yad yad vayam icchāmas tad dharati॥2॥

We shape metal into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside which holds whatever we want.

वयं यन्त्र-अङ्गानि उपकरणानि च निर्मामः, किन्तु अमूर्तम् एव अन्तर्-जालं कृत्रिम-बुद्धिं च करोति॥३॥

vayaṃ yantra-aṅgāni upakaraṇāni ca nirmāmaḥ, kintu amūrtam eva antar-jālaṃ kṛtrima-buddhiṃ ca karoti॥3॥

We construct hardware components and devices, but it is the ethereal which makes the Internet and AI intelligence.

वयं गृहाय इष्टकाः संचीयामः, किन्तु अन्तर्-अवकाश एव तद् वास-योग्यं करोति॥४॥

vayaṃ gṛhāya iṣṭakāḥ saṃcīyāmaḥ, kintu antar-avakāśa eva tad vāsa-yogyaṃ karoti॥4॥

We stack bricks for a house, but it is the inner space which makes it livable.

वयं ज्ञान-प्रकाशं लब्धुं प्रबुद्ध-जीवं रचयितुं च श्रमयामः, किन्तु प्रज्ञायाः अन्धकार-गर्तम् एव तस्मै अर्थं शाश्वत-जीवनं च ददाति॥५॥

vayaṃ jñāna-prakāśaṃ labdhuṃ prabuddha-jīvaṃ racayituṃ ca śramayāmaḥ, kintu prajñāyāḥ andhakāra-gartam eva tasmai arthaṃ śāśvata-jīvanaṃ ca dadāti॥5॥

We work to gain the light of knowledge and construct an enlightened soul, but it is the dark hollow of wisdom which gives it meaning and eternal life.

दिव्यम् अस्माकं वासाय चमत्कारिक-देहं सृजति, तथापि अमूर्त-जीवे एव वयं जीविताः स्मः॥६॥

divyam asmākaṃ vāsāya camatkārika-dehaṃ sṛjati, tathāpi amūrta-jīve eva vayaṃ jīvitāḥ smaḥ॥6॥

The Divine creates a miraculous body for us to live in, yet the intangible soul is where we are alive.

जगत् कठिनं मृदु च, बलवद् साहसिकं च, शीतम् उष्णं च, त्रि-आयामेषु रचितम्, तथापि स्वर्ग-अवकाशम् एव वयम् उत्कण्ठामहे॥७॥

jagat kaṭhinaṃ mṛdu ca, balavad sāhasikaṃ ca, śītam uṣṇaṃ ca, tri-āyāmeṣu racitam, tathāpi svarga-avakāśam eva vayam utkaṇṭhāmahe॥7॥

The world is made hard and soft, strong and bold, cold and warm, in three dimensions, yet it is the void of heaven that we yearn for.

वयं संसाधकान्, मोडमान्, पटलानि, उपकरणानि च निर्मामः, तथापि अमूर्तो बिटः उपयोगं ददाति। वयं वस्तूनि इच्छामः, किन्तु आनन्द-सन्तोषयोर् अमूर्त-गर्तम् एव यद् वयं वस्तुतो वाञ्छामः॥८॥

vayaṃ saṃsādhakān, moḍamān, paṭalāni, upakaraṇāni ca nirmāmaḥ, tathāpi amūrto biṭaḥ upayogaṃ dadāti। vayaṃ vastūni icchāmaḥ, kintu harṣa-santoṣayor amūrta-gartam eva yad vayaṃ vastuto vāñchāmaḥ॥8॥

We build processors, modems, screens and devices yet the intangible bit renders the utility. We desire things, but the intangible hollow of happiness and contentment is what we really want.

अतः, भावो यद् अस्माकं विद्यते, किन्तु अभाव एव यद् वयम् उपयुञ्ज्महे॥९॥

ataḥ, bhāvo yad asmākaṃ vidyate, kintu abhāva eva yad vayam upayuñjmahe॥9॥

Therefore, being is what we have, but non-being is what we use.

महामार्गिणी जानाति यद् रूपं रिक्तता च विपरीते न, अपितु यथार्थतायाः परस्पर-पूरक-पक्षौ। एको ऽन्यस्मै अर्थम् उपयोगं च ददाति॥१०॥

mahāmārgiṇī jānāti yad rūpaṃ riktatā ca viparīte na, apitu yathārthatāyāḥ paraspara-pūraka-pakṣau। eko ’nyasmai artham upayogaṃ ca dadāti॥10॥

The Wayist understands that form and emptiness are not opposites, but complementary aspects of reality. Each gives meaning and utility to the other.

ध्याने, महामार्गिणी विचाराणां मध्ये अवकाशस्य, शब्दानां मध्ये मौनस्य च सजगतां पोषयति। एतेषु एव अवकाशेषु प्रायो गभीरा प्रज्ञा उद्भवति॥११॥

dhyāne, mahāmārgiṇī vicārāṇāṃ madhye avakāśasya, śabdānāṃ madhye maunasya ca sajagatāṃ poṣayati। eteṣu eva avakāśeṣu prāyo gabhīrā prajñā udbhavati॥11॥

In meditation, the Wayist cultivates awareness of the space between thoughts, the silence between sounds. It is in these spaces that deeper wisdom often emerges.

अभावो न शून्यम्, अपितु सम्भाव्यता। यथा रिक्त-पटश् चित्रकारस्य तूलिकां प्रतीक्षमाणः, तद् अनन्त-सम्भावना धरति॥१२॥

abhāvo na śūnyam, apitu sambhāvyatā। yathā rikta-paṭaś citrakārasya tūlikāṃ pratīkṣamāṇaḥ, tad ananta-sambhāvanā dharati॥12॥

Non-being is not nothingness, but potentiality. Like an empty canvas awaiting the artist’s brush, it holds infinite possibilities.

अभावस्य सेव्यता तस्य यद्-यद्-रूपं वोढुं, यद्-यद्-प्रयोजनं सेवितुं च इच्छा। अस्मिन्, स महामार्गस्य परम-नम्रतां प्रतिबिम्बयति॥१३॥

abhāvasya sevyatā tasya yad-yad-rūpaṃ voḍhuṃ, yad-yad-prayojanaṃ sevituṃ ca icchā। asmin, sa mahāmārgasya parama-namratāṃ pratibimbayati॥13॥

The servility of non-being is its willingness to take any form, to serve any purpose. In this, it mirrors the ultimate flexibility of theWAY itself.

अभावम् आलिङ्ग्य, महामार्गिणी अधिक-पूर्णतया जीविता भवति। विरोधाभासतया, त्यागे एव वयम् अधिक-पूर्णतया स्वं भवामः॥१४॥

abhāvam āliṅgya, mahāmārgiṇī adhika-pūrṇatayā jīvitā bhavati। virodhābhāsatayā, tyāge eva vayam adhika-pūrṇatayā svaṃ bhavāmaḥ॥14॥

By embracing non-being, the Wayist becomes more fully alive. Paradoxically, it is in letting go that we become most fully ourselves.

अभावस्य अभ्यासो विनम्रतां पोषयति॥१५॥

abhāvasya abhyāso vinamratāṃ poṣayati॥15॥

The practice of non-being cultivates humility.

महामार्गिणी प्रत्यभिजानाति यद् तस्या वैयक्तिक-स्वं, सर्व-रूपवद्, अन्ततो रिक्तम् — महामार्गस्य अनन्त-प्रवाहे अस्थायि-रचना॥१६॥

mahāmārgiṇī pratyabhijānāti yad tasyā vaiyaktika-svaṃ, sarva-rūpavad, antato riktam — mahāmārgasya ananta-pravāhe asthāyi-racanā॥16॥

The Wayist recognizes that her individual self, like all forms, is ultimately empty - a temporary configuration in the endless flow of theWAY.

व्याकरण टिप्पणियां | Grammatical Notes

Chapter Title and the Crucial Vocabulary Choice:

The Daodejing 11 Inheritance (Verses 1-2, 9):

The Modern Extensions (Verses 3 and 8):

The Dark Hollow Image (Verse 5):

The Meditation Gap-Awareness (Verse 11):

Non-Being as Potentiality (Verse 12):

The “Servility” Verse (Verse 13):

Verse 16 — The Critical Theological Move:

The Sanskrit of Chapter 96 carries the corpus’s most direct engagement with the philosophical terrain shared by the Daodejing’s wu (無), Buddhist śūnyatā, and Vedantic māyā-self, while preserving the Wayist position as distinct from all three. Several precise structural moves do the chapter’s work: abhāva and riktatā used for “non-being” and “emptiness” rather than śūnya to avoid Madhyamaka technical resonance; the Daodejing 11 famous final line preserved with grammatical precision at verse 9 (bhāvo yad asmākaṃ vidyate, kintu abhāva eva yad vayam upayuñjmahe); the explicit anti-nihilism at verse 12 (abhāvo na śūnyam, apitu sambhāvyatā) using śūnya only to deny it; the upayogitva substitution for the English “servility” preventing the cringing-subservience misreading; and verse 16’s combination of vaiyaktika-sva + riktam + asthāyi-racanā + ananta-pravāha holding the Wayist position against both Buddhist anātman and Vedantic māyā-self through grammatical precision rather than declamation. The chapter’s structural argument — that what is useful in any form is consistently the absence-within the form — is preserved across all sixteen verses, and the closing verse turns the same logic onto the practitioner’s self-conception, claiming that the useful dimension of being-a-self is precisely the capacity-to-be-reconfigured that the impermanence of the specific configuration makes possible.

Colophon: This translation represents the collaborative restoration work of the Wayist collective Salvar Dàosenglu, based on the ancient mahāmārga teaching tradition, rendered into contemporary English and restored to classical Sanskrit for posterity.

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