Nothing of mine
"'"'Janaka said, "Although a (large) inhabited tract is subject to me within this ancestral kingdom of mine, yet I fail to find my dominion, searching through the whole Earth. When I failed to find it on the Earth, I then searched Mithila (for it). When I failed to find it in Mithila, I then searched for it among my own children. When I failed to find it even there, a cloudedness of understanding came over me. After that cloudedness of understanding passed away, intelligence came back to me. Then I thought that I have no dominion, or that everything is my dominion. Even this body is not mine, or the whole Earth is mine. At the same time, O best of regenerate persons, I think that that is as much mine as it is of others. Do thou, therefore, dwell (here) as long as thy choice leads thee, and do thou enjoy as long as thou pleasest."'
"My Son, thou must give all for all, and be nothing of thine own. Know thou that the love of thyself is more hurtful to thee than anything in the world. According to the love and inclination which thou hast, everything more or less cleaveth to thee. If thy love be pure, sincere, well-regulated, thou shalt not be in captivity to anything. Do not covet what thou mayest not have; do not have what is able to hinder thee, and to rob thee of inward liberty. It is wonderful that thou committest not thyself to Me from the very bottom of thy heart, with all things which thou canst desire or have.
The Editors’ note
Both make the end of possession the beginning of freedom. In the Anugītā King Janaka searches his whole kingdom for what is his, and his city, and his children, and finds nothing; then he understands: “Even this body is not mine, or the whole Earth is mine.” In the Imitation Christ tells the disciple to “give all for all, and be nothing of thine own”, since love of self is more hurtful than anything in the world.
Janaka keeps his kingdom and rules it; what he gives up is the idea of “mine”, and with it he finds that everything is his, because he desires nothing for himself. Thomas speaks to a disciple who must commit himself wholly to Another, and the liberty he promises is found in that surrender to God, not in a self freed from every claim.